Apple Opens Orders for 512GB M5 Ultra Mac Studio at $22,299

CUPERTINO – Apple now offers its long-promised 512GB unified-memory configuration for the M5 Ultra Mac Studio, taking the US cash price to $22,299 with a 1TB SSD. The 512GB figure describes working memory shared across the chip, not storage capacity.

This configuration requires the higher-end M5 Ultra with a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU. The family’s $5,499 starting price belongs to the 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU and 96GB memory model, not a 512GB machine.

The memory step adds $15,500 over 96GB on the same higher-end processor. Moving from 256GB to 512GB adds $11,500. Neither figure is the price of a complete desktop, and neither includes a storage upgrade.

Apple’s US configurator lists the 512GB machine with 1TB storage at $22,299. Selecting a 16TB SSD adds $7,500, bringing that configuration to $29,799 before taxes and other additions. Memory and SSD capacity are separate choices in the ordering process.

Apple announced the M5 Max and M5 Ultra Mac Studio family on August 25 and said the 512GB option would follow later. The news is the priced ordering option, not a new M5 Ultra chip launch or a new memory option for the separately announced touchscreen MacBook Pro.

Apple markets the large unified-memory pool for demanding local AI models, visual effects and scientific workloads, and specifies 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth for M5 Ultra. More capacity can accommodate larger workloads; it does not establish a corresponding increase in processing speed.

There is an important qualification in Apple’s chip announcement: its comparative performance tests used a preproduction M5 Ultra Mac Studio with 256GB of memory. Those results are not independent benchmarks of the newly orderable 512GB configuration, and cannot establish how much faster that memory upgrade would make a particular application.

The store also advertises Apple Upgrade leasing, which its terms describe as a consumer lease rather than a purchase or loan. Monthly lease quotations are not discounted cash purchase prices, and ownership requires exercising the purchase option under the agreement.

Delivery remains location- and configuration-dependent. Apple’s generic two-hour-delivery banner applies to available stock and is not confirmation that this custom configuration can reach every buyer that quickly. The company says customized selections can change delivery estimates; The Eastern Herald has not verified a location-specific arrival date.