Like most in the tech community, we were surprised when Apple revealed an entirely new Mac — the Mac Studio at its March event. It was rumored that Apple might release a more recent version of the MacBook Air or even a budget MacBook, but no one saw the Studio coming. The good news is that we love it for what it is. We have plenty of thoughts.
This Apple Mac Studio review will talk about what it is, who it is for, and why it is such a great option for the right professionals.
What is the new 2022 Mac Studio?
The all-new Apple Mac Studio is a desktop computer targeted at creative professionals, hence the name, we guess. The Mac Studio specs include Apple’s own M1 Max chip or the newer M1 Ultra chip powering the machine.
The Apple Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra chip is geared towards professionals who want a PC to handle exceptionally heavy loads.
Although the Mac Studio with M1 Max chip is a capable machine, we were more excited about the M1 Ultra version during our Apple Mac Studio review. The M1 Ultra is essentially two M1 Max chips fused with some Apple magic, well, a low-latency interface for the muggles!
It means that the M1 Ultra can be twice as fast as the M1 Max chips, which are very fast.
The Apple Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra chip is geared towards professionals who want a PC to handle exceptionally heavy loads like rendering 3D animations and compiling and testing codes across several virtual devices.
Although the Studio is not the most powerful Mac to be ever made by a long shot, it most definitely has carved a big chunk out of the Mac Pro’s market.
2022 Mac Studio price and release date
The official release date of the 2022 Apple Mac Studio was 18 March 2022. The M1 Max powered machine starts at $1999 with a 24 core GPU and 32GB memory. It will cost you an additional $200 to bump up the configuration from 24 to 32 cores and $400 to upgrade the memory from 32 to 64 GB.
The more powerful M1 Ultra model will set you back $3999 with an option to upgrade from 48 to 64 core GPU for an additional $1000 and from 64GB to 128GB memory for an additional $800.
2022 Apple Mac Studio Features
Although a bit taller, the all-new Mac Studio resembles the familiar Mac Mini. According to the Mac Studio spec sheet, it measures 7.7 inches in length and breadth and 3.7 inches in height. According to Apple, it should fit under most displays. In our Apple Mac Studio review, we found that the two cooling fans help keep everything nice and cool.
As far as connectivity goes, you get a power socket in the center of the back panel and-
- Thunderbolt 4 ports (X4)
- 10GB ethernet port (X1)
- USB-A ports (X2)
- HDMI port (X1)
- 3.5 mm audio jack compatible with high impedance headphones
- Wi-Fi 6.0 and Bluetooth 5.0
The unique selling proposition of the 2022 Mac Studio is an incredibly powerful machine in a very small form factor. The M1 Ultra is the way to go if you want raw power. A 20-core CPU that can go up to 64-cores and 32 neural engine cores make the M1 Ultra a beast of a processor.
Who should buy the 2022 Mac Studio?
One of the important purposes of this Apple Mac Studio review is to help you make a buying decision. With that said, for most people, the Mac Studio will be overkill. Consider buying this beast of a machine if:
- You are a professional with intensive workloads consisting of rendering 3D animation or compiling heavy code. If you use pro apps like Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve, you will appreciate the power of this desktop.
- If you haven’t upgraded your computer for a long time and need a powerful compact desktop to run almost anything, you can throw it at it.
Don’t buy the machine if you won’t be using all the power it offers, especially if you are on a tighter budget. If you need an upgrade, consider the Mac Mini, it is a very capable machine for most people.