{
  "id": 3493124,
  "title": "There’s a $300 gotcha in an M5 Max Mac Studio upgrade",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/theres-a-300-gotcha-in-an-m5-max-mac-studio-upgrade",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-26T10:56:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "9to5Mac",
    "slug": "9to5mac",
    "url": "https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/26/theres-a-300-gotcha-in-an-m5-max-mac-studio-upgrade/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Apple’s latest Mac Studio with M5 Max chip has an unexpected $300 cost when upgrading the GPU, according to the recent announcement. While the starting price remains the same as the M4 Max Mac Studio at $2,499, the hidden upgrade cost was only revealed by tech journalist John Gruber. The base model comes with an 18-core CPU and a 32-core GPU. For those who want a more powerful GPU, an upgrade to a 40-core option is available for an additional $300. However, this upgrade also changes the memory selection from 32GB to 48GB, which costs another $300. Since you cannot increase the GPU cores without also increasing the memory, the total upgrade price becomes twice what it seems at $600. Apple warns users of this when the upgraded chip is selected, but the information is displayed in a somewhat unclear manner.",
  "summary": "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 …",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}