As Apple continues to struggle with release delays for its Macs, it is now facing a new problem: an unexpected level of demand.
During Apple’s earnings call for the Q2 2026, outgoing CEO Tim Cook said that both the Mac Studio and Mac mini could be hard to get in the upcoming months. Cook said that the machines could “take several months to reach supply-demand balance.”
“Both of these are amazing platforms for AI and agentic tools and the customer recognition of that is happening faster than what we had predicted, and so we saw higher than expected demand,” Cook said.
Part of that demand stems from a craze over OpenClaw, an AI assistant that runs locally on a device and that can perform actions on that device on behalf of users. Because of how OpenClaw works, it benefits from running on a device that’s always-on and powerful. That makes computers like Apple’s Mac mini prime choices, since they use Apple’s powerful and power-efficient M-series chips. (Plus, the Mac mini is super small, making it easy to store.)
While it may appear that Apple is suffering from the success of its products’ popularity, it’s more accurate to say the company is just suffering. Apple has already been struggling due to the RAM shortages plaguing the tech industry since November, limiting its ability to produce new computers and devices. According to MacRumors, Apple stopped offering the Mac Studio with 512GB RAM entirely, and it is no longer accepting orders for some models with more RAM.
It remains unclear when the Mac Studio might reach “supply-demand balance,” but it seems like customers will be waiting for a while to get their next Mac upgrade.
