Mac Studio M5 Ultra with 512GB memory listed, topping out near $30,000
Around October 29, Apple's online store listed a top-spec Mac Studio with the M5 Ultra chip (36-core CPU / 80-core GPU / 32-core Neural Engine) and 512GB of unified memory, starting at $22,299 with 1TB of storage—aimed mainly at users running very large open-source models locally.
Confirmed
- Reddit users found the configuration on Apple's site: M5 Ultra (36-core CPU / 80-core GPU), 512GB unified memory, $22,299 for the 1TB version (m1, m3).
- Per launch details relayed by Aaron Bergman, the 2TB version runs about $23,000 and the 4TB about $24,000 (m4).
- A custom configuration page shared by zck shows a fully-loaded 512GB + 16TB unit priced at $29,799 (m5).
- James Douma noted the 512GB version is double the price of the 256GB one—more than he expected—joking that this makes the choice easy (m2).
Why it matters
- 512GB of unified memory means a single machine can run very large open-source models locally; Reddit's LocalLlama community sees it as a candidate local-inference box (m3).
- But doubling the price from 256GB to 512GB is seen by many as a steep value drop, so actual purchases may cluster at the 256GB tier (m2).
- The near-$30K top configuration also drew jokes—Aaron Bergman said "Anthropic employees have a moral obligation to buy me one"—reflecting how these big-memory Macs are seen as AI workstations with a very high price barrier (m4).
2026-10-29 ~ 2026-10-29 · 5 related posts
Primary sources
- [source] Mac Studio M5 Ultra with 512GB memory starts at $22,299 — Boomfrag · 2026-10-29
- Mac Studio 512GB option costs 2x the 256GB version, making the choice "easy" — jamesdouma · 2026-10-29
- 512GB Mac Studio now available, with 2TB variant priced at $23k — AaronBergman18 · 2026-10-29
2 near-duplicate retellings: zck · chemist_slime