Mac mini and Mac Studio shortages point to a transition to the M5 chip, although AI fever is also straining supply

The difficulty of finding Mac mini and Mac Studio With certain configurations it begins to have an increasingly clear explanation. In the latest edition of his newsletter, Mark Gurman points out that Apple is preparing new models of both devices for this year and that the company usually reduces production of the outgoing generations well before the replacements are ready. In other words, some of the current shortage would dovetail with a transition to the M5 series of chips.

Gurman’s reading does not stop there. The Bloomberg journalist adds that the rise of AI agents run locallywith tools like OpenClaw and the current memory crisis are also contributing to skyrocketing shipping times. That is to say, Apple would not only be emptying inventory before renewing the range, but it is also facing a higher demand than usual for equipment that has become a quite attractive option for semi-professional AI loads.

Configurations with more RAM could already be de facto exhausted

Vadim Yuryev also goes in that same direction, who in X has suggested that many of the advanced configurations with more RAM memory would already be completely exhausted and that Apple, in reality, would have no intention of manufacturing them again. According to this hypothesis, long delivery times would not necessarily mean that these devices are being produced right now, but rather that the company would be leaving a very distant estimate visible while redirecting the buyer towards standard versions still available.

Curiously, in the Spanish Apple Store the situation is a little more positive. Taking the Mac mini as a reference, the base version with 16 GB of RAM has a Expected delivery date 1 month away. Models with 24 GB or more extend that period until June of this year. However, a specific combination appears without availability or scheduled delivery. This is the Mac mini M4 with 32 GB of RAM. It is a model that may no longer be available. The situation is similar in the case of the Mac Studio, which has remained the only professional equipment after the disappearance of the Mac Pro.

Local AI is also changing demand

Now, reducing this whole situation to a simple catalog transition maneuver would also be an understatement. Gurman introduces an important nuance by mentioning the growing interest in using these Macs as compact machines to run agents and models locally. That helps explain why computers like the Mac mini or the Mac Studio are gaining prominence among profiles that previously might have looked at a conventional PC or a more specific server.

The most reasonable conclusion, therefore, is that both things can be true at the same time. Apple would be preparing the ground for the arrival of new models and, at the same time, the context of memory shortage and new demand linked to AI would be amplifying the problem. The result is what we already see in the store: difficult-to-find configurations, abnormal waiting times and the feeling that the current generation is entering its final stretch before the replacement.