Should You Wait for Cheaper RAM? 128 GB Local AI Buyer's Guide 2026

Six ways to buy 128 GB for running big AI models at home: M5 Max Mac Studio and MacBook Pro, the M5 Ultra (which skips 128 GB entirely), Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and 495 boxes, RTX Spark N1X laptops, the DGX Spark, and the graphics-card route with the RTX 5090 and RTX PRO 6000. This is a buyer's guide, explained, not a review: prices checked on 18 October 2026, numbers I measured on my own M5 Max, and published tests, with credit. The short version: capacity decides what fits, bandwidth decides how fast it runs, and memory prices decide how long it's worth waiting. Today the 128 GB M5 Max Mac Studio ($5,099 / £5,099) costs less than a 128 GB DGX Spark (about $6,950) and has more than twice the memory bandwidth. The cheapest 128 GB I found is a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 Framework Desktop at £3,449. Analysts expect memory shortages to last into 2027 or later, so waiting for prices to fall is a gamble this time. Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:47 Why memory decides 1:55 The contenders 3:16 Prices today 5:26 The graphics card trap 6:40 Measured on my M5 Max 8:19 Laptops 9:18 The small print 10:18 Coming in the next weeks 11:16 Next year and beyond 12:06 Why waiting may cost more 13:03 Buy now or wait 14:16 Verdict Measured on my M5 Max (128 GB, llama.cpp b10229, Metal, llama-bench -p 512 -n 128 -r 3 -fa 1, 18 Oct 2026) - Qwen3.6 35B-A3B (Q4_K_M): 94.4 tok/s writing, 3,090 tok/s prompt - Qwen3 30B-A3B (Q4_K_M): 136.3 tok/s writing, 3,369 tok/s prompt - gpt-oss-120b (MXFP4): 79.2 tok/s writing, 1,266 tok/s prompt - Llama 3.3 70B (Q4_K_M): 10.8 tok/s writing, 270 tok/s prompt Main sources (checked 18 October 2026; prices move) - Apple Mac Studio M5 Max: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-studio/m5-max - Apple Mac Studio M5 Ultra: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-studio/m5-ultra - Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch M5 Max: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch-m5-max - Framework Desktop (UK): https://frame.work/gb/en/products/desktop-diy-amd-aimax300/configuration/new - AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495: https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/laptop/ryzen-pro/ai-max-pro-400-series/amd-ryzen-ai-max-plus-pro-495.html - GMKtec EVO-X5 Pro (Digital Citizen): https://www.digitalcitizen.life/gmktec-evo-x5-pro-launches-at-6599-with-ryzen-ai-max-plus-pro-495-and-192gb-memory/ - Strix Halo benchmarks (presenc.ai): https://presenc.ai/research/amd-strix-halo-local-llm-benchmarks-2026 - Strix Halo llama.cpp tests (visorcraft): https://github.com/visorcraft/strix-halo-llm-perf - RTX Spark 128 GB laptops (Scan UK): https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/nvidia-spark/nvidia-rtx-spark-n1x-128gb-laptops - Surface Laptop Ultra (Microsoft US): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/configure/surface-laptop-ultra/8wg5vqp0x4b8 - Surface RTX Spark Dev Box (Microsoft US): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/configure/surface-rtx-spark-dev-box/8wg5vqp0x4gr - StorageReview, Surface Laptop Ultra review: https://www.storagereview.com/review/microsoft-surface-laptop-ultra-for-business-review-rtx-spark-n1x - LTT Labs, RTX Spark N1X: https://www.lttlabs.com/articles/2026/10/16/nvidia-rtx-spark-n1x-review - N1 / N1X price estimates (TweakTown): https://www.tweaktown.com/news/112013/nvidias-rtx-spark-is-going-directly-after-the-macbook-pro-with-flagship-n1x-systems-expected-to-start-at-dollars2899/index.html - NVIDIA DGX Spark: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/products/workstations/dgx-spark/ - NVIDIA DGX Spark performance blog: https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/how-nvidia-dgx-sparks-performance-enables-intensive-ai-tasks - DGX Spark 128 GB at $6,950 (AI Weekly): https://aiweekly.co/alerts/nvidia-launches-64gb-dgx-spark-at-4999-as-128gb-hits-6950 - RTX 5090 prices (GPU Poet): https://gpupoet.com/gpu/learn/price/october-2026/nvidia-geforce-rtx-5090 - RTX PRO 6000 prices (Digital Citizen): https://www.digitalcitizen.life/nvidia-rtx-pro-6000-blackwell-prices-climb-past-10000-as-ai-demand-keeps-rising/ - Medusa Halo LPDDR6 leak (HotHardware): https://hothardware.com/news/amd-medusa-halo-lpddr6-leak - M6 MacBook Pro (MacRumors): https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/10/m6-macbook-pro-release-date-pricing-what-to-expect/ - DRAM outlook (PCGamesN): https://www.pcgamesn.com/ram-prices-2026-2027 My related videos - Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 explained: https://youtu.be/fzI1oZ5fe6Q - I water-cooled my M5 Max MacBook Pro: https://youtu.be/tj8z9KmWXmg - Can an M5 Max code locally?: https://youtu.be/TjhFzscnad4 - My Ryzen AI Max+ 395 tests: https://youtu.be/_cSsNsq6Mto · https://youtu.be/-HJ-VipsuSk · https://youtu.be/S264zdYB-rw · https://youtu.be/ZrcrViqBGyg Prices are list prices on the day, nothing was bought or added to a basket. Vendor claims are marked as vendor claims, rumours as rumours, and analyst forecasts as estimates.