Apple has introduced the new Mac Studio, which the company claims is its most powerful Mac to date. This professional desktop computer is powered by the M4 Max and the new M3 Ultra chips, offering groundbreaking performance and enhanced connectivity through Thunderbolt 5. Despite its formidable capabilities, the Mac Studio maintains a compact and quiet design suitable for desktop use. It is engineered to handle the most demanding workloads, benefiting from its powerful CPU, advanced graphics architecture, high unified memory capacity (up to 512GB with M3 Ultra), ultrafast SSD storage (up to 16TB), and an accelerated Neural Engine. Apple states that the new Mac Studio delivers a significant performance increase over the previous generation and a substantial leap for users upgrading from older Macs.
The Mac Studio is also positioned as a powerhouse for artificial intelligence tasks, capable of running large language models with over 600 billion parameters entirely in its memory, thanks to its advanced GPU and the extensive unified memory available with the M3 Ultra chip. Furthermore, it is designed to support Apple Intelligence, Apple’s personal intelligence system, which aims to transform how users work, communicate, and express themselves while prioritizing privacy. The new Mac Studio is available for pre-order and will begin shipping on March 12.
The Mac Studio with M4 Max is presented as an ideal choice for professionals in fields such as video editing, colour grading, software development, engineering, photography, and creative arts who require a system capable of handling intensive workflows. Apple highlights the M4 Max’s exceptional single-threaded CPU performance, outstanding multithreaded CPU performance for complex tasks, and a Neural Engine that is over three times faster than the M1 Max. The Mac Studio with M4 Max can be configured with up to 128GB of unified memory and features a powerful Media Engine with two ProRes accelerators, enhancing performance for video editing tasks. Apple’s performance claims include up to 1.6 times faster image processing in Adobe Photoshop and up to 2.1 times faster build performance when compiling code in Xcode compared to the M1 Max-equipped Mac Studio.
The Mac Studio with M3 Ultra is positioned as the pinnacle of professional desktop performance, offering nearly twice the performance of the M4 Max in workloads that utilize high CPU and GPU core counts and large amounts of unified memory. Apple states that the M3 Ultra-equipped Mac Studio is up to 2.6 times faster than the M1 Ultra model and up to 6.4 times faster than the 16-core Intel Xeon W-based Mac Pro. The M3 Ultra chip features up to a 32-core CPU with 24 performance cores, up to an 80-core GPU, and a 32-core Neural Engine. It supports up to 512GB of unified memory and up to 16TB of ultrafast SSD storage. Apple’s performance figures include up to 16.9 times faster token generation using large language models in LM Studio and up to 2.6 times faster scene rendering in Maxon Redshift compared to the M1 Ultra Mac Studio.
Connectivity is a key feature of the new Mac Studio, which includes Thunderbolt 5 ports offering transfer speeds up to 120 Gb/s, significantly faster than the previous generation. This enables users to connect high-bandwidth accessories such as external storage and expansion chassis. The Mac Studio with M3 Ultra can drive up to eight Pro Display XDRs at their full 6K resolution. The desktop also features a 10Gb Ethernet port, an HDMI port, an SDXC card slot on the front, built-in Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
The Mac Studio is designed to enhance professional workflows with Apple Intelligence, offering features such as Writing Tools for refining text, Priority Notifications for managing distractions, and live transcription in Notes. Siri has also improved, and the integration of ChatGPT provides access to AI expertise. Apple emphasizes that Apple Intelligence is designed with user privacy in mind, utilizing on-device processing and Private Cloud computing for tasks requiring larger models.
The new Mac Studio benefits from macOS Sequoia, which introduces features like iPhone Mirroring, enhanced window tiling, a new Passwords app, and improved video call backgrounds. Safari is also updated with features like Highlights and a redesigned Reader. macOS Sequoia 15.4 will simplify the setup process for new Mac Studio users with an iPhone.
Apple highlights the Mac Studio’s environmental design, with over 30 per cent recycled content, including 100 per cent recycled aluminium in the enclosure and 100 per cent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets. The product uses less energy and materials compared to other desktops in its class, and its packaging is entirely fibre-based.
The new Mac Studio is available for pre-order, with availability beginning on March 12. The starting price is $1,999, with education pricing available. Additional configuration options are available. Apple also offers trade-in options and AppleCare+ for Mac.
