Apple is releasing new models of its AI-friendly desktop machines-the Mac Mini and Studio-after the previous generations became sleeper hits, and vanished from shelves.

While the next-generation hardware looks identical to previous models, it packs faster, pricier chips, not to mention higher price tags. But can Apple build enough to meet demand?

The Mac Mini with an all-new M6 chip starts at $899, and one with an M5 Pro starts at $1,699-both prices $100 higher than the previous M4 and M4 Pro Minis. The Mac Studio with an M5 Max starts at $2,499 while one with the M5 Ultra starts at $5,499, a $200 jump from the previous M3 Ultra model. Apple says the new chips boast artificial-intelligence performance that's at least four times faster than predecessors while graphics performance is at least two times faster.

Demand has exceeded supply for the previous Mac Mini and Studio. Apple even removed the largest memory options earlier this year-but now the company is once again offering those higher tiers and more: The Mac Studio supports a whopping 512 gigabytes of RAM, a configuration that will ship late October.

The new models ship on Sept. 22, with preorders beginning Tuesday.

These screenless aluminum blocks went viral as cost-effective machines for AI power users. Macs offer what's called a unified memory architecture, where the main computer processor, aka CPU, and the graphics processor, aka GPU, share the same pool of memory on the same chip. This enables local large language models to process prompts and generate responses even faster.

So, after OpenClaw and other processor-intensive on-device AI agents blew up, so too did Apple's Mac Mini, which typically makes up only about 3% of Apple's Mac unit sales in the U.S., according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. In an April earnings call, Chief Executive Tim Cook warned that supply would be tight for months. Between the AI boom and global memory-chip shortage, certain configurations saw weekslong or even monthslong wait times.

Apple pulled the entry-level Mac Mini from shelves, then brought it back at $799-up from $599. In June, Cook told The Wall Street Journal that "price increases are unavoidable" due to the surging costs of memory and storage chips. The prices for portable MacBooks went up too, and the company has been struggling to keep higher-memory variations of the MacBook Air in stock.

Apple isn't saying whether it has enough manufacturing capacity to meet the unprecedented demand. The company recently showed off a Mac Mini assembly line in Houston that will start producing machines later this year.

A maxed-out Mac Studio could cost $15,000 or more. Apple's pitch is that the higher upfront cost means businesses could spend less on AI service providers, since they'd be able to run AI locally. If they can get their hands on one, that is. We expect more Mac scarcity to come.