Apple Mac Studio: An Absolute Powerhouse

Amping up the mini-Mac for serious creators

- BRIAN WESTOVER

Apple Mac Studio

STARTS AT $1,999; $3,199 AS TESTED

EXCELLENT

Apple's Mac laptops and desktops have long had a home on the desks of creative professionals, but the introduction of the Mac Studio may be the biggest move Apple has ever made that's aimed so squarely at creators. This is an absolute powerhouse of a machine, packed into a design that's basically a tall Mac mini. With power to rival desktop workstations, a size that makes some of the most potent mini PCs feel chunky, and an unexpectedly rich collection of ports from the famously minimalist Apple, it's the most powerful Apple Silicon Mac we've seen-and we tested only the M1 Max model, not the twice-as-powerful M1 Ultra version.

With the processing muscle to tackle big jobs—from media editing to workstation-class medical imaging and animation—the Mac Studio is meant to find a home in any professional’s studio. And from what we’re seeing so far, it’s a smart buy for any video or sound engineer, animator, or digital artist who demands a high level of capability but doesn’t want to sacrifice aesthetics for computer performance. If you’ve been dreaming of a stylish alternative to a workstation desktop or a more powerful option than the sleek little Mac mini, this is the system to get.

A WHOLE NEW MAC: DESIGN, PORTS, AND COOLING

The look of the Mac Studio is at once familiar and revolutionary. First, the familiarities: It looks a lot like the Mac mini. It has the same extruded aluminum construction, from the 7.7-by-7.7-inch footprint to the mirror-polished Apple logo on top. Viewed from above, the Studio looks a bit like an app icon rendered in 3D.