Form and Design

When it comes to design, Mac Studio is the definition of overcorrected. Its sturdy chassis, nearly the size of three Mac minis stacked on top of one another, is neither pretty nor elegant.

Contrary to past approaches, Apple designed this computer by first determining what users wanted in terms of performance and functionality, and then sculpting the machine around those parameters. The Mac Studio isn't an ugly machine, but it's a clear departure from Jony Ive's vision of what a desktop computer should be, and frankly, it's a breath of fresh air.

That’s not to say Mac Studio doesn’t have well-designed areas. For example, the unit is short enough to fit safely underneath Apple's new 27-inch Studio Display. It also features beautifully designed intake and exhaust systems. The Mac Studio isn't completely silent, but it's quiet enough that you'll have to make some effort to hear it, even under considerable load.

Input and Output

Outside of the Mac Pro, the Mac Studio is the only computer Apple makes with more than four USB-C ports. On the M1 Ultra version of the machine, all of the USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 4 ports, which is very convenient for someone like me who is immersed in the Thunderbolt ecosystem.

The cheaper M1 Max-powered Mac Studio lacks the necessary bandwidth to have six Thunderbolt ports, downgrading the front two ports to "10Gbps" USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports. To me this is disappointing, but for most people the four Thunderbolt 4 ports and the two USB 3.1 ports provide more than enough USB-C I/O.

two Next to the front USB-C port is an SDXC card slot that supports UHS-II. This is a perfect addition for those who frequently offload photos and videos from their digital cameras. Although not as fast as CFExpress (the storage medium used by many modern cameras), SD cards are still more common. Even some of the latest cameras that can capture 8K video support shooting directly to an SD card.

I've recently been testing Canon's R5c hybrid mirrorless camera, which has the newer HEVC codec and has a very reasonable 540Mbps data rate. This data rate is just right for the V90 SD card. In fact, memory card maker Wise has just announced the V90, which has a maximum capacity of 512GB, the largest such V90 memory card to date, and is capable of storing up to two hours of 8K video shot with the R5c. Stay tuned because in upcoming posts and videos I'll be discussing why the R5c is such a great camera and ideal Mac Studio companion.

##The excellent Canon R5c will 8K HEVC Capture to SD Card

When you look at the back of a Mac Studio, you don't feel like you're looking at the back of an Intel Mac mini. Outside of the port arrangement, the types of I/O are very similar. On the back of the Mac Studio are four Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports, a 10GbE port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, and a 3.5mm headphone output.

With Mac Unlike the mini, 10GbE comes standard on all Mac Studio machines, making it perfect for connecting to NAS boxes and even things like Blackmagic Design's new Cloud Store. While not as fast as Thunderbolt, 10GbE can travel longer distances and entire networks can be designed around it.

##Leverage 10GbE with 10GbE-capable switches, Synology NAS, and 5Gb AT&T Fiber Advantages

In my case, I connected my Mac Studio to a TP-Link 10G unmanaged Ethernet switch, a Synology NAS with a 10GbE card, and a 5Gbps AT&T fiber optic internet connection. What's great is that all of these networking components are located in another area of ??the house away from my office, which means I don't have to worry about the noise coming from my Synology NAS when a Time Machine backup decides to run.

Of course, I can't forget to mention one of the biggest I/O advantages of Mac Studio compared to M1-based machines. The M1 Mac mini only supports one Thunderbolt display up to 6K resolution, while the Mac Studio supports four 6K Pro Display XDR or 5K Studio displays simultaneously. There's support for five monitors at once in all Mac Studio, and if you count it's also the ability to connect to a 4K monitor via HDMI.

Performance

I've tested both the base model Mac Studio and the more powerful M1 Ultra model, which comes with a 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 128GB of unified memory, and a 1TB SSD. I have a lot of thoughts about both machines, but one of the talking points you're likely to hear in the tech community is that the M1 Ultra isn't a great value.

This talking point is broadly true in some areas. For example, 9to5Mac's Miles Somerville ran a video editing test of both machines and found that while the M1 Ultra had slightly better export and render times in Final Cut Pro, the difference in his workflow was barely commensurate with the $2,000-plus price difference. .

Made-to-order options

But here’s where it gets interesting. As with anything, different needs and different workflows will determine whether you should upgrade any made-to-order parts when configuring your Mac Studio.

The following are my key observations after testing these two machines back-to-back, primarily from a video editor perspective, but also in other areas. First off, I'm glad Apple chose to give users 32GB of unified memory as a starting point. 16GB of RAM isn't enough for a desktop computer, and you'll quickly start running out of RAM and switching to a much slower SSD with only a few apps open. If you edit video, especially higher resolution 6K or 8K workflows, you'll start swapping to disk as soon as you open some Final Cut projects.

Only 16GB of RAM to quickly swap out disks

That being said, if you can, I believe 64GB of unified memory is the best choice a). bear additional costs, and b). Due to backorders for build-to-order configurations, wait times can be weeks or even months.

I've always noticed that storage is really the only thing on modern Apple computers that can be "upgraded" because of Thunderbolt connectivity. In the past, I've been quick to give up on internal storage upgrades because of their high cost compared to external media.

But depending on the type of work you do, internal storage upgrades are an area that shouldn't be ignored on Apple Silicon. If you regularly work with large files (3D renderings, video editing, etc.) then you should consider upgrading your internal storage if you can afford it.

I think most people don't really appreciate how fast Apple's internal storage is and how much of an impact it has on overall system performance when dealing with large amounts of data. Not only does a larger SSD help from the standpoint of being able to store more files, but the drive gets faster as the size increases. Regardless, Apple's internal SSD is going to be much faster than not running around external media. Even most Thunderbolt SSDs can't compete unless you dig into some very expensive NVMe-based RAID setups, and Apple's $2,400 asking price for an 8TB SSD is pretty competitive by comparison.

In case you haven't noticed, the machine Apple used to benchmark Mac Studio's ability to handle multiple 8K Pro Res video streams has 8TB of designated storage. I don't think this is a coincidence, because when you start moving a dozen semi-streaming 8K videos around at the same time, fast storage is essential. Apple notes that a Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra can play 18 simultaneous streams of 8K Pro Res 422 video, and while my Mac Studio has the necessary CPU and GPU credentials, the 1TB of storage seemed to serve as a bottleneck in my testing. This resulted in the last four 8K video streams dropping frames below real-time levels during playback.

While basic video workflows don’t work when upgrading to higher spec Mac Studio versions There will be huge gains, but slogging through more demanding work, like editing a feature-length movie with multiple 8K video streams, would definitely benefit from a more powerful build-to-order configuration. There's also the matter of machine learning tasks in Final Cut Pro. and other applications increasingly rely on these tasks. Equipped with a 32-core Neural Engine, M1 Ultra will be able to perform operations faster such as motion tracking and the new voice isolation feature in Final Cut Pro 10.6.2.

But apparently Mac Studio isn’t just for Born for video. Application developers will benefit from improved compile times with the M1 Ultra’s 20-core CPU, while training ML models using platforms like TensorFlow will benefit from the additional GPU cores. Even though these are far from my area of ??expertise, I was able to see tangible benefits when running tests across both disciplines.

Photo by 9to5Mac

The following people should consider purchasing a Mac Studio:

• Mac mini users looking for more I/O and power
• Mac Pro Users Converting Work to Apple Silicon
• Other Apple Users Looking for an Always-On Desktop Solution

Even the basic Mac Studio is a great overall computer, And it's significantly more usable than any M1 Mac Apple sells. It has more I/O than any other Apple Silicon desktop option, runs quieter than any of the company's laptops, and has relatively generous specs for a $1,999 base model.

## One of the main disadvantages of #Mac Studio is that, like the Mac mini, you need to already own a monitor or buy one. Of course, this device pairs perfectly with Apple's new 27-inch Studio Display, but adds another $1,599 to the purchase price. If that's not the case, you might consider the M1 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro, a very capable laptop with a screen size that's better than the Studio Display in several notable ways. Either that, or wait for the cheaper M2-powered Mac mini coming later this year.

While the Mac mini is more of a niche product, the Mac Studio is very useful in almost every way. Just add a monitor, keyboard and mouse and you're ready to go. I just wish it were black because it would look less awkward.

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