The performance of computers is much more competitive than it used to be. Windows computers were known to be good numbers crunchers, while Macs were good with graphics. It’s much more competitive now, and the just-announced Apple Mac Studio will certainly crush those old ideals. Also announced was the Studio’s perfect companion: the Apple Mac Studio Display.
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Apple Mac Studio
Apple announced the Mac Studio at its spring event on Tuesday. It’s a connection hub that delivers all the power you need via either the M1 Max or the new M1 Ultra chips.
The Apple Mac Studio resembles a Mac Mini on steroids. Its aluminum build doesn’t take up too much space. It has doubled-sided blowers, airflow channels, and more than 4,000 perforations on the build to help keep it cool while you work.
The epitome of a connection hub, the Studio has ports on the front and back. It has four Thunderbolt ports, a 10GB Ethernet port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, and a pro audio jack. But the front has two USB-C ports and an SD card slot. It connects to up to four Pro Display XDRs and a 4K TV.
“We couldn’t be more excited to introduce an entirely new Mac desktop and display with Mac Studio and Studio Display,” said Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Greg Joswiak.
“Mac Studio ushers in a new era for the desktop with unbelievable performance powered by M1 Max and M1 Ultra, an array of connectivity, and a compact design that puts everything users need within easy reach. And Studio Display – with its stunning 5K Retina screen, along with the best combination of camera and audio ever in a desktop display – is in a class of its own.”
The Apple Mac Studio does more than other desktops. The M1 Max version helps creatives while also delivering great computing power. The M1 Ultra is two M1 Max chips fused for a system on a chip performance. It provides the most transistors ever on a personal computer chip, with 114 billion.
The M1 Max has a faster CPU performance than a 10-core processor on a 27″ iMac and a 16-core Xeon processor on a Mac Pro. It has faster graphics performance than a 27″ iMac and a MacPro with Apple’s most popular graphics card. It transcodes video faster than a 27″ iMac and a 16-core Mac Pro.
The M1 Ultra, of course, ups the ante on all that performance. In fact, it has up to 90 percent faster CPU performance than a Mac Pro with a 16-core Xeon processor and 60 percent faster CPU performance than a 28-core Mac pro. The graphics performance is 80 percent faster than the fastest Mac graphics card.
Apple claims the media engine on the Mac Studio can do what no other computer can do: play back 18 streams of 8K ProRes 422 video. It has up to 64GB of unified memory on the M1 Ultra. The SSD in the Studio provides up to 7.4GB/s and a capacity of up to 8TB.
Studio Display
Of course, the Mac Studio is just the guts of the system. You’ll need to add a keyboard and monitor, at minimum. It matches up perfectly to the Studio Display with a 27″ 5K retina screen.
The built-in stand allows you to tilt the Display up to 30 degrees and is tilt- and height-adjustable with a weightless feel. An adapter supports both portrait and landscape orientations.
The screen has more than 14.7 million pixels, 600 nits of brightness, and P3 wide color, with more than a billion colors supported. The color temperature adjusts automatically with True Tone technology. A nano-texture glass option helps offices with bright light sources to minimize glare.
For those who plan to continue working remotely, the Studio Display has an advanced camera and audio system. A 12MP Ultra-Wide camera with Center Stage will provide a video conferencing solution for those who move around while they chat.
A three-microphone array with a low noise floor provides clear calls and audio recordings. The high-fidelity sound system is the best ever on a Mac, with four force-cancelling woofers and two high-performance tweets. Spatial audio and Dolby Atmos create a theater-like performance.
The Display is just as fast and powerful as the Studio. It has three USB-C ports to connect to high-speed devices. A Thunderbird port connects to a Mac with just one cable that can also be used to fast charge a MacBook Pro. Up to three Displays will connect to a MacBook Pro to create a quad-monitor experience.
Order the Mac Studio and Studio Display now, with units available in stores starting Friday, March 18. The Studio starts at $1,999, while the Display starts at $1,599.
Apple also announced a new iPhone SE and iPad Air and noted it would be adding Friday Night Baseball to the Apple TV+ lineup. Read on to learn what it announced at its big fall announcement last year.
Image Credit: Apple Newsroom
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