The Mac Studio M5 is on sale in the UK now, from £2,499 with the M5 Max and £5,499 with the M5 Ultra. For almost everyone the right buy is the M5 Max, and if you are going to spend more, spend it on memory before GPU cores. Here is what each build costs, what the upgrades actually buy, and who genuinely needs the Ultra.
Mac Studio M5 UK prices
Apple opened orders on 25 August 2026 and the first machines arrived on 22 September. These are the four standard builds on Apple's UK store:
- M5 Max, 18-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 36GB memory, 512GB SSD: £2,499
- M5 Max, 18-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 64GB memory, 1TB SSD: £3,799
- M5 Ultra, 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 96GB memory, 1TB SSD: £5,499
- M5 Ultra, 36-core CPU, 80-core GPU, 96GB memory, 1TB SSD: £6,799
In the education store the M5 Max starts at £2,299 and the M5 Ultra at £5,099, which is £200 and £400 off. The one thing still missing is the 512GB memory option for the M5 Ultra, which Apple lists as coming in late October.
M5 Max vs M5 Ultra: the specs that matter
The M5 Max is the sensible starting point for most professionals. It pairs an 18-core CPU (6 super cores and 12 performance cores) with a GPU you can configure up to 40 cores, though the base build ships with a 32-core GPU. Memory bandwidth is 614GB/s, and it starts at 36GB of unified memory (up to 128GB) with 512GB of storage. For a lot of creative work, that is already more headroom than you will use day to day.
The M5 Ultra is built for the heaviest workloads. It scales up to a 36-core CPU (12 super cores and 24 performance cores) and up to an 80-core GPU, with the base build shipping as a 30-core CPU and 64-core GPU. Bandwidth climbs to 1.2TB/s, and memory starts at 96GB (up to 512GB) alongside 1TB of storage. That much unified memory is what makes it interesting for large AI models and high-end 3D and video.
What the upgrades actually cost
The £1,300 gap between the two M5 Max builds is three upgrades bundled together: eight more GPU cores, 28GB more memory and another 512GB of storage. You cannot pick the GPU on its own. On the base model Apple charges £300 for the 40-core GPU, but the configurator will not sell it with 36GB, so a memory upgrade comes with it. Storage is another £300 to go from 512GB to 1TB.
The Ultra is a different order of money. From the base M5 Max to the base M5 Ultra is £3,000, which is 120% more, my own arithmetic on Apple's prices. For that you get 96GB of memory instead of 36GB, twice the storage, about twice the memory bandwidth and the 64-core GPU. Taking the Ultra to 256GB of memory adds another £4,000 on top.
Where to buy a Mac Studio M5 for less
Not many places yet. On 1 October PriceSpy showed the base M5 Max at £2,499 at Argos, Amazon, Very, ao.com and Scan, exactly Apple's price. The only gap I found was on the base M5 Ultra, where PriceSpy's lowest listing was £5,274, £225 under Apple. For now, the biggest saving is the £200 education price on the M5 Max if you qualify for it.
Which chip suits you?
Apple pitches the M5 Max at musicians, photographers, software engineers, and designers pushing real-time 3D and motion graphics, and the specs back that up. For most of that audience, the Max is the right buy and the Ultra is money you do not need to spend. I would only move up to the Ultra for genuinely extreme workloads, such as large AI or LLM models and high-end 3D and video. If you are unsure which camp you are in, you almost certainly want the Max.
Mac Studio M5 FAQ
When was the Mac Studio M5 released?
Apple opened orders on 25 August 2026 and the first machines arrived on 22 September 2026. The 512GB memory option for the M5 Ultra is listed as coming in late October.
How much is the Mac Studio M5 in the UK?
From £2,499 with the M5 Max and £5,499 with the M5 Ultra on Apple's UK store, or £2,299 and £5,099 in the education store.
Should I buy the M5 Max or the M5 Ultra?
The M5 Max for almost everyone. The Ultra costs £3,000 more at the entry point and only pays off for very large AI models and heavy 3D or video work that needs 96GB of memory or more.
My verdict: buy or wait?
If you need this class of machine, buy it now. Both chips have only just shipped, there is nothing newer to wait for, and with retailers matching Apple there is no deal to hold out for either. Buy the base M5 Max unless you know your work needs more memory. If it does, the 64GB M5 Max at £3,799 is the sensible middle, and the Ultra only earns its £5,499 if you run large AI models or heavy 3D and video that genuinely need 96GB or more. Only wait for the 512GB Ultra if you already know you need it.
If the Mac Studio looks like more power than you need, the new Mac mini with M6 now covers a surprising amount of ground for a lot less. It is a far cheaper way into Apple silicon if your work does not demand Studio-class performance. And for everything else Apple has lined up this year, see the full 2026 release lineup.
Related: if you are buying in education, the Apple student discount applies to the Mac Studio and is worth doing the maths on before you order.
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