Mac Studio or 16in M1 MacBook Pro first for graphic design, movie editing?

[Yoshiii33524]

Hello,

I will buy a Mac for graphic design and movie editing. I want to have a laptop and desktop.

What would be best to buy first, a M1 MacBook Pro 16in or the Mac Studio?

 

[russell_314]

Well I don’t think this question would be specific to graphic design or movie everything because those are very similar products but one is portable. Perhaps the Mac Studio would have a slight advantage especially depending on the model you get but either one will work. Another advantage of the studio would be you won’t need a dock or likely won’t because it has a significant number of ports.

My two cents would be if you need the ability to take the computer with you only one will function as a portable computer. Either one will work on a desktop computer with an external monitor.

A lot of people will buy a MacBook and never use the screen as it sits in clamshell mode on the desktop. This really puzzles me because they’re paying extra for that screen but I guess they don’t think about that.

 

[JaredJenkinsDesign]

Graphic Designer here. I have the M1 Max Mac Studio and it's overkill for Graphic Design (although I bought it for other creative tasks besides Graphic Design).

Since you want both a laptop and desktop and are doing Graphic Design and video editing, M1 Pro MacBook would make the most sense here. Use your MacBook in clamshell mode at your desk (or as a secondary screen) and you can take it with you on the go.

 

[Strider64]

I'm old school as I been using desktops since the 1980s 😂 and while I did try a laptop for my desktop the justification for me just wasn't there. So I went back to the desktop with the Studio Max and while it's a little bit of an overkill, I have found out it's better to have more features and options than not to have them. This is especially true with Apple with the closed system designs and reluctance to allow users to even upgrade the memory or storage. I hope Apple continues with the Studio as I like the feature just to add the computer and use the existing monitor that I have, plus it's easier to move from one location to another if I really have to. My advice if you really need to be mobile when using a computer go with the M1 Pro MacBook, but if the computer is going to sit in the same locations for days on end seriously look into the Studio. However, MacBook will fit your needs very well and I don't think you can go wrong with either option.

 

[TightLines]

I was faced with same question some time ago and have decided i am going with the MacBook Pro w/M1 Max chip and reasonably with RAM, Storage, and increased GPU Cores. I was going to do the Mac Studio + a MBA for when traveling, but Apple seemingly has decided to not address the widely reported whining sound thats inflicting some of the Mac Studios. The MacBook Pro will cover both objectives, and I save money in the long run.

I will see how the Mac Studio looks in my next technology refresh cycle and reevaluate then… but I won’t be spending money on a product, or taking a chance on one that potentially has a design or manufacturing defect. Thats way too much money to not be completely happy.

 

[theluggage]

I will buy a Mac for graphic design and movie editing. I want to have a laptop and desktop.

With Intel Macs, there used to be a significant performance difference between the mobile processors in laptops and the desktop processors & GPUs, but with Apple Silicon it's all the same, and the difference between a M1 Max in a laptop and M1 Max in a Studio is maybe slightly better & quieter performance under load because of the better cooling.

Apart from that, the Mac Studio has more ports than the MBP (you'll need to use at least one to attach a display, but you're still ahead of the game - but the MBP still has pretty good I/O & you can get more if you add a TB4 hub).

With Apple Silicon, I think it really comes down to whether you prefer desktop or laptop:

- if you're never going to use your Mac for video/graphics work "on the road", get a desktop (& maybe an iPad or Air for mobile basics)
- otherwise, get a MacBook Pro, a large display and external keyboard & mouse.


In your case, I'd suggest starting with a M1 Pro MBP + screen/keyboard/mouse and use that to explore whether you really need a (a) a separate desktop and (b) whether you could take advantages of a M1 Max (which is mainly just extra GPU cores and an extra media processor). If you do go on to get a Studio, you'd already have the screen and keyboard...

If you really want to have two separate systems, that's fine - but with Apple Silicon it's not really a necessity brought on by performance differences. If you're absolutely definitely getting both long-term then be aware that the Studio is only about 6 months old and unlikely to be updated for a while, whereas the 16" MacBook Pro is coming up to it's 1st birthday and may be getting an update to M2 before the end of the year. However, nobody knows for sure that this will happen & we're still in the dark about how often we can expect Apple Silicon machines to get updates. There's always a rumour of new models coming out real soon now...

Apple seemingly has decided to not address the widely reported whining sound thats inflicting some of the Mac Studios.

It's hard to say whether this is a serious problem just by looking at posts. Whatever machine you buy, a proportion are delivered faulty. There are also two separate issues - some people are definitely hearing a distracting whine (which is a fault) - others are disappointed that the Studio fan runs continually and isn't 100% silent (but it is very quiet and rarely, if ever, revs up - whereas other Macs are dead silent when idle but get quite noisy under load) & are possibly getting obsessive as a result.

My approach would be: the Mac Studio shouldn't whine audibly. If you get one and it whines, get a replacement. If the replacement whines, return it and get your money back.