By: Mike Andronico
The Mac Studio is easy to forget and I mean that in a good way.
Sure, Apple's new desktop gadget is one of the fastest computers I've tested, but it packs all that power into a neat, compact design that sits unobtrusively under my monitor.
That combination of big performance in a not-so-big box makes Mac Studio very attractive, especially for creatives who need a lot of power for video, graphics, or music production, but don't have a ton of desktop space.
But they'll also have to pay quite a bit of money for the privilege since it starts at $1,999 and that's much higher if you want Apple's new M1 Ultra processor.
There's also the fact that Apple's standard M1 Macs are still ridiculously powerful for the average person's workload, which begs the question: Who really should buy a Mac Studio?
I spent the past week with Apple's beastly little desktop accessory to figure it out.
who, what and how
Who it's for:
Mac Studio is for creative professionals who want the best processing performance you can find.
It's also great for people who want tons of power but don't have much space, thanks to a compact design that can fit under almost any monitor.
What you need to know:
Mac Studio offers your choice of Apple's fastest processors, the M1 Max and M1 Ultra, and in our tests, it offers some of the best overall speeds we've seen from any computer.
It packs all this muscle into a small cube that offers a good number of connectivity options, including a host of Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-A ports.
How it compares:
The Studio is the middle child of Apple's desktop lineup, offering more power and connectivity than the $699 Mac Mini, but not as many high-end configuration options as the Mac Pro that starts at $699. $5,999.
Our Mac Studio with M1 Max outperformed nearly every Mac and PC we've tested in terms of overall processing power, only falling behind dedicated gaming desktops when it came to graphics.
A compact design that you can strain anywhere
Compact, curvaceous and unassuming, the Mac Studio is basically a thicker Mac Mini, and that's a good thing.
Apple's new desktop is just 7.7 inches wide and 3.7 inches tall, sporting a sleek, all-silver look that's ideal for even the tightest of workspaces.
I currently have it under an Apple Studio display along with a Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, which combine to create a clean, minimalist workspace that still leaves plenty of room on my desk.
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Despite its small size, the Mac Studio provides plenty of useful ports for accessories and displays.
You get two USB-C ports on the front, as well as an SDXC card slot for quick access to photos and videos from a camera.
On the back, you'll find four Thunderbolt 4 ports (the latest standard for powering high-resolution displays and enabling fast data transfers), an Ethernet port for wired Internet, an HDMI port for traditional monitors and TVs, a headphone jack, and , above all, two USB-A ports.
I'm especially pleased with the inclusion of USB-A, as I still rely on many accessories that use the old connection standard.
While the latest 24-inch iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro forced me to use a USB-C adapter to connect my webcam or music interface, the Studio simply lets me plug in and use all of those peripherals.
I wish the power button was on the front to make booting a bit easier, but overall the Studio is a well-designed compact PC that does more than the Mac Mini without taking up a lot of extra space.
Best performance on a Mac
Don't let its small design fool you: the Mac Studio is one of the most powerful Macs ever.
It offers Apple's two highest-end processors: the M1 Max, which debuted in the 2021 MacBook Pros, and the new M1 Ultra, which is effectively two M1 Max chips fused together and promises to run circles around just about every Mac available.
We haven't had a chance to test an M1 Ultra Mac Studio yet, but even my review unit, which packs a 32-core M1 Max chip and 64GB of RAM, shows some of the most impressive performance I've seen.
Mac Studio allowed me to seamlessly work through a massive Final Cut Studio project, playing and scrolling between nine simultaneous 8K video streams without stuttering.
And when it came time to export everything to a single 4K video, it took the studio just 22 seconds to finish the job.
Apple's desktop was equally quick when it came to jamming in Ableton Live, exporting an intricate 16-track electronic music project in just 24 seconds.
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Mac Studio's blistering real-world performance was also reflected in our tests, where it outperformed nearly every PC we've tested.
On Geekbench 5, which measures overall performance, the studio scored a very impressive 12,792.
The only machine that has come close to that in our tests is our 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip (12,463), and it beats even higher-end gaming PCs with the latest Intel Core i7 chips by a margin. significant.
If you're wondering how this compares to a machine with a standard M1 processor, Mac Studio's raw computing speed is about 40% faster than the latest 24-inch iMac.
This little box is also no slouch when it comes to graphics.
It handled the cinematic action of 'Shadow of the Tomb Raider' at up to 88 frames per second (fps) at 1080p, and 32fps at 4K.
We find at least 60fps to be ideal for smooth, immersive gaming, and at least 30fps for basic gameplay.
To put that number into perspective, the standard iMac iM1 struggled to run the game at 30fps at a low 900p resolution.
At the other end of the spectrum, most of the gaming PCs we've tested with Nvidia's high-end RTX 3080 graphics card more than doubled the 1080p and 4K scores we saw in Mac Studio.
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So while the Mac Studio with M1 Max isn't quite on that level, it's more than capable of pumping out high-end gaming performance, which is especially impressive considering it lacks a graphics card.
We still wouldn't recommend buying a Mac solely for gaming, but the M1 Max chip will give you plenty of power to do graphics work or play games on Steam.
Which Mac Studio is for you?
The performance of Mac Studio will vary depending on how you configure it, and there are many options to do so.
This Apple gadget starts at $1,999 with an M1 Max processor (10-core CPU, 24-core GPU), 32GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, but that price quickly skyrockets into the thousands once it starts. to perform updates.
To give you an idea of what a more expensive model looks like, my review unit includes an M1 Max with a faster 32-core GPU, as well as 64GB of RAM and a much larger 2TB SSD for storage, all which costs USD$3,199.
You'll have to pay at least that much if you want the more powerful M1 Ultra processor (32-core CPU), which itself can be upgraded with an even beefier 64-core GPU for an additional $1,000.
The M1 Ultra is the only model to feature Thunderbolt 4 ports on the front, and the only variation that lets you add up to 128GB of RAM.
Both versions of the Studio can be equipped with up to 8TB of SSD storage, ensuring you'll virtually never run out of space.
It's also worth noting that you'll need to separately purchase your own mouse, keyboard, and monitor for the Mac Studio, whether you opt to get a Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse or go with a cheaper third-party option.
Still, even with all those extras included, the Studio is a lot cheaper than the Mac Pro tower, which starts at $5,999.
In conclusion
It's easy to say that Mac Studio is the most powerful Mac ever, with more than enough muscle to power through almost any video editing, 3D rendering, or music production workload.
It's a little harder to say who should buy one.
If all you care about is a compact PC, you can pick up a much cheaper $699 Mac Mini starting at $699, complete with a standard M1 processor which, while not quite as searing as an M1 Max or Ultra, is still better. than the average Windows computer.
And if you prefer an all-in-one, the $1,299 24-inch iMac offers an equally excellent M1 experience complete with a gorgeous display, rich speakers, and a included mouse and keyboard.
If you're a true power user who wants a wide range of configuration options (and the flexibility to swap out new components over time), there's also the more modular Mac Pro that starts at $5,999.
However, we recommend waiting until Apple Silicon hits that desktop version before buying one.
That leaves Mac Studio as a premium middle ground for creatives who want rock-solid performance.
It's a hefty investment, but one that offers a lot for those who really need that kind of power.
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