Apple’s Mac Studio M5 Ultra memory upgrade costs more than a second computer with the smaller configuration. A 256GB model costs $10,799, and selecting 512GB adds $11,500, bringing the total to $22,299.
Two 256GB systems cost $21,598, or $701 less than one 512GB model. Each has its own processor, graphics capabilities and storage, so two systems provide separate computing resources rather than one larger shared memory pool.
The M5 Ultra configuration includes a 36-core CPU, an 80-core GPU and a 32-core Neural Engine. The comparison may matter to professionals running AI models, developing software or using computationally intensive creative applications. Apple also offers 96GB and 256GB memory configurations.
A proposed technical explanation points to the memory chips used: the 256GB version reportedly uses 4GB LPDDR5X chips, while the 512GB configuration requires 8GB components. The explanation says the M5 Ultra has 64 memory channels. However, the available information includes neither manufacturing costs nor an official explanation from Apple for the $11,500 upgrade.
Two systems can also be connected over Thunderbolt 5, which has theoretical transfer speeds of up to 120Gb/s, or approximately 15GB/s. Compatible applications may distribute workloads across them, but the connection does not combine their memory into a shared 512GB pool. A single 512GB system remains relevant for software that needs that much memory in one computer.
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