Here’s a hopeful sign the M5 Mac Studio isn’t too far away

Buying some configurations of the Mac Studio now means lengthy wait times. While that’s surely frustrating for those shopping for the powerful macOS desktop, this can be taken as a sign that it might be better to hold off on the purchase.

That’s because a new version is on the way.

Why Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra are probably in development

The Mac Studio is a compact yet formidable desktop aimed squarely at creative professionals and power users. It packs Apple’s powerful M4 Max or M3 Ultra processors to take on 8K video editing, 3D rendering and more. Pro users need the best computer they can get, so it might be best to hold off on getting a Mac Studio right now.

Order a base model with the M4 Max from the Apple Store, and you can get it delivered in a day or so. But many of the configurations with faster processors, more memory and/or additional storage add weeks to the wait time.

For example, order the Mac Studio with an M4 Max with 16 CPU cores, and you won’t take delivery before March. Those considering the top-of-the-line model — with the fastest M3 Ultra variant, 512GB of memory and 16TB of storage — must wait until April.

When waiting is a good sign

When the official Apple Store begins running short on configurations of a particular Mac model — especially one that’s been on the market for almost a year — it can be a sign that a successor is drawing near. That’s because Apple typically reduces manufacturing of current versions of its products to make room for updated hardware.

While the current long wait times for a new Mac Studio suggest a new model is on the way, that’s hardly conclusive. But information leaking from Apple HQ indicates that upgraded versions of the desktop computer equipped with M5-series chips are coming in the first half of 2026. The M4 Max version arrived in March 2025, and a replacement a year later at Apple’s March 4 product launch event seems quite possible. (Read our predictions for everything to expect: Apple just announced its March event — here’s what could be coming.)

And even if the upgraded Mac Studio doesn’t show up there, multiple credible reports say it’s coming. Apple just might hold it until WWDC26 in June.

Expect the M5 Ultra processor, not the M4 Ultra

Apple took an odd strategy with the 2025 Mac Studio. It comes with either an M4 Max or an M3 Ultra processor. An M4 Ultra variant of the chip has yet to emerge.

And it’s not supposedly not coming in the 2026 Mac Studio. Instead, leaks and rumors point to this year’s top-of-the-line version of the desktop running an M5 Ultra.

The M3 Ultra was still fast enough to make last year’s Mac Studio the fastest macOS computer available, but the M5 Ultra should blow it away.

M5 Max and M5 Ultra: Apple’s fastest chips ever

The highlight of the 2026 Mac Studio will be the premium versions of the M5 chip. Apple launched this processor last fall in the MacBook Pro and iPad Pro, but that was only the base version of the chip.

It’ll end up being part of an extended family. An M5 Pro variant is expected to debut in an updated MacBook Pro in the coming weeks, for example.

And the 2026 Mac Studio is likely to usher in the M5 Max and M5 Ultra. Performance for these should be phenomenal. Apple hasn’t said anything about them yet, but a look at earlier Apple chip families can inform predictions about the performance we can expect from the two upcoming ones.

By comparing the performance of the base M4 to that of the M4 Max, taking what we know about the base M5 shows the M5 Max could end up with a Geekbench 6 CPU score of 27,600 — quite close to the score of the fastest currently available Mac with any chip.

There’s no M4 Ultra for comparison, but by comparing the base M3 performance to the M3 Ultra, the speed of the base M5 shows that the M5 Ultra could potentially earn a Geekbench 6 CPU score over 41,000. That’s about 40% above the fastest currently available Mac.

If those figures end up anywhere close to accurate, the 2026 Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra seems worthy of waiting for.

More about the 2026 Mac Studio

While the new chips will bring jaw-dropping performance, no info leaking out of Apple points to the upcoming M5-based Mac Studio getting a redesign. Expect the familiar squircle-inspired enclosure with its compact, minimalist footprint to carry over into 2026.

From all reports, Apple’s focus is on performance improvements rather than the chassis.

As for cost, Apple has historically preferred to keep prices the same when a new model is a simple “chip and ship” update, as is expected with the 2026 Mac Studio. That said, the boom in AI data centers is putting tremendous upward price pressure on memory and storage. The rising cost of these components could force Apple to increase its prices. Still, we can hope the next version of the Mac Studio will still start at $1,999.

Ed Hardy

Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.