- 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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