In summary:
- Apple has revamped its online Mac purchasing system from pre-configured models to a customizable build-your-own approach where customers select display, chip, memory, and storage components.
- Macworld reports this shift toward personalized, build-to-order sales could pave the way for future advanced customization like CPU/GPU core selection in upcoming M5 MacBooks.
- The new system emphasizes budget-conscious building while potentially accommodating component price increases and maintaining real-time delivery updates for enhanced user experience.
For as long as Apple’s been selling Macs online, it has offered them in a very specific way. There’s the base model, then models with more RAM and storage, higher processor options, larger displays, etc. It requires a bit of study—some models have more storage but less RAM—but it made the pricing very clear.
If you go to buy a new Mac from Apple.com today, you’ll notice that things have changed. Instead of a variety of pre-configured options, you’ll see a single product page with “Customizable specs” that let you build your machine from the ground up. For the MacBook Pro, for example, you’ll select from the following options:
- Display size
- Color
- Screen type
- Chip
- Processing power
- Unified memory
- SSD storage
- Power adapter
- Keyboard
- Pro apps
- Payment options
- AppleCare coverage
The individual options haven’t changed—you still get 24GB of RAM standard with the M4 Pro and Max processors, for example—but the buying process puts more of an emphasis on building a machine within your budget rather than choosing from a variety of prebuilt configurations. Apple notes that base model options for each machine haven’t changed and will still be available in stores, while the price and delivery time will update in real time as options are chosen.
It’s not clear how this will affect third-party sellers such as Amazon and Best Buy, but it’s likely Apple will continue to ship common configurations.
Apple is rumored to offer the ability to customize CPU and GPU cores with the upcoming launch of the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models, so this new system could pave the way for more build-to-order options. It could also be a way to “hide” smaller price increases as memory and other component costs rise throughout 2026.
Update February 1: Added additional details.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.