Apple concluded this year’s Peek Performance event with the announcement of Mac Studio, which is the company’s most powerful desktop computer yet. Mac Studio is bigger this year, to fit Apple’s M1 Max processor as well as its new flagship M1 Ultra processor.
The newly introduced Mac Studio measures 9.5cm in height and 19.7cm in width and depth, making it a rather portable version of a desktop computer. If we talk about the build quality, the Mac Studio is manufactured from a single piece of aluminum, fitted with a massive thermal system for heat dissipation.
In terms of ports selection, there are a number of options provided on the back. This includes four Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, a 10 Gbit Ethernet, two USB-A ports, one HDMI, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a power connector.
On the front, the M1 Max Mac Studio comes with two 10 Gbps USB-C ports and a UHS-II SDXC card slot. While the M1 Ultra Mac Studio, on the other hand, makes use of two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C instead. It also comes with an integrated speaker in case you don’t have headphones or dedicated speakers available.
Mac Studio provides two choices of processors, either the M1 Max or the M1 Ultra, which is essentially two M1 Max glued together.
Additionally, the M1 Max can be configured with a 32-core GPU, while the M1 Ultra can be configured with up to a 64-core GPU. Furthermore, each chipset can be equipped with 64GB or even 128GB of unified memory with a choice of 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB of 7.4GB/s SSD storage.
The M1 Ultra-powered Mac Studio offers up to 90 percent better CPU performance than a Mac Pro with a 16-core Xeon processor and is up to 60% faster than a 28-core Mac Pro. However, graphics-wise the Mac Studio is up to 80 percent faster than the fastest Mac GPU available in the market right now.
Apple’s Mac Studio is available for pre-order and will start shipping from March 18th. The M1 Max variant retails at $1,999 while the M1 Ultra configuration starts at $3,999.
