Secondhand M3 Ultra Mac Studio Prices Soar to 170,000 Yuan
The price of the Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra chip on the secondhand market has completely spiraled out of control, with the 512GB unified memory version listed for as high as $25,000 (approximately 170,000 yuan). In comparison, a configuration with a 16TB SSD and 256GB of memory costs around $12,000 on Apple's official website. The same model, with double the memory, more than doubles in price.
The main reason is that Apple is expected to release Mac Studio and Mac mini models based on the M5 chip in the coming months, and has deliberately reduced production of the M4 version.
Apple's logic is simple: once the M5 products are launched, the memory in unsold M4 devices will face the risk of being wasted.
In the current context of tight global memory chip supply, the cost of each memory particle is rising, and Apple is obviously unwilling to bear the cost of inventory buildup for products that are about to become obsolete.
The shortage of the M4 version has triggered a chain reaction. Buyers unable to purchase the M4 are turning to the M3, but M3 inventory is also limited. Combined with the macroeconomic factor of insufficient memory production capacity, the 512GB version has quickly become a scarce commodity.
Therefore, on secondhand trading platforms such as eBay and Swappa, some sellers are even listing prices above $30,000.
However, spending $25,000 on a product that will soon be two generations behind is, in any case, not a rational investment. Apple's Mac Studio with the M5 chip is expected to be released as early as this summer.