Mac Studio Performance - Disappointing News

[eddie_ducking]

You lucky ... err individual ? **sensored** ... I got my Ultra on launch day and it was 2 weeks ago, not 3 ... but yes, it is a fantastic machine and you will be happy, though I am struggling with the concept of loving my old 2010 cMP at launch and even though knowing the Ultra is 6-8 times quicker, not loving it in quite the same way ;( even though I can't grasp the reason why .... but I'm still keeping it and not sending it back, overall it is a fantastic piece of engineering and should be applauded by all (though probably won't be)

 

[m1maverick]

You will be happy, I have had my Ultra for 3 weeks, I use it most for audio work, some light photo work and video, plus database development with 4th Dimension and FileMaker Pro. So far even though most of the applications I use have not been updated to run natively on the Apple Silicon they still run much faster than on by 2012 12-core intel machine. I am looking forward to the applications I am using to be updated especially my iZotope applications.

Three weeks? Did you get it early? I picked mine up on the first day of availability (the 18th) which was two weeks ago today.

 

[SlaveToSwift]

If there is a problem here it's not a huge one. Mostly likely Apple can tune the OS to take better advantage of those cores during peak operations. If not, it's not a problem thats going to occur very often and by all benchmarks you'll get a significant performance increase in any type of operation. And hopefully it's a lesson Apple will take to make the M2 Ultra work even better.

I think another problem the Ultra (and even the Max) may be having in some apps and benchmarks is that I don't think many developers have updated to take advantage of all those cores. I know in my development I tuned specifically for shipping hardware when I spin off threads and keep a strict limit on the max number based on that tuning. I can't wait to see if tuning for the Ultra changes that in any way.

 

[Goodrich]

yeah, the issue seems to be the most apps are not tuned for the new silicon and the Studio seems to be best suited for tasks that require long-running horsepower (eg, video rendering, presumably some scientific modelling). But even there, the returns (eg, on the Ultra) also diminish as Apple seem to throttle the Studios, for reasons unknown, perhaps tuning.

The M1 Ultra chip from Apple has 21 TeraFLOPs of processing power, just over a quarter of the 80 TeraFLOP processing capacity of the IBM Watson supercomputer that was developed in 2004. The Mac Studio Ultra is vastly superior to the world's fastest supercomputer from 2001, IBM's one-off ASCII White. That cost $170m, weighed over 100,000 kilograms, took six megawatts in processing and cooling, and produced a paltry 12 TFLOPS. (According to the internet.)

Anyway, a lot of this is a bit academic as here in the UK both base models are out of stock and will not be here before late May, and if you want more RAM, you'll be waiting 3 months, at least. Or just get a MacBook Pro.

 

[OSB]

I am struggling with the concept of loving my old 2010 cMP at launch and even though knowing the Ultra is 6-8 times quicker, not loving it in quite the same way ;( even though I can't grasp the reason why .... b

My 2015 27" iMac and 2020 M1 mini were/are better computers in almost every way than my Dual G5 ever was, but after a series of decent-but-midrange desktops and laptops, the 2004 Dual G5 was my first (and so far, only) "pro" Mac, and it will probably always be my favourite, for that reason.

 

[sunny5]

I guess it's both Apple and developer's problem.

Apple is somewhat limiting the power consumption for better cooling but why not give us a choice then? It's limiting too much.

Most software aren't really optimized with M1 chips yet especially a new M1 Ultra. Even Blender is still a long way to go.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Pro Video Coalition has a decent first glance from an editing/post production perspective. Some of the gaps between the Max and the Ultra are impressive, others not so much.

One thing that doesn't end up in reviews much, but is common in how I like to work, is how quickly does the computer start to feel sluggish or jumpy when multiple apps/processes are going on concurrently? For example, I tend to leave everything open whenever possible so seeing straight-up export times is helpful, but what's even more helpful is as I'm doing that export, and editing, and tweaking some GFX in AE or PS, and uploading/downing files in the background, and have the usual compliment of browser windows open, etc., how does the computer perform? Is everything still smooth as silk or am I seeing beach balls pop up?

Rarely do I do one mega-task that will peg all the meters, but routinely I do a lot of 'medium' tasks that can add up.

Review: Mac Studio and the M1 Ultra for video editors - part 1 by Scott Simmons - ProVideo Coalition

For diehard Mac users, the Mac Studio might be the ultimate machine for a lot of what we do in editing and post-production. It’s small, stylish, quiet, loaded with connectivity and very powerful. You can pull the Mac Studio out of the over-engineered box, plug it in, plug things into it and then...

www.provideocoalition.com

 

[m1maverick]

You lucky ... err individual ? **sensored** ... I got my Ultra on launch day and it was 2 weeks ago, not 3 ... but yes, it is a fantastic machine and you will be happy, though I am struggling with the concept of loving my old 2010 cMP at launch and even though knowing the Ultra is 6-8 times quicker, not loving it in quite the same way ;( even though I can't grasp the reason why .... but I'm still keeping it and not sending it back, overall it is a fantastic piece of engineering and should be applauded by all (though probably won't be)

I love my 2010 Mac Pro too, it's still my favorite Mac. Unfortunately I doubt Apple will ever release a Mac Pro like the 2006 - 2012 Mac Pro's. The 2019 is a Mac Pro in spirit and is expandable. But not like the original "cheese grater" Mac Pro series.

 

[jumpcutking]

This sounds almost like a future OS update could correct the throttling. I feel like the first M1 performance become more stable as the OS was upgraded - got more performance and such.

 

[eddie_ducking]

This sounds almost like a future OS update could correct the throttling. I feel like the first M1 performance become more stable as the OS was upgraded - got more performance and such.

We can only hope, but not sure there is any real significant throttling of CPU performance in the first place on the Ultra (though still not 100% certain and can't comment on the GPU, I'd be happy with an 20 core CPU chip with only 8 core GPU). ASITOP is showing me 100% usage of the performance cores on my Ultra but at a clock speed of 3036 MHz, a bit lower than the 3.2Ghz reported, though no idea where the 3.2 comes from (other than Geekbench results, so maybe it's a short term peak thing)

My M1 Minis claims sustained 100% performance core usage @ 2985 MHz, so the Studio Ultra appears to be running the cores very slightly quicker than the M1.

Neither the M1 Mini nor the Studio Ultra give the impression of being under cooled. The Ultra is showing 30C while CPU redlined (though "Mac Fan Control" hasn't been updated at present to show PE core temps, just power die averages), the M1 Minis PE cores, around 60C, though I do use "Mac Fan Control" to humour myself (on the Mini's only) to keep the auto controlled 90C+ temp down, but the fans are only spinning at 2/3rds max to do so. I'd love to think an upgrade would occur to get the PE clock speed up to 3.2 GHz, the temps/cooling certainly look like they've got scope to cope, but 18 months in with the M1 Minis and they are still running sub 3Ghz and they also have cooling to spare and things haven't changed.

While there might be software/system optimisations to be had and overall speed improvements, I'm not convinced there is significant throttling in play, certainly not in the league of the 16" i9 MacBook Pro or the M1 MacBook Air, though possibly minor increases could happen. I think Apple have "throttled" performance by at max 10% to ensure the utter reliability of a completely new technology in the PC market and the sea change in their product range. They simply can't afford failure and the bad publicity it'll entail. There may be small percentage tweaks to be had, ie sub 10%, but nothing akin to the revolutionry change we've already experienced with the Intel to AS move. Individual software package optimisations that are non core OS may/should provide more performance increases in their specific circumstances over time, but don't expect anything drastic with any system wide potential "throtting" removals (though of course bugs may exist and fingers crossed can be fixed).

 

[now i see it]

Apple claimed that the Mac Studio had been under developed [development] for 10 years (or possibly 5).
That pretty much solidifies the belief that what we got is how it is.
I wouldn’t be holding my breath for any firmware update to magically speed up the SOC.

 

[eddie_ducking]

Apple claimed that the Mac Studio had been under developed for 10 years.
That pretty much solidifies the belief that what we got is how it is.

not to be be picky, but do you mean "under developed" or "under development" ? 😘

And I for one appreciate what it is (though is there a person out there that doesn't want more ?)

 

[now i see it]

“under development” damn auto correct and my failure to proof read

 

[F-Train]

Apple claimed that the Mac Studio had been under [development] for 10 years.
That pretty much solidifies the belief that what we got is how it is.
I wouldn’t be holding my breath for any firmware update to magically speed up the SOC.

This is an interesting point. When Apple released the first M1 computer, my recollection is that it said that it was based on almost a decade of experience with the iPad/Arm and that it had been working on the M1 for several years. The M1 rollout has gone quite smoothly; and it looks like Apple will meet its declared goal, despite the pandemic and significant supply chain problems, of phasing out Intel chips completely by the end of this year. It's not like this is brand new, untested technology.

 

[CWallace]

I don't believe Apple is doing any power throttling due to worries about thermal loading vs. cooling capacity.

It would be more to keep the temps "so low" that the existing cooling capacity can handle the load while effectively running at the lowest setting to keep the noise down.

It does not seem unreasonable that Apple does not want to allow the M1 family to run in the 80+ C range (even though such temps would not cause any physical damage to the SoCs) because of all the noise complaints the Intel models received with their fans running in "hair dryer dB mode" to keep those CPUs at or below 100 C.

 

[Traverse]

I'll be honest that I haven't fully ready this thread, but something definitely seems "off" about the Mac Studio. It absolutely performed great, but I returned it due to other issues and ended up with an M1 Max 14" MacBook Pro and ran Geekbench for giggles. It makes no sense to me that the 14" MacBook Pro is outscoring this workstation desktop.

• Geekbench CPU:
  
  • Mac Studio Single-Core: 1,699
  • Mac Studio Multi-Core: 11,035
  • MacBook Pro Single-Core: 1,782
  • MacBook Pro Multi Core: 12,492
• Geekbench OpenCL:
  
  • Mac Studio: 58,496
  • MacBook Pro: 61,484
• Geekbench Metal:
  
  • Mac Studio: 70,429
  • MacBook Pro: 69,646

 

[F-Train]

I'll be honest that I haven't fully ready this thread, but something definitely seems "off" about the Mac Studio. It absolutely performed great, but I returned it due to other issues and ended up with an M1 Max 14" MacBook Pro...

You returned it because you were unhappy with the Max noise level, right?

 

[Traverse]

You returned it because you were unhappy with the Max noise level, right?

Not entirely. The fans were annoying in idle when the room was quiet and kind of obnoxious, but I'd have lived with it. Unfortunately my unit also generated a high-pitched whine that was very annoying. I didn't feel like playing the Studio lottery (and they wouldn't have my model in stock for like a month anyway) so I just got a MacBook Pro instead. Shame because the Mac Studio is such a good computer.

 

[F-Train]

Not entirely. The fans were annoying in idle when the room was quiet and kind of obnoxious, but I'd have lived with it. Unfortunately my unit also generated a high-pitched whine that was very annoying. I didn't feel like playing the Studio lottery (and they wouldn't have my model in stock for like a month anyway) so I just got a MacBook Pro instead. Shame because the Mac Studio is such a good computer.

Thanks, in the context of this thread it's helpful to know that.

 

[Traverse]

Thanks, in the context of this thread it's helpful to know that.

No problem. I want to go on record as saying that the Mac Studio is a really good computer and I really loved it. I do think the fan/cooling situation is a bit odd, however with a ceiling fan or desk fan that I usually have running I could have lived with it (it's not "loud" like an old laptop running at 6000 RPM). It was the clear whine defect that my model had that pushed me to return it.

 

[nerdo]

Great so bunch of youtubers testing the H265 encoder thinking they are testing the CPU, typical youtubers: clickbait DF out of it and jump to conclusions because you don't knjow what your doing.

 

[switz]

All current flavors of M1 based chips have virtually the same single core speed. Thus booting and getting the browser open takes the same time. (Based up having a 2020 M1 MB Air with 16GB and 1TB SSD and a 14" MB Pro with M1 Max (top version with 64GB ram and a 4TB SSD).

My 2019 Intel based 16" MacBook Pro fully optioned actually gets to the same point quicker than my M1 based hardware. But it definitely runs hotter with lots of fan noise.

So perhaps the single core operation will be the same even with the Studio with Ultra processor and 128GB of ram and a 4TB SSD. Won't find out until early May as it's single core numbers are nearly identical to the MB Air M1.

 

[DarkHelmet]

Well, I have learned a ton here, thanks, everybody. I'm leaning toward the Ultra with the 64 & 4Tb which is a large hunk of change. But I need it to be QUIET. Really quiet. I'm mixing in Logic and I don't want to have to put the machine is a remote closet. My current MacBook Pros (2015) are louder than I would like running in clamshell mode with a single monitor. Driving two monitors the fan noise is unacceptable.

I am willing to sacrifice some speed to get minimal noise. Am I going to be disappointed in the Mac Studio in this respect? Any kind of whine would be utterly unacceptable.

 

[lcubed]

Well, I have learned a ton here, thanks, everybody. I'm leaning toward the Ultra with the 64 & 4Tb which is a large hunk of change. But I need it to be QUIET. Really quiet. I'm mixing in Logic and I don't want to have to put the machine is a remote closet. My current MacBook Pros (2015) are louder than I would like running in clamshell mode with a single monitor. Driving two monitors the fan noise is unacceptable.

I am willing to sacrifice some speed to get minimal noise. Am I going to be disappointed in the Mac Studio in this respect? Any kind of whine would be utterly unacceptable.

i have exactly this configuration (Ultra/64/4 TB) and there's a faint whoosh from the dual fans. I did pull out my real time analyzer and no fan totals were observed under any loads.

it's far quieter than my macbookpro8,2 and Mac Pro4,1 under load.

buy one and return it within the return period if it bothers you, but mine has no measurable whine.

 

[DarkHelmet]

i have exactly this configuration (Ultra/64/4 TB) and there's a faint whoosh from the dual fans. I did pull out my real time analyzer and no fan totals were observed under any loads.

it's far quieter than my macbookpro8,2 and Mac Pro4,1 under load.

buy one and return it within the return period if it bothers you, but mine has no measurable whine.

Thank you! I'm planning to give it a go. Now I just have to decide if the studio display makes sense. I'm used to 32" but I suspect overall I'll like the new screen. Hoping it doesn't create as much emf as my LG. The LG makes recording guitars quite challenging.