The Mac Studio is compact, cool and crazy powerful!

The Mac Studio is easy to forget about, and I mean that in a good way. Sure, Apple’s new desktop is one of the fastest computers I’ve ever tested, but it packs all of that power into a compact, clean design that’s been sitting discreetly under my monitor.

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That combination of big performance within a not-so-big box makes the Studio very compelling, especially for creatives who need lots of video, graphics or music production muscle but don’t have a ton of desk space. But you’ll also have to pay up for the privilege, with a starting price of $1,999 that can quickly balloon to thousands more — especially if you want Apple’s extra-blazing 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 raises the question: Who should actually buy a Mac Studio? I spent the past week with Apple’s tiny but beastly desktop to figure that out.

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32 comments

    1. Yeah, it does. That is what a system like this is mainly for. (High, professional workloads, especially in the editing/rendering/game creating business.) Ignore the other stupids in this comment section.

    2. @Randitha Philip Nope, Apple Silicon does not thermal throttle anymore, that was an issue with the Intel laptops. M1’s, M1 Pro’s, M1 Ultras, and M1 Max’s do not thermal throttle unless you are doing something nobody else would do.

    3. @Janet Airlines Why are a bunch of uneducated people like you speaking here? Samsung, Google, HP, Microsoft, and whatever device you are currently using was likely made by a slave. So are clothes and other household products. If you really care, speak out about all the companies using slaves.

    4. @Randitha Philip New macs don’t have cooling problems with the new Apple chips. Even apps that are designed for Intel are running cool on Apple silicon.
      I think Blender is well optimized for Apple silicon but i don’t use that software so I can’t judge.

    1. @Mactastic Yeah, it’s pricy. Not quite that bad in Germany right now but between 1k and 1.5k Euro depending on model. 

      Most gaming systems in use today will have something around 1060/1070 level GPU performance or less. Most gaming systems sold today I would guess around 3060 level. 3080+ is definitely just the top 10-15%, if that.

    1. “19”99″ is often used together instead of saying “one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine”, it is quicker.

    2. @Medusa — “$19.99” sounds like less than “twenty dollars,” even though it’s only a penny less.

  1. You only need this if you are an actual consumption-content type creator. It’s not for gaming, and it’s not for doing engineering design work. And it’s definitely not for simple internet consumption.
    To everyone complaining about the prices, our late 90’s and early 2000’s PC prices were in the same price ballpark…so this is actually cheaper than what we used to have.

  2. There’s a tech guy called H B1den whose expertise is in laptop maintenance. I hope CNN covers his meteoric rise in the laptop business

  3. I’ve got the original M1 mini Mac and it is crazy powerful… I can only imagine how powerful the studio version is.

  4. I think the base model is good enough for most people, but I’m going to upgrade to 64GB ram and 2TB storage to future proof. I’m currently using a 2012 Mac Mimi with dual 1080P monitors, so looking forward to a real modern computer.

  5. Iffy power supply connectors and completely unrepairable. The peripherals like keyboard etc. are also overpriced and sub standard, but that has never put off any Apple zealot. Buy at your own peril.

  6. Their new processors are honestly amazing in terms of both performance and heat regulation. If apple puts forth an effort to open up their platform for gaming they could contend but it is unlikely to happen. I am looking forward to the architecture shift on PC when amd and Intel catch up though. It will be nice to not require a Goliath refrigerator esq monstrosity startling motherboards to maintain a solid gaming rig.

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