REVIEW: MAC STUDIO APPLE FLEXES ITS MIGHT (AND MUSCLES)

A POWER GAP IN THE MAC LINEUP FILLS IN WITH A BUFFEDUP MEDIA MASTER.

- ROMAN LOYOLA

As the M1 rollout continues in the Mac lineup, Apple is now in the part of the cycle where the computers aren't for everyone. The Macs being introduced late in the transition are meant for users who think M1 fast isn't fast enough and need every ounce of processing power they can get. Those Macs are also an investment that is anything but affordable for the general consumer audience.

The Mac Studio is ideal for content creators of any level. But here's the thing: The Mac Studio's performance over the M1 in the Mac mini (fave.co/33h00Wq) or 24-inch iMac (fave.co/3AvIV7y) isn't just a marginal boost like we used to see with Intel-based Macs-it's a serious speed improvement. Add to that an attractive mix of features, and you'll find in Mac Studio a computer that is attractive to any power user, regardless of the kind of work they do. It's worth the investment at all levels.

(Apple offers two standard configurations of the Mac Studio, a $1,999 Mac Studio with an M1 Max System on a Chip [SoC] and a $3,999 Mac Studio with an M1 Ultra. This review looks at a customized version of the entry-level Mac Studio with an M1 Max that has a 32-core GPU, 64GB of unified memory, and a 2TB SSD that sells for $3,199.)

PRACTICAL DESIGN

Saying the Mac Studio looks like a Mac mini on steroids is a pretty spot-on way to describe it. It measures 7.7 inches square, the same as the Mac mini, but it's 3.7 inches tall, nearly three times the height of the Mac mini. When placed underneath the Studio Display (see page 27), there's about an inch's worth of clearance.