There’s a $300 gotcha in an M5 Max Mac Studio upgrade - 9to5Mac
Apple's new M5 Max Mac Studio features a hidden cost structure where upgrading the GPU requires a mandatory, additional memory upgrade. This effectively doubles the advertised price of the GPU upgrade from $300 to $600.
Why it matters
Consumers need transparency in hardware pricing, as bundled upgrades can lead to unexpected costs during the checkout process.
There was a pleasant surprise in yesterday’s announcement of the Mac Studio with M5 Max chip : the starting price is unchanged from that of the M4 Max Mac Studio, at $2,499.
However, if you want to upgrade the GPU, there is a gotcha in the cost of doing so – it will cost you $300 more than Apple’s website initially indicates …
That hidden upgrade cost caught out John Gruber when he went to summarise the costs of each configuration of the new machines announced yesterday.
The base configuration of the machine is an 18-core CPU with a 32-core GPU. Apple then lists an upgrade to a 40-core GPU, which is very clearly displayed as costing an additional $300.
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