The best time to buy a Mac is right now

If you’ve been on the fence about buying a Mac, you might want to stop waiting. A growing DRAM and NAND shortage is about to make all kinds of computers more expensive and harder to find.

Right now, Apple is still (somewhat) ahead of that curve. But that window is closing fast. So, if you need to buy a Mac, now’s the best time to pull the trigger.

Why is there a global DRAM and NAND shortage?

AI is consuming memory and storage faster than ever. Companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta and others are building large language models that require massive amounts of both.

To meet their needs, they are buying up huge volumes of DRAM and NAND flash memory. More importantly, they are happily paying hefty premiums to get their hands on these chips. This leaves less inventory for consumer devices, as memory makers refocus their efforts on meeting the demand from the lucrative AI industry.

This is leading to two things: DRAM and NAND makers are steeply hiking prices every quarter. And even after that, there’s no guarantee companies can secure supply.

This is not a cyclical increase in demand. It’s a fundamental shift, with hyperscalers spending like never before on building large data centers to meet the compute demands of AI.

In a nutshell, your laptop, phone and even television are now competing for the same memory and storage chips as AI servers. And given the deep pockets of huge tech companies, consumers are at a disadvantage in that race.

Apple has done fairly well so far

While the entire PC and smartphone industry currently faces a massive shortage of memory and storage chips, Apple finds itself in a better position than most. As part of its sophisticated supply chain strategy, the company locks in long-term contracts with its suppliers for most components in advance.

Thanks to this, Apple continues to sell the iPhone 17 for the same $799 launch price six months after its release. That’s not the case with others, including Samsung.

Despite running its own memory and storage division, Samsung raised prices on most of its 2025 products, including the $2,000 Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7, in mid-April to offset the higher component costs.

Likewise, laptop makers including Dell, HP and Lenovo raised prices of their laptops by a few hundred dollars (or silently reduced the machines’ memory and storage capacities). Microsoft recently hiked prices of its Surface lineup by as much as $500.

For all the planning that Apple does, it’s not immune to supply chain issues. It stopped selling the Mac Studio with 512GB memory due to the DRAM and NAND chip supply crunch. It’s no longer accepting orders for most desktop Macs with 64GB, 128GB or 256GB memory. And if you can place an order, the delivery time stretches to as long as five months.

Apple is facing a supply crunch for another critical component: its M-series chips. Apple silicon processors are fabricated on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s leading node. Until last year, Apple got exclusive access to the Taiwanese chipmaker’s latest process nodes.

However, that deal abruptly came to an end earlier this year, thanks to Nvidia and the boom in demand for AI chips. Due to this, Apple now competes with other customers to secure capacity on TSMC’s leading nodes.

Combined with elevated Mac demand, again fueled by the AI boom, Apple is struggling to secure enough chips to meet demand. During the recent Q2 2026 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that “the Mac mini and the Mac Studio may take several months to reach supply-demand balance.”

If you own a Mac that’s 4 or 5 years old and were planning to upgrade later this year, you might want to move up your timeline.

Why you should buy a Mac right now

The problem is that the DRAM and NAND supply woes won’t end anytime soon. All analysts predict they will stretch into 2027 or later, with memory prices only increasing. Likewise, demand for Macs will undoubtedly grow, especially given that they are ideal for AI workloads.

Despite its long-term contracts, Apple will also face the same problems as other PC and smartphone makers: struggling to secure enough SoCs, memory and storage chips for its devices. And even when it does, the chips won’t be cheap.

We have already seen this play out. Apple bumped prices of the M5 MacBook Air and M5 MacBook Pro by $100 to $200 over previous models. Yes, the latest ones come with more storage, but that gave the company a way to justify the higher prices and protect its margins.

If you buy a new Mac now rather than waiting, you will lock in current prices before further increases — or before the Mac you wants becomes completely unavailable. You also should avoid long wait times.

This already applies to the recently launched M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros. Their custom 64GB and 128GB configurations are seeing wait times of up to a month.

The longer you wait, the fewer options you may have, and the more you might end up paying. Over the next six months to a year, supply constraints likely will tighten further.

What if you wait?

You might think that waiting is a safer bet. You can buy a new Mac once the supply constraints ease. Plus, this way, you can get the latest and greatest Mac that Apple has to offer.

If your workload demands it, holding out for an M5 Max or Ultra Mac Studio might seem like the better long-term investment, especially if you need maximum performance.

But waiting comes with its own risks.

For one, you could end up paying more. As DRAM and NAND prices continue to rise, Apple will eventually have to pass the costs on to consumers as it did with the M5 MacBook Pro and Air.

Given that Apple pulled the base M4 Mac mini from sale last month, and bumped prices of its MacBook lineup, the next Mac Studio and Mac mini are all but certain to come with higher prices.

The next major MacBook Pro refresh, reportedly launching in early 2027, will undoubtedly come with a higher price tag.

Availability could also become a problem. Higher-end Mac configurations with more memory and storage are already hard to get, and they will only become harder to find. If anything, longer delivery times will become the norm.

In a nutshell, waiting will get you a better Mac. But at a higher price and with possibly fewer options. Unless you know you need the latest and greatest, buying a Mac right now is your best bet.

What Mac should you buy right now?

If you’ve decided to upgrade your Mac, the next question is simple: Which Mac actually makes sense right now?

The M5 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are easy choices since Apple refreshed them recently. These machines are among the most powerful laptops you can get right now. Whether you’re editing video, doing 3D rendering, or running AI models, the M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros can handle everything you throw at them.

Yes, the rumored MacBook Ultra with a touchscreen OLED panel, a thinner and lighter design, sounds great. But with the DRAM and NAND supply crunch, Apple might push back the laptop’s launch to later in 2027.

Things become a bit more complicated if you plan to buy a desktop Mac. The $599 M4 Mac mini is no longer available, which removes one of the most affordable entry points into Apple’s desktop lineup.

Whatever configurations are available, their lead times are long. The only other option is the Mac Studio, but it’s significantly more expensive. Even if you are willing to spend more, the Mac Studio’s higher memory and storage configurations are facing supply constraints. Plus, its M5 refresh will reportedly not launch until October 2026.

If the Mac Studio or Mac mini configuration you want is not in stock, consider buying an Apple Certified Refurbished unit. They come with a one-year warranty as standard, and you can extend that by buying AppleCare.

One thing to keep in mind is configuration. If you’re buying today, it might be worth opting for slightly higher RAM or storage than you initially planned. This is especially important if those upgrades are still readily available. These configurations are often the first to face shortages. They also tend to have longer delivery times.

Ultimately, the best Mac to buy right now isn’t necessarily the most powerful one. It’s the one you can get at a reasonable price, without long delays, and that meets your needs for the next few years.

Rajesh Pandey

Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.