The brand new Mac Studio was introduced during the Peek Performance Apple event, but what can it do?
The Studio packs the new M1 Ultra chip, making it the most powerful Mac that Apple currently has to offer. It’s essentially a more powerful (and larger) version of the Mac Mini, and can plug into external monitors like the new Apple Studio Display.
Scroll down for everything you need to know about the Mac Studio and be sure to bookmark this page as we’ll be updating this article as more information about this PC comes out.
Price
The Mac Studio comes in two different varieties, with the M1 Max option starting at $1999/£1999, and the M1 Ultra starting at $3999/£3999.
Release date
You can order the Mac Studio from today, with the desktop becoming officially available on 18 March, so you won’t have to wait too long.
Design
The Mac Studio looks very similar to the Mac Mini, with the desktop coming in at 7.7-inches long and 3.7-inches high, meaning it should fit easily onto any desk and will be relatively portable.
On the back of the Mac Studio, there are four Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 10GB Ethernet port, an HDMI port, a pro audio jack port and two USB-A ports. The front also houses two USB-C ports, or two Thunderbolt ports when you choose the M1 Ultra, as well as an SD card for easy access.
Apple also mentioned the new cooling system, which has a double-sided blower that pulls air into the machine to be sent through the appropriate channels to the thermal module. The company claims that this will keep it running cool and quiet, though we will have to test that claim once we get the chance.
Specs
The specs are where this desktop really shines, as the Studio will come with two processor options, the M1 Max, as well as the new M1 Ultra, which is now the most powerful chip in the Apple Silicon range.
It also features 114 billion transistors, which is a massive leap forward compared to the 57 billion found on the M1 Max.
Choosing the M1 Ultra you will be treated to up to a 20-core CPU with the GPU going as high as 64-cores, with Apple pushing this as a great device for creative work.
Apple claims that the Studio with M1 Ultra has an 80% GPU increase when compared to the Mac Pro, with it being 4.5x faster than the 27-inch iMac when concerning GPU, as well.
While we haven’t been able to test it out for ourselves, we would expect that the Mac Studio is a powerhouse when it comes to intensive creative work, with up to 128GB of unified memory and up to 800GB/s of memory band
It will be running on macOS Monterey and will support Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.9.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
