Apple charges over 100% more to double Mac Studio M5 Ultra memory, making two 256GB units cheaper than one 512GB

Date:
Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:30:00 +0000

Description:
Apple charges $11,500 to double Mac Studio M5 Ultra memory to 512GB, making two 256GB machines $701 cheaper than one 512GB model.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Two 256GB Mac Studios cost $701 less than one 512GB system. Apple's $11,500 memory upgrade doubles capacity without adding another processor. Two units deliver separate CPUs, GPUs, and storage for less money. Apple 's latest Mac Studio M5 Ultra configuration has attracted criticism over the substantial additional charge required to double its available memory capacity.

A 256GB version costs $10,799 , while selecting 512GB adds another $11,500, bringing the total price for the model to $22,299. That means purchasing two 256GB systems for $21,598 costs $701 less than buying one machine with equivalent combined memory capacity. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: Two computers offer more hardware for less money The comparison has raised questions about Apple's pricing strategy, particularly since purchasing two smaller configurations provides considerably more computing hardware for less money.

Each workstation comes with its own processor , graphics capabilities and storage, allowing buyers to operate separate systems instead of upgrading memory. You may like Nvidia GB300 DGX station desktop PC goes on sale for almost $91,100 7x costlier than a 256GB RAM Mac Studio M5 Ultra but with 748GB RAM I analyzed 10 Apple Mac Studio M5 Ultra reviews here's absolutely everything you need to know in 3 minutes Apples new Mac mini looks the same, but the M6 inside brings a major performance boost

The M5 Ultra configuration includes a 36-core CPU, an 80-core GPU and a 32-core Neural Engine for demanding professional workloads.

Consequently, customers purchasing two machines receive two complete processing systems, rather than paying the additional amount for increased memory capacity. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners
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This difference could matter considerably to professionals running AI models, developing software or handling computationally intensive creative applications.

Apple offers several memory configurations, including 96GB, 256GB and 512GB, allowing customers to select capacities according to their requirements.

The substantial difference between the two largest options has nevertheless made the highest memory configuration difficult to justify financially. What to read next Apples 16-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro gets a price cut 16 cores, 5.2 GHz, and 55 TOPS: Minisforum's newest AI workstation is mostly a massive upgrade to 192GB of memory - and that is not necessarily a bad thing Minisforum's AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 workstation will cost more than
$9,200, but you can get it for under $7,400 on preorder for a limited time Specialised memory components could explain the additional cost One explanation for the expensive upgrade concerns the memory chips required to increase the computer's capacity from 256GB to 512GB.

The technical explanation accompanying the comparison says the M5 Ultra contains 64 memory channels, with different chip capacities used across configurations.

According to this explanation, the 256GB version uses 4GB LPDDR5X chips,
while the larger configuration requires specialized 8GB components.

Doubling the capacity therefore involves using higher-density memory components, which could contribute to the substantial difference between Apple's available configurations.

However, the available information does not include manufacturing costs or an official explanation from Apple confirming why the upgrade costs $11,500.

Another proposed option involves connecting two smaller computers through Thunderbolt 5, which supports theoretical transfer speeds reaching 120Gb/s.

That connection translates to approximately 15GB/s, allowing the machines to exchange data when compatible applications distribute workloads across separate systems.

However, connecting the computers does not combine their memory into one shared 512GB pool, since each machine retains independent resources.

Users could instead operate separate AI tools on each workstation, distributing computing activities according to available processing capacity.

The arrangement would therefore suit workloads that can operate
independently, although applications requiring one large unified memory pool present different requirements.

A single 512GB configuration remains relevant for software that needs access to substantial memory within one computer during execution. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/apple-charges-over-100-more-to-double-mac-studio -m5-ultra-memory-making-two-256gb-units-cheaper-than-one-512gb


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