New new Mac Studio with M1 Ultra SOC

[SpyderTracks]

So, this is a bit of a beaut I reckon, although of course as with anything wait for 3rd party reviews.

We know the performance of the M1 is pretty impressive.

This is basically 2 x M1 Max chips sewn together with up to 128Gb on die RAM.

Starts at $2000 for the M1 Max design - 10 core CPU, 24 Core GPU and 16 core Neural Engine

Starts at $4000 for the M1 Ultra design which is essentially doubling up on everything - 20 core CPU, 48 core GPU and 32 core Neural Engine

Mac Studio

The new Mac Studio. Supercharged by the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chip. Extensive connectivity. Stunningly compact.

www.apple.com

It's essentially just the Mac mini doubled in height and with far better IO support.


I have absolutely zero requirement for anything like this kind of graphical power, the Mac Mini is far more suited to my audio stuff.

BUT MY GOD DO I WANT ONE

 

[TonyCarter]

Just ordered mine for delivery in about 10 days.

It will replace an ageing 27” 5k i7 iMac. I was hoping for a new 27” or larger iMac, but this will cover about the same footprint and I’ve remembered to configure it with the VESA mount option this time (not changeable afterwards, and I don’t want to have to Jerry rig it to my ergotron arm this time).

Only gone for the entry-level option as it‘s more than enough for my graphic design (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Quark Xpress) and Microsoft Office uses.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just ordered mine for delivery in about 10 days.

You got the damn screen also!!! OMG, I'm so jealous, that's gonna be insanely gorgeous!!!

 

[TonyCarter]

Pity it’s 60Hz (not much point in higher for a DTP/graphic design build) but might still be worth trying to see if I can get the PC to connect to it and see what a 3080Ti can do with 5k 🤣

That Alienware ultra wide OLED might be on the back-burner for a while now…unless I don’t like the Studio screen and decide to go another way 😏

 

[AgentCooper]

I look forward to listening to my iTunes library and playing FTL whilst telling my infant son that he didn’t need to go to university. He’ll understand when he’s older.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Pity it’s 60Hz (not much point in higher for a DTP/graphic design build) but might still be worth trying to see if I can get the PC to connect to it and see what a 3080Ti can do with 5k 🤣

That Alienware ultra wide OLED might be on the back-burner for a while now…unless I don’t like the Studio screen and decide to go another way 😏

I am a little suprised they didn't do 120Hz as a lot of pro media monitors are doing that now.

 

[TonyCarter]

I’m actually glad the upgrade levels were so expensive, or I might have been even more tempted by extra power that I’d never use.

 

[TonyCarter]

I am a little suprised they didn't do 120Hz as a lot of pro media monitors are doing that now.

We’ll, it doesn’t actually say it’s 60Hz, but if it was more I am sure they’d have made a big song & dance about it.

 

[dani72]

As usual with Apple everything is overpriced.

Of course Apple is charging $150 for a Thunderbolt cable (techradar)

 

[TonyCarter]

I get one with my monitor, so that means the monitor must be a bargain 😏

 

[TonyCarter]

Well, it's here...and it's a bit 'chonkier' than I thought it would be!

Anyway, here's my Geekbench 'CPU' score for it, and the 2 PCs closest to me...

...and the other 'Compute' benchmark scores...

 

[TonyCarter]

Finally got my Studio Monitor (had to wait for the special-order VESA mount version)...and it's beautiful, although strangely smaller looking than the iMac it replaced. Obviously the screen size & resolution are identical, but the Studio Display has much smaller bezels and no Jimmy Hill chin at the bottom.

I've even got it to work at 5k with my gaming PC - albeit only after trying 5 different 'guaranteed 8k' DisplayPort to Thunderbolt/USB-C cables...at £15-£50 each.

However, there's something strange going on, as the FPS is exactly half whatever I set it at in game, so if I want to max out it's 60Hz, I have to set the game to target 120fps...and then if I do that at 5k resolution (doesn't sound much bigger than 4k, but it's 1.7 times the pixels), the display will flick on & off every 10 seconds. 4k is worse in that it sometimes won't even display at all. This is also very game dependent...FH5 was fine, and looked lush on 5k & ultra settings (might as well use Ultra as there's no point going down to low settings to get 200fps on this screen anyway). AC Valhalla looks great too, but I can only reliably get it to work at some odd size between 1440p and 4k.

More testing required, but don't think I'll be using it as my permanent 'gaming' monitor...will have to wait for a 4k OLED for that...or the Alienware AW3423DW (but would rather have a bit more height than just same height but 50% wider).