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AtlanticFox 143K Views
Sep 23, 2026 2:46 PM

Select Stores: Apple Mac Studio Desktop (2026): M5 Max, 36GB RAM, 512GB SSD

$2,000

$2,500

20% off
(In-Store Only, Limited Stock)at Micro Center
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Deal Details
Select Micro Center Stores have Apple Mac Studio M5 Max Desktop Computer (2026, MHL64LL/A) for $1999.99 (In-Store Only).

Thanks to Community Member AtlanticFox for finding this deal.

Note: Select stores may be available for pickup. Availability may vary by location and is very limited.

Specs:
  • Apple M5 Max 18-Core CPU
  • 36GB Unified RAM
  • 512GB SSD
  • Apple M5 Max Chip 32-Core GPU
  • WiFi 7 (802.11be) + Bluetooth 6.0
  • 480 Watt Power Supply
  • SDXC Card Reader
  • macOS
  • Ports:
    • Front/Top Panel
      • 2x USB 3.2 (Gen 2 Type-C)
    • Back Panel
      • 2x USB 3.2 (Gen 1 Type-A)
      • 4x Thunderbolt 5
      • 1x HDMI 2.1
      • 1x LAN RJ45 (10 GbE)
      • 1x 3.5mm Headphone

Editor's Notes

Written by SubZero5 | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Our research indicates that this deal is $449.01 less (18% savings) than the next best available price from a reputable merchant with prices starting from $2,449 at the time of this post.
  • About this store:
    • Details of Micro Center's return policy (here)

Original Post

Written by AtlanticFox
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Select Micro Center Stores have Apple Mac Studio M5 Max Desktop Computer (2026, MHL64LL/A) for $1999.99 (In-Store Only).

Thanks to Community Member AtlanticFox for finding this deal.

Note: Select stores may be available for pickup. Availability may vary by location and is very limited.

Specs:
  • Apple M5 Max 18-Core CPU
  • 36GB Unified RAM
  • 512GB SSD
  • Apple M5 Max Chip 32-Core GPU
  • WiFi 7 (802.11be) + Bluetooth 6.0
  • 480 Watt Power Supply
  • SDXC Card Reader
  • macOS
  • Ports:
    • Front/Top Panel
      • 2x USB 3.2 (Gen 2 Type-C)
    • Back Panel
      • 2x USB 3.2 (Gen 1 Type-A)
      • 4x Thunderbolt 5
      • 1x HDMI 2.1
      • 1x LAN RJ45 (10 GbE)
      • 1x 3.5mm Headphone

Editor's Notes

Written by SubZero5 | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Our research indicates that this deal is $449.01 less (18% savings) than the next best available price from a reputable merchant with prices starting from $2,449 at the time of this post.
  • About this store:
    • Details of Micro Center's return policy (here)

Original Post

Written by AtlanticFox

Community Voting

Deal Score
+309
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Top Comments

Community Reviews

This Mac Studio stands out as a compact but powerful desktop for local AI, video work, and heavy productivity, with the M5 Max, 36GB unified memory, and lots of ports drawing the most praise. The 10Gb Ethernet, strong graphics, and lower throttling make it feel like a bigger step up than a Mac mini, and the price matchable $1,999 to $2,000 range looks unusually low for a fresh release. The main knocks are the fixed 36GB memory ceiling and 512GB SSD, which feel tight for larger LLMs and storage-heavy workflows. Availability and price matching have also been inconsistent, so timing and store stock matter.

Common Questions (5)

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225 Comments

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Sep 24, 2026 11:22 AM
182 Comments
Joined Dec 2013
CraftyThunderSep 24, 2026 11:22 AM
182 Comments
Quote from MarkT4717 View quoted comment :
Microcenter restocked this morning, so if you want to price match at Best Buy, try again. My advice, go to the store. Ask if it's in stock, have them grab it for you to ring it up. AT THAT TIME, you mention the price match when they are already at register. Show them the stock and price, they will say "no shit, that's cheap".. Call over a manager who will verify and look at it as a $2000 purchase at their store in sales, and say "fark Apple" and take the price match. Works every time.If you are in the NY/NJ/CT area, Yonkers has 3 in stock this morning, so head to a BB quick this AM..Don't bother with online.. they are trained to say no..Store level kids, don't care..
Selling out so fast that it's out of stock in my region. It had more than 6 last night. Thanks for the intel.
Sep 24, 2026 11:30 AM
12K Comments
Joined May 2005
smartdealsSep 24, 2026 11:30 AM
12K Comments
this can run LLM?
Expert
This user is an Expert in Home & Home Improvement
Sep 24, 2026 11:31 AM
5.5K Comments
Joined Oct 2013
wherestheanykey
Expert
This user is an Expert in Home & Home Improvement
Sep 24, 2026 11:31 AM
5.5K Comments
Quote from bikerbandito View quoted comment :
At what point does it make sense to use a local LLM for software development in addition to a sub to one of the frontier models like Opus? What are you guys using local LLM's for?
I've been running Qwen 3.8 27B and DeepSeek Harness for nearly a month.

It's a very capable combination and often too capable for its own good.

The highlight of DeepSeek Harness is that you can customize virtually everything about it using the model you have loaded.

This has led to way more sub-projects than I have time for.

The last one developed a hook to my case lights so it could indicate when it was done with a task or found an error.

External to that, it's been able to build Arch Linux from source with integrated customizations, decompiled drivers, solved a few crackmes that would have taken me weeks, rebuilt the Roku remote app to be less annoying, and helped deliver a child (okay, this one didn't happen).
1
Sep 24, 2026 11:39 AM
2K Comments
Joined Jun 2009
dbernie41Sep 24, 2026 11:39 AM
2K Comments
Quote from smartdeals View quoted comment :
this can run LLM?
ELI5 about this. Is this basically like running a fully local version of something like Claude and therefore don't have to pay a subscription? Or what is the benefit?
Sep 24, 2026 12:14 PM
436 Comments
Joined Oct 2008
j4jSep 24, 2026 12:14 PM
436 Comments
Quote from Solkre View quoted comment :
The m4 studio is struggling?
m4 based with upgraded memory, not the cheapest one but the one that cost 1k configurations.
Sep 24, 2026 12:46 PM
393 Comments
Joined Dec 2012
PseudoChrisSep 24, 2026 12:46 PM
393 Comments
Quote from sjug View quoted comment :
Is this a good price?
For reference, Mac M4 Pro with M4 Max, 512GB storage, and 48GB of RAM was 1799.99 at launch. Good deal for apple compute with today's standards, still a little inflated compared to yesteryear.
1
Sep 24, 2026 12:58 PM
909 Comments
Joined Jan 2010
maverickSDSep 24, 2026 12:58 PM
909 Comments
Quote from drgka55 View quoted comment :
Maybe you need more than 36gb ram for some reason. But a powerful productive desktop such as this certainly does not need more to be a capable computer. 36gb ram is plenty for almost everyone except for the AI crowd for which infinite amount of ram is not enough. Good price for a powerful machine. The SSD is undersized probably for most productive use so an external can solve that. But 36gb ram is great.
Yes I was purely speaking for myself. It's a great deal for many people.

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Sep 24, 2026 2:20 PM
247 Comments
Joined Jun 2014
EricERKSep 24, 2026 2:20 PM
247 Comments
It's a bummer we can't ship it for those of us that don't have one them in our states... Ughh.
Sep 24, 2026 2:23 PM
2K Comments
Joined Sep 2012
McWettySep 24, 2026 2:23 PM
2K Comments
Great deal, but not available within 100 miles of me. And Best Buy refused to price match. At least BF is right around the corner.
Sep 24, 2026 4:51 PM
115 Comments
Joined Dec 2019
CalmAction122Sep 24, 2026 4:51 PM
115 Comments
OOS. Will best buy price match?
Pro
Sep 24, 2026 6:17 PM
4.5K Comments
Joined Nov 2015
dshoppr
Pro
Sep 24, 2026 6:17 PM
4.5K Comments
Quote from MarkT4717 View quoted comment :
Microcenter restocked this morning, so if you want to price match at Best Buy, try again. My advice, go to the store. Ask if it's in stock, have them grab it for you to ring it up. AT THAT TIME, you mention the price match when they are already at register. Show them the stock and price, they will say "no shit, that's cheap".. Call over a manager who will verify and look at it as a $2000 purchase at their store in sales, and say "fark Apple" and take the price match.

Works every time.

If you are in the NY/NJ/CT area, Yonkers has 3 in stock this morning, so head to a BB quick this AM..

Don't bother with online.. they are trained to say no..

Store level kids, don't care..
I told "if you are unable to price match, I will just drive to microcenter and buy there."
Sep 24, 2026 10:07 PM
529 Comments
Joined May 2019
Matrix80Sep 24, 2026 10:07 PM
529 Comments
I find the 10% military discount very nice, especially when you want to configure directly from Apple.

Though, I've had good luck with AAFES. Getting a flash sale, tax free, is unbeatable.
Sep 25, 2026 3:10 AM
540 Comments
Joined May 2014

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Sep 25, 2026 3:34 AM
216 Comments
Joined Feb 2008
BearxorSep 25, 2026 3:34 AM
216 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank

Quote from CharlesCCC View quoted comment :
I got exactly the same model about 18 months ago for 1699. It is insane how AI have changed so much price on those things. (Everyone is paying the inflated price).

btw, i believe this one was 1999 Retail (and then price hiked to 2499).
Yes, exactly this same model that came out Friday. What are the powerball numbers for tomorrow?
1
3

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Sep 25, 2026 5:05 AM
660 Comments
Joined Jan 2015
tijjSep 25, 2026 5:05 AM
660 Comments
Quote from CharlesCCC View quoted comment :
I got exactly the same model about 18 months ago for 1699. It is insane how AI have changed so much price on those things. (Everyone is paying the inflated price).

btw, i believe this one was 1999 Retail (and then price hiked to 2499).
The amount of BS people spread is insane.

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