Apple’s MacBook Air, the company’s most popular Mac and one of the best-selling laptops in the world, is facing severe supply constraints as a global memory chip shortage tied to surging AI demand disrupts the consumer hardware market, according to reporting by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Multiple configurations of the M5 MacBook Air are now showing delivery estimates stretching into late August on Apple’s website, with some custom builds not arriving until September. Retailers say supply is more constrained than at any point since the model was refreshed in March, making the shortage particularly unusual for a product that is typically available in large volumes.
The shortage is driven by the same force reshaping the entire semiconductor industry: explosive demand for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, from AI companies training and running large language models. HBM chips are critical for AI accelerators made by Nvidia and others, and their production has consumed so much of the world’s DRAM manufacturing capacity that consumer-grade memory and storage have become increasingly scarce and expensive.
Apple had already been feeling the pressure. The company reported $11.1 billion in inventory in its latest filing, nearly double the $5.7 billion it held last September, a clear sign it was stockpiling components ahead of anticipated supply constraints. Bloomberg reported in late July that Apple was bracing for what it internally described as significant supply disruptions.
The crisis extends well beyond Apple. According to a February Bloomberg investigation, the memory crunch has been hammering profits, derailing corporate plans, and inflating prices on everything from smartphones and laptops to automobiles and data centers. Analysts at the time warned that the shortage could persist through at least the second half of 2027 as AI companies continue to scale up their infrastructure spending.
Gurman reported that Apple is attempting to mitigate the problem by seeking permission from the US government to source memory chips from a blacklisted Chinese supplier for units destined for the Chinese market. The effort remains ongoing and faces significant regulatory hurdles given the current state of US-China technology trade tensions.
The MacBook Air shortage is a stark reminder that the AI boom is not just about software and data centers. The physical infrastructure required to train and deploy AI models, from advanced DRAM to high-end GPUs, is competing directly with the components that power everyday consumer electronics, and there is no quick fix in sight.
For consumers, the practical impact is clear: anyone in the market for a new MacBook Air will need to plan ahead and accept longer wait times, a situation that would have been unthinkable just months ago for what has historically been one of Apple’s most readily available products.
Sources: TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, Bloomberg
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