Mac Studio vs. Mac Pro Buyer's Guide

[BigMac?]

The studio is a beast!
As much as I liked the iMac Pro, the Studio really is the more clever convenient solution.

I did literally a little math:
My educated guess for wwdc‘s Mac Pro:
2,5 TB/s divided by 800 GB/s is 3,….
-> the new Mac Pro will contain some equivalent up to 3 Ultras = 6 Max‘.

 

[BigMac?]

It boils down to this: the Mac Studio is for fun (unless your definition of 'fun' involves games) and the Mac Pro is for people who actually have work to do

Would not bet on this.
Looks like ultra really shines in Adobe workflow.

 

[InuNacho]

This comment is misleading. Rosetta 2 is a fallback, not a feature. The main issue is that some professional applications have not been updated for Apple Silicon, so they perform better with Intel CPUs.

I was reading that Rosetta 2 uses heavy disk usage to get its emulation done. Seeing as a fair amount of professional software is still Intel, you're just burning a hole in your SSD running it on Rosetta 2.

 

[BigMac?]

I'm pretty sure that there are two other possible main reasons for buying the Mac Pro:

One is that you have a use case that needs massive amounts of RAM, in which case clearly 128GB vs 1.5TB is a very, very nontrivial difference. (Also not sure that the M-series RAM has ECC-equivalent error correction; I assume not, which is another nontrivial need for certain use cases.)

And the other is you have a use case that actually takes advantage of $10,000+ worth of GPUs--dual Pro W6900X 32GB or dual Pro W6800X Duo 64GB. The performance on the 64-core GPU with 128GB of memory, some of which is going to be used by the CPU, is not going to be on that level even if the task is well optimized for it.

The Mac Studio is awesome, and will almost certainly be my next desktop when I eventually replace my top-of-line Intel iMac. But we've got computers to run simulations at work that need well over 128GB of RAM for decent performance, operating on 40TB datasets (stored on a RAID6 array with PCIe controller, although the storage could be handled just as well externally), and if we were to run those on a Mac rather than the current commodity hardware, we'd most definitely buy a Mac Pro, not a Mac Studio. It has nothing to do with the Intel CPU or modularity. We just need the ridiculously large amount of RAM.

Absolutely.
The thing is named exactly after what it’s designed for: Studio like workloads.
Fair enough Apple.

 

[avkills]

I was reading that Rosetta 2 uses heavy disk usage to get its emulation done. Seeing as a fair amount of professional software is still Intel, you're just burning a hole in your SSD running it on Rosetta 2.

That is because at first run, Rosetta2 re-compiles the app to ARM instructions. That takes up disk space.

 

[Onelifenofear]

It boils down to this: the Mac Studio is for fun (unless your definition of 'fun' involves games) and the Mac Pro is for people who actually have work to do

As someone who has a Mac Pro. Utterly disagree. I do high end 3d animation and video work and the Studio looks like an incredible capable machine - as has aleady been shown in various videos.

 

[SFjohn]

Can you configure a Mac Pro to output HDMI 2.1 using MacOS at 120Hz in 4K HDR? Or are Macs simply incapable of that?

 

[LeeW]

iFixit already got in. You take off the black ring on the bottom and there are the screws.

Just saw it. As I expected though, not very friendly. But I don't expect it will need a clean within warranty hopefully then YOLO.

 

[Siliconguy]

That was not a useful comparison. A useful one would be the high end Studio to the low end Mac Pro.

 

[avkills]

Can you configure a Mac Pro to output HDMI 2.1 using MacOS at 120FPS in 4K HDR? Or are Macs simply incapable of that?

Good question; I do not have any super high refresh rate monitors to test that theory. My guess is no, but you could probably do something with SwitchResX.

(I am guessing you meant 120Hz)

 

[SFjohn]

Good question; I do not have any super high refresh rate monitors to test that theory. My guess is no, but you could probably do something with SwitchResX.

(I am guessing you meant 120Hz)

Yes, Hz thanks! I’ve been looking at all sorts of options but can’t see a way to get that with any Mac, which is frustrating. Despite Apples’s amazing chip designs, there ports seem stuck in the past.

 

[avkills]

Yes, Hz thanks! I’ve been looking at all sorts of options but can’t see a way to get that with any Mac, which is frustrating. Despite Apples’s amazing chip designs, there ports seem stuck in the past.

Yeah I do not really get it either. Pretty sure the W6800x duo in my MacPro would have no problems going to 120 or 240. Oh well, maybe that is something that will finally happen with a future Monterey update.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

not sure why this hasn’t been covered by Mac rumors, but the Mac Studio isn’t as soldered down as the laptops are.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1504982154677264384

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

The Mac Studio has one major flaw in my book and that's its all-soldered non-upgradeable design. Starting at $4k, the Ultra is really pushing it - a workstation of that price that can't handle a chip or RAM upgrade is borderline insane.

I can't say that I'm looking forward to Apple's Mac Pro if it's also going to be all-soldered, especially with increased power and cost it's going to bring (can you seriously imagine a $6-8k workstation that cannot be upgraded?).

SSD is not soldered, and yes I can imagine a $6000-8000 workstation that can’t be upgraded, because it has already existed.
It was called the iMac pro.

 

[Bandaman]

It boils down to this: the Mac Studio is for fun (unless your definition of 'fun' involves games) and the Mac Pro is for people who actually have work to do

I don’t think even you believe what you just said.

 

[SFjohn]

SSD is not soldered, and yes I can imagine a $6000-8000 workstation that can’t be upgraded, because it has already existed.
It was called the iMac pro.

That was a $15K workstation, I know as we still have one. Apple is clearly not optimizing MacOS for Intel anymore, it’s become glitchy and somewhat unreliable the last few years.

 

[cosmichobo]

Does iJustine ever criticise Apple products...?

Ok - I admit I didn't sit through the whole half hour review, her gushing over the products just got a bit too much for me.

I - and I guess everyone - am very curious to see whether the Mac Studio's (and all other new Macs) locked-down status is going to carry over into the new Mac Pro... (Mac Ultra?!)

 

[dandeco]

Since I'm going to be upgrading from a 2012 quad-core i7 Mac Mini, the Mac Studio with M1 Max chip is the way to go for me.

 

[Abazigal]

Does iJustine ever criticise Apple products...?

Ok - I admit I didn't sit through the whole half hour review, her gushing over the products just got a bit too much for me.

I - and I guess everyone - am very curious to see whether the Mac Studio's (and all other new Macs) locked-down status is going to carry over into the new Mac Pro... (Mac Ultra?!)

She doesn't, and at this point, any reviews of said products will be from YouTubers with early access review units, so I doubt you will see any bashing from any of them. The criticism will probably come later from creators who have purchased the new Macs with their own money (I believe MAC address just bought the entry level Mac Studio?), and the high end models and the display may not be in stock until next week.

 

[Santiago]

Here’s a buyer’s guide:

Mac Studio Max 5.9 lbs
Mac Studio Ultra 7.9 lbs
Mac Pro 39.7 lbs

So, per-pound, the Mac Pro is much more affordable, as long as you're okay with the CostCo-sized package.

 

[x86dude]

Am I the only one disappointed by Mac Studio ?

For that much money, I want a more impressive looking system.

A modestly configured M1 Max system with monitor is $7,765 Australian, US$ 5,765. And for a box that looks like a phat old Mac Mini ?

If Apple want top dollars, at least give me a unit that looks exciting. Like a small Mac Pro with some modularity. Will not be buying this. Do better Apple ‘cos your loosing me.

 

[alien3dx]

I can't see any reason why anyone would purchase the current Mac Pro from here on out, especially with them teasing a new Mac Pro at the end of the Mac Studio event.

Honestly, I think the only reason it's still on the store is because they don't want to have a window of time where there's not a Mac Pro in the line up.

me . if the price equal the same , i rather take intel version. i own macbook air. Its about to do work and stability.

 

[svish]

Mac Studio is good. If someone is requiring more power/performance, then it may be better to wait for Mac Pro replacement with Apple Silicon.

 

[Ashbash75]

I wonder if the studio will have bluetooth issues like the mini

 

[GadgetBen]

Can you upgrade the Studio outside of Apple checkout? Any information on the internal teardown? I would expect Apple to be allowing their products to be more customisable and parts not soldered down.