From a new iPhone SE and iPad Air to a beefy M1 Ultra chipset, Apple’s hardware event brought revamped versions of existing gadgets and processors. But the company also introduced an all-new piece of hardware on Tuesday, the Mac Studio, a small but powerful M1-powered desktop computer.
It’s safe to say that the Mac Studio is like the Mac Mini on steroids, with a whole lot more features inside and out. At a glance, it looks like Apple’s headless desktop — with a cube-like shape that stands 3.7 inches high and measures about 8 inches on each side. So compact enough to place on your desk or under a display. It also has a ton of ports, including two USB-C ports and an SD card slot on the front, along with four Thunderbolt ports, two USB-A slots, an HDMI port, a 10GB Ethernet port, and a headphone jack on the back.
The Mac Studio looks like a larger Mac Mini.
Photo: Apple
Under the hood, you can opt for one of Apple’s custom chips, either an M1 Max or its latest processor, the M1 Ultra, which was also unveiled today. When powered by the M1 Max, Apple claims the Mac Studio has up to 50 percent faster CPU performance and more than three times faster graphics than a Mac Pro with a 16-core Xeon processor. Meanwhile, the newer M1 Ultra is up to 90 percent faster in CPU performance than the same Mac Pro and 80 percent faster than the fastest Mac graphics card, according to claims Apple made during its presentation.
Regardless of the configuration, it should not get hot. During the unveiling, Apple praised the Mac Studio’s thermal design, which helps keep internal components cool. It consists of double-sided blowers, airflow channels and thousands of perforations on the back and bottom of the machine housing. Since this design requires fewer spinning fans to keep things cool, the Mac Studio should stay quiet even when doing more power-intensive tasks.
On the back are many ports under a perforated panel that aids airflow and cooling.
Photo: Apple
The Mac Studio can be connected to any monitor of your choice, but Apple has also designed a screen to match the desktop. The new Studio Display is a 27-inch monitor with a resolution of 5K. It also features a 12-megapixel webcam (with Apple’s Center Stage feature that keeps you in the center of the frame during video calls), a six-speaker sound system that supports spatial audio and Dolby Atmos playback, a three-microphone array and four powerful canceling woofers for the audio low-end. The Studio Display also comes with three USB-C ports and a Thunderbolt port.
This post Apple Mac Studio (2022): specs, price, release date
was original published at “https://www.wired.com/story/apple-mac-studio-and-studio-display”
