Apple quietly raises Mac mini's starting price to $799 as AI memory crunch bites

Apple's most affordable desktop just got $200 more expensive. The Mac mini M4 base model now starts at $799, up from $599, after Apple dropped the 256GB storage option in early May 2026. The move eliminates what was the last sub-$800 Mac desktop — and it's a direct consequence of a global memory chip shortage that shows no sign of easing.

The memory crunch, explained

AI data centers are consuming memory at a rate that chip makers can't keep up with. Samsung and SK Hynix have shifted production toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI servers, leaving less conventional DRAM available for consumer products. According to Bloomberg, IDC calls the situation "a crisis like no other," with no meaningful relief forecast before 2028. Apple is competing for the same chips as Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft — companies collectively pouring hundreds of billions into data centers in 2026 alone.

Tim Cook acknowledged the situation on Apple's April 30 earnings call. He said Mac mini and Mac Studio supply could take "several months" to rebalance, citing unexpectedly high demand for running large language models locally — a use case Apple underestimated.

What's been cut

The Mac mini changes are sweeping. The 256GB base model is gone; the new floor is 512GB at $799. The 32GB and 64GB RAM configurations have also been pulled from Apple's online store entirely. The M4 Pro variant is now capped at 48GB, and the base M4 tops out at 24GB. Shoppers who wanted the mid-range 32GB option — the sweet spot for creative professionals — are simply out of luck.

The Mac Studio situation is worse. The M3 Ultra model, once available with up to 256GB of unified memory, is now capped at 96GB after Apple removed the 512GB configuration in March 2026. High-memory M3 and M4 Max configurations carry delivery estimates of 9–10 weeks, per MacRumors.

What this means if you're buying now

If you need a Mac desktop today, the options are narrower and pricier than they were six months ago. The base Mac mini at $799 still offers strong everyday performance, but buyers who need more than 24GB of RAM for video editing, local AI tools, or music production will face either a steep price jump or a two-month wait. Market analysts don't expect supply to normalize until well into 2027 at the earliest — so waiting for a sale or a price drop is unlikely to pay off in the near term.