You know with absolute conviction that the ongoing memory crisis is holding no prisoners when even tech titans such as Apple face substantial upheaval, which is currently most evident within the insanely extended lead times for certain memory configurations of the Mac mini and Mac Studio.
Lead times for Apple Mac mini and Mac Studio now extend well into the second half of the ongoing year
As is evident from the snippets in the X post above, some configurations of the Apple Mac mini are now shipping in August if you order today, while the lead times for the Mac Studio are even more extreme, with shipments due in September.
Meanwhile, DRAM prices are showing no sign of slowing down. As we noted recently, Samsung has hiked the prices of its memory products by an average of 30 percent for Q2 2026 after implementing a 100 percent year-over-year price increase for Q1.
Moreover, according to SemiAnalysis, LPDDR5 contract prices, which are currently hovering at around $10/GB after undergoing a 3x increase since Q1 2025, are expected to undergo a double-digit percentage increase in 2027 as well.
Meanwhile, a South Korea-based source disclosed recently that Apple was reportedly buying up "all available mobile DRAM on the market at extremely high prices, even at the cost of operating profit losses" to prevent its competitors from securing enough memory chips.
Amid these moves and countermoves, one conclusion is becoming increasingly evident: if any company can break through the pricing vise of memory players, it would be Apple. Judging from the extended lead times for the Mac mini and Mac Studio, however, even Apple appears to be having a hard time fighting against the market's dynamics.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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