Mac Studio & Studio Display are at Apple Stores now, but you won't get the best deal

Apple Birmingham in the UK. Even international Apple Stores have stocks of the new Mac Studio and Studio Display

If you order online, you now have to wait weeks to get a Studio Display, and months to get a Mac Studio. You can instead skip all of that delay and buy from a local Apple Store — but you won't get the best deals or custom configs.

Apple always keeps a stock of its latest devices to be included in stores on the first day of availability. It doesn't always put every device in every store - not all got the Mac Pro, for instance - but most stores get most things. And they want to sell them to you.

Which does mean that instead of ordering a Mac Studio online now and not getting it until May, you can get one today. The process even begins the same way with you placing an order on the online Apple Store.

The difference is that you can elect to pick up in store and then once your order is placed, just go there and get it. In most cases you can also pay a fee to have the Mac Studio couriered from the store to your door.

Consequently, it can seem absurd to order online and wait. And for many people, it truly is.

But not for everyone.

What you lose by ordering direct from an Apple Store

The Studio Display, and especially the Mac Studio, come in a series of different configurations. For the Mac Studio, Apple highlights two of them - and they are the only ones you can buy in store.

Apple's online page shows a choice of the base M1 Max version of the Mac Studio, and the base M1 Ultra version. Minimum RAM and minimum storage.

When you change anything at all, whether it's the RAM or that you want Final Cut Pro installed, you're out of luck. No Store can help you.

However, if either of those were what you wanted to buy, getting them from the Apple Store is ideal. Or almost ideal.

What you gain by not ordering through Apple

Apple never runs sales, but even with a brand-new device like the Mac Studio, you can save money by ordering from third-party resellers.

The first savings are already available, with offers that see between $200 and $400 off Apple's prices. The savings depend on the configuration, and that configuration also affects the shipping date.

With multiple discount offers from several retailers, and all changing as stocks sell out, it's not possible to estimate one shipping time. But at up to $400 off, there are as many good reasons to buy online as there are direct from Stores.