A lot of us here at Tom's Guide have been waiting for the upcoming MacBook Pro refresh, in part thanks to the rumors Apple might actually add a touchscreen this time. It had been reported that the update would arrive before the end of this year, but it seems RAMageddon may have claimed another victim.
According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, the industry-wide RAM shortage could force Apple to delay its Mac upgrade plans. Apparently, Apple doesn't want to go to the trouble of launching new Macs only to contend with supply chain shortages in the aftermath, so launch dates are being pushed back.
As for the touchscreen MacBook Pros, a late 2026 is apparently not on the cards anymore. Gurman says that Apple's original timeline for the touchscreen MacBook Pros was late 2026 or early 2027, but supply chain shortages (along with the move to M6 chips) mean we shouldn't expect the new machines to launch until "the later end of the timeline." That means an early 2027 launch at the absolute earliest.
What about Mac Studio?
According to Gurman, Apple plans to release new Mac Studio models, designed to succeed last year's M4 Max and M3 Ultra models, around the middle of the year.
But Gurman also notes that shipments of existing RAM-heavy Macs are already being delayed by several months, which means new models may have to wait.
Sources claim that these new models likely won't ship until around October. This just goes to show that even companies with as much buying power as Apple are suffering from RAMageddon and ongoing memory shortages.
Of course, things could still change in the coming months, though we shouldn't expect supply chains to stabilize anytime soon. The experts don't seem to think that the RAMageddon effect on supply chains could continue for years.
I just hope that this delay is the only one the touchscreen MacBook Pros have to endure, because people have been waiting years for Apple to finally make one.
