Apple released the most powerful Mac when they
announced the Mac Studio 12 months ago, powered by the M1
Max and the M1 Ultra it's power and
efficiency eclipsed both old and Macs alike,
including the Mac Pro.
But earlier this year, apple updated the MacBook Pro
with a faster, more efficient M two processor that's really
pushing what is even achievable Incom computing
and battery life.
Now with many rumors at the Mac Studio, may or may not get
the M two depending on what day of the week it is.
I really started wondering myself if I had made the
wrong decision, should I not have bought in the Mac Studio?
Should we be considered selling my Mac Studio and buying a
MacBook Pro?
And are there people like me who better off buying the
MacBook Pro?
Well, that is what I plan to talk about today in my
long-term review of the M one Ultra Ultram Max Studio,
where we'll explore the good, the bad, the ugly,
the weaknesses of the Mac Studio, determine whether
or not it is worth purchasing the Mac Studio.
Let's get started.
Hello again, everyone.
My name is Mike Caputo and today we're reviewing the Mac
Studio after 12 months of ownership.
Now to be truthful, I don't even know how we got here
because the last time that I talked to you about a
Mac studio, I was returning it.
I don't know if I would keep the, the version that I
have here, the M one Ultra and I don't know if I would get the
M one max.
Wow, that is embarrassing.
So needless to say, I have some explaining to do.
Now, since this is a long-term review, I'm not gonna
wholesale regurgitate the specs from Apple's website.
That's not helpful to you, nor is it entertaining.
Instead, my long-term review is gonna be based on 12 months of
daily usage covering a variety of use cases.
Now on that note, if you like watching long-term reviews of
Apple products, consider subscribing cuz that
is my jam.
Now the Mac Studio has a unique value proposition compared to
other Apple computers that are in the lineup.
It bridges the pricing and performance gap between the
budget friendly Mac Mini on the low end, whose compact stature
delivers a disproportionate performance for its size and
the fully customizable Mac Pro whose flexibility is really
only rival by its near infinite cost.
But what makes this closely packed hunk of aluminum and
silicone so lust worthy?
Well, I think the answer starts with design.
Now, the design and materials of the Mac Studio make it one
of the best looking products in the lineup.
It's squatty, it's thick with two Cs and man, it looks mean
on your desk.
I'm gonna tell you that now.
It is recognizable with modern design cues that are synonymous
with Apple and in true Apple fashion.
The Mac Studio is a rounded rectangle, two and a
half times the size of the Mac Mini and with more ports than a
user could ever even ask for.
The Mac Studio has broad applicability to enthusiasts
and creative professionals alike,
including myself.
Now, the sleek aluminum design exudes a real premium look
and feel, but that is only half the story.
The Mac Studio is powerful enough to handle the most
demanding workloads and you can configure the Mac Studio with
enough storage really to ensure that you're never gonna run
out of space.
But by far the most impressive feature is the abundant number
of ports on it.
Gone are the days of needing hubs or adapters to bridge your
computer to various, to peripherals with several
u s, BBC and U B A ports and H D M I port an SD card port,
an headset jack, and all the connectivity that you can even
ask for is right at your fingerprints.
The Mac Studio is a pro pro machine that Apple designed for
pro users with complex workflows.
Arguably, their workflows are gonna be more complex
than my own.
Now that doesn't mean the Mac Studio is out of place on my
desk and I don't think it's gonna be out of place
on your desk.
After using the device for the past 12 months, it is proven to
be a well boat machine that is immensely powerful with a
premium looking feel to match.
It is reliable choice for creatives and professionals
and even enthusiasts.
Now, if you're anything like me, I plug and unplug
various different things into my computer all the time,
unplug my monitors and plug 'em into a different computer
all the time.
And the ized finish looks as good as new with no noticeable
scratches or dents.
Even in the high-touch areas like on the back of the ports,
it really has a clean and minimalistic vibe.
It's modern and it's unmistakably Apple.
The Mac Studio is uniquely positioned in the MAC lineup.
It has more power and expandability than
the smaller, less expensive Mac Mini while being more portable
and affordable than the Mac Pro.
This sets the Mac Studio apart in making an attractive choice
for those who value aesthetics and performance in their
desktop setup
Plus.
Now let's talk configurations cuz one part of the story is
going to be, you know, what does it look like?
Second part is gonna be all the ports that are available on it
and the other part is gonna be the internals.
All the performance, what is available in the Mac Studio cuz
it is a beast.
It is always ready to pounce smooth because the
configuration's really going to determine whether or not it's
gonna be a good value for you.
Now I have the M one Ultra Max Studio.
I opted to get the 48 core gpu.
I have the 64 Core Uni or 64 gigs of unified memory.
I did not want to get the 128 gigs of unified memory.
I found zero value in that and I didn't think I was going to
benefit from it.
Good thing I did not.
But I do have four terabytes of internal storage because I use
this computer for everything.
I use it for everything from like general
purpose computing, accounting, video editing, audio editing,
motion graphics.
Right now you can see here from this camera, I'm actually
recording the video here, live on my computer through an
htm I out on my camera.
So it allows me to pull that footage in quickly.
I can use it also as kind of a, a confidence check what
I'm recording as well.
But this gives me the ability to do all that.
Now I have about, I have about 88% of my resources free
with this workflow.
Now there'll be times where I might pull all the footage in
and it's creating optimized media because the way the
footage is created with a multi-cam clip, it does take a
little bit of time to kind of massage and make it, I guess,
digestible by the computer.
You'll see the, the GPU spike to about 85, 90%, but it's
there for like a minute or two and then it comes back down and
you're able to use the computer again.
Otherwise, it's a little bit clunky when you're trying to
use the mouse in any of the UI elements.
But it is a very powerful computer.
Now, if I was thinking about who would benefit from this
computer now I would tell you that if you're watching this
video and you're thinking about getting, you know, the M
two MacBook Pro, maybe even the M one MacBook Pro, cause you
can find it on sale versus the Mac Studio, I would say that
you're probably better off with the M one MacBook Pro.
And I actually think that if I were to go back in time and see
myself from a year ago, like, Hey Mike, guess what?
I would tell you that.
Or I would tell myself, not you.
I would tell myself, you really wanna rethink what computer
you're going to buy and what the specs are gonna be because
I upgraded my computers at different times.
I had this Mac Studio with M one Ultra, I have a MacBook Pro
with M one Max and I have a Mac Mini with M two PRO as well.
And I mean kind of realistically, they all
perform very similarly.
The M two PRO and the Mac Mini is, you know, kind of
bottom of those three.
But the M one max and the M one Ultra really perform very,
very similarly in terms of render times, output times,
whether you're doing H 2 64, H 2 65 Pro Re,
they're all very, very close.
They're within a, you know, there's maybe 15 or 20 seconds
difference between them.
Sometimes it's the MacBook Pro, sometimes it's
the Mac, the Mac studio.
But because of that, I probably would've been better served
with the M one max.
And that's what I would tell you is if you were thinking
about buying this machine today, whether it's
gonna be the MacBook Pro M two, or the maybe the M two
max studio, you know those computers are really gonna
perform the same.
There's not gonna be a tremendous amount of difference
with a quote unquote basic workflow.
You're editing 4K if you're editing, editing audio,
no podcasting, things like that.
You are gonna be certainly fine with the M one max.
Don't make the same mistake I did with the M one Ultra cuz
it's really not gonna be worth it.
For a majority of you that are out there watching this video,
really there's gonna be a few people who benefit
from the Ultra.
I probably just made the wrong choice, you know,
just very plainly made the wrong choice and bought the
Amman Ultra when I should not have, I probably could've
saved myself, bought a grand opposed to that cuz of the way
that I specked it out.
But I, I don't necessarily regret it.
I do think that the Mac studio, I mean it's a great
computer and I love the port availability that it offers and
you really can't get that anywhere else unless you were
to buy a dock by a hub.
And I really just don't want all that stuff on my desk.
I actually have too much stuff on my desk.
I'm trying to get rid of it.
So I am pleased with the performance of the M
one Ultra.
My workflow is underutilized in with this processor, but I
appreciate all of the port and availability and it gives
actually gonna be room to grow into this computer.
Cause I do plan to keep it for probably like next, again,
four to five years.
But I wanna know what you think.
Are you more interested in the M two MacBook Pro, M one Mac
Pro or even the Mac Studio?
Let me know down the comments below.
I really hope Apple updates this at WW d c in a
few months, maybe is it a few months from now.
My name is Mike and I will talk to you in the next one.