Apple Mac Studio review(theverge.com)
theverge.com
Apple Mac Studio review
https://www.theverge.com/22981815/apple-mac-studio-m1-ultra-max-review
7 comments
It's interesting now that they've solved the "thermal issues" of the traschcan shape via ARM XPUs, they gave up on it already. Not that I care strongly about the particular design, but I find Apple's frequent flip-flopping disconcerting on some level. Now they've got a giant cheese-grater case that is obsolete for requirements.
You shouldn't have to plan your technology purchases on a decade-long timescale, just to avoid the duds, obsolete, and dead-end products. A big company should be a bit more disciplined imho.
You shouldn't have to plan your technology purchases on a decade-long timescale, just to avoid the duds, obsolete, and dead-end products. A big company should be a bit more disciplined imho.
Just buy what you need when you need it.
If you can't buy the hardware you need at an acceptable price, your real problem is that the software you need doesn't run on another platform. That's a much more solvable problem.
If you can't buy the hardware you need at an acceptable price, your real problem is that the software you need doesn't run on another platform. That's a much more solvable problem.
This doesn't quite address my statement.
The problem was you couldn't buy a high end MBP without touchbar and defective keyboard, or a non-obsolete Mac Pro for years, at any price. Yes, use a PC was an answer to that for a lot of people.
The problem was you couldn't buy a high end MBP without touchbar and defective keyboard, or a non-obsolete Mac Pro for years, at any price. Yes, use a PC was an answer to that for a lot of people.
The problem is that you want to be in the ecosystem where there’s not a lot of choice, but do want to make the choices. It just doesn’t work like that.
I don't think the requirements of working, fit for purpose hardware, updated semi-annually is significant burden for a technology company, post 2010. In fact it is about the minimum I'd ask for. They did make this bar with iphone, probably ipad for example.
Current rumors are that the upcoming Mac Pro will support add-in ram sticks and pcie cards so that form factor is not necessarily obsolete yet.
I will find it disappointing though if the new Mac Pro doesn't have an option for a lower end cpu (like an M1 Pro) and consequently a lower price tag.
I will find it disappointing though if the new Mac Pro doesn't have an option for a lower end cpu (like an M1 Pro) and consequently a lower price tag.
Right, I mean a "giant expandable box" never goes out of style on some level. But it simply no longer needs to be quite that big now that cooling requirements are a fraction of what they used to be. Maybe they'll take it down a bit, hopefully keeping the same size of most internal components to minimize churn.
„ Now, this is Apple gaming, of course, so Tomb Raider was not a perfect or even particularly good experience: there was substantial, noticeable micro stutter at every resolution we tried.“
Why do Apple games have a problem with micro stuttering?
Why do Apple games have a problem with micro stuttering?
Strangely, their review covers the fact that the Adobe suite of software had to be updated to support ARM and Metal before you could see the full performance of the hardware without emulation, but they completely ignore this for games.
>With many recent professional Mac reviews, the story has been: Apple makes great hardware, but the software — specifically Adobe’s Creative Cloud — isn’t optimized for Apple’s ideas.
But at this point, Adobe has had quite a bit of time to catch up. Apple has sold a whole bunch of M1 devices — the demand is here, and Adobe has responded. Premiere, Photoshop, Lightroom, Audition, Media Encoder, and more are running natively on Apple Silicon (and After Effects is available in beta). And the story has basically flipped: the Mac Studio now appears to be one of the few computers that can unlock the full power of Adobe’s software.
https://www.theverge.com/22981815/apple-mac-studio-m1-ultra-...
Not that there are a lot of high end games that have been updated to support ARM and Metal that they can test, but World of Warcraft and Balder's Gate 3 are examples that have done so.
The neat thing about Rosetta is that it provides backwards compatibility, not that it gives full native performance.
>With many recent professional Mac reviews, the story has been: Apple makes great hardware, but the software — specifically Adobe’s Creative Cloud — isn’t optimized for Apple’s ideas.
But at this point, Adobe has had quite a bit of time to catch up. Apple has sold a whole bunch of M1 devices — the demand is here, and Adobe has responded. Premiere, Photoshop, Lightroom, Audition, Media Encoder, and more are running natively on Apple Silicon (and After Effects is available in beta). And the story has basically flipped: the Mac Studio now appears to be one of the few computers that can unlock the full power of Adobe’s software.
https://www.theverge.com/22981815/apple-mac-studio-m1-ultra-...
Not that there are a lot of high end games that have been updated to support ARM and Metal that they can test, but World of Warcraft and Balder's Gate 3 are examples that have done so.
The neat thing about Rosetta is that it provides backwards compatibility, not that it gives full native performance.
Max Tech teardown showed that the SSD is removable and there are extra slots (at least, if you don’t max out the storage). Looks like it may be possible to buy additional storage in the future which is pretty nice and rather unexpected from Apple.
All the ports are on separate boards too. This might be the most repairable mac in a while.
All the ports are on separate boards too. This might be the most repairable mac in a while.
> All the ports are on separate boards too. This might be the most repairable mac in a while.
This is sort of like saying "Great - the doors on my car can be replaced!" Obviously they can, but am I ever likely to need to do this? Probably not.
I've never once had to replace a USB or HDMI port on my desktop computer. I have routinely had to replace CPU, GPU and memory, none of which are serviceable on this machine. The computer's I/O ports being on separate proprietary daughter boards is not really a consolation, I'm certainly not celebrating this machine as a victory for reparability - the SSD is effectively the only user-serviceable component.
This is sort of like saying "Great - the doors on my car can be replaced!" Obviously they can, but am I ever likely to need to do this? Probably not.
I've never once had to replace a USB or HDMI port on my desktop computer. I have routinely had to replace CPU, GPU and memory, none of which are serviceable on this machine. The computer's I/O ports being on separate proprietary daughter boards is not really a consolation, I'm certainly not celebrating this machine as a victory for reparability - the SSD is effectively the only user-serviceable component.
Everything else is effectively inside the SoC. I’m not sure how you’d go about breaking that down.
That’s precisely the point I’m making. Machine’s performance is great (today…), but it is not a victory for user serviceability or upgrades, likely never will be now.
At least with other integrated SoCs such as those from AMD, you can buy and replace the SoC on a standard socket too… it’s not a given that putting everything on the same die prevents upgrades or replacements the way this design does. The SoC does not need to be permanently attached, but that’s how Apple force these machines to be close to obsolete within 5 years and then require the purchase of a whole new computer again.
Proprietary CPUs/SoCs make aftermarket upgrades difficult but not impossible - the G4 era professional machines from Apple had socketed CPUs and after market options did emerge (companies like Sonnet back in the day), despite only apple using the chip.
At least with other integrated SoCs such as those from AMD, you can buy and replace the SoC on a standard socket too… it’s not a given that putting everything on the same die prevents upgrades or replacements the way this design does. The SoC does not need to be permanently attached, but that’s how Apple force these machines to be close to obsolete within 5 years and then require the purchase of a whole new computer again.
Proprietary CPUs/SoCs make aftermarket upgrades difficult but not impossible - the G4 era professional machines from Apple had socketed CPUs and after market options did emerge (companies like Sonnet back in the day), despite only apple using the chip.
There's basically nothing on the board other than the chip and some VRMs.
This is closer to complaining that you can't swap your GPU core out.
They should keep the same chassis and allow competent users to swap out the board for an upgraded one, but we know that's not happening.
In the meantime, the life expectancy is greatly increased by the ability to swap SSDs and add new ones without having to scrap it and buy new.
This is closer to complaining that you can't swap your GPU core out.
They should keep the same chassis and allow competent users to swap out the board for an upgraded one, but we know that's not happening.
In the meantime, the life expectancy is greatly increased by the ability to swap SSDs and add new ones without having to scrap it and buy new.
I need a `time make all` benchmark on a kernel build for this beast!
Too bad they didn't feature a software developer in the video.
> We bought a $16,599 model, and while that wasn’t the most specced-out option, it was one that creative professionals around The Verge and Vox Media felt could handle their heavy editing workloads.
Yeah because firing up Photoshop to change colors of a photograph or Premier to splice some video requires a desktop which costs more than every piece of technology I’ve bought over the last decade as a software engineer put together.
Apple knows what they’re doing, and they’re laughing all the way to the bank with customers like the Verge.
Edit: Yes, I know I’m talking about the older model which doesn’t alter the point I’m trying to make in that they overpaid for something they don’t understand.
Yeah because firing up Photoshop to change colors of a photograph or Premier to splice some video requires a desktop which costs more than every piece of technology I’ve bought over the last decade as a software engineer put together.
Apple knows what they’re doing, and they’re laughing all the way to the bank with customers like the Verge.
Edit: Yes, I know I’m talking about the older model which doesn’t alter the point I’m trying to make in that they overpaid for something they don’t understand.
The thing with these monster builds is that for the people who do that creative work they pay for themselves in time saved fairly quickly.
For hobbyists they are a nice to have; for a professional they can absolutely free up hours in a day for them to do other work. For small shops that can mean one less employee; for solo artists that can allow them to take on work they couldn’t otherwise.
For hobbyists they are a nice to have; for a professional they can absolutely free up hours in a day for them to do other work. For small shops that can mean one less employee; for solo artists that can allow them to take on work they couldn’t otherwise.
If you pay an employee $150k, that's $200k-ish fully loaded. If that employee works 2000 hours pa, assume (generously) that 1600 of those are heads down work. Therefore work costs $125 an hour, ie wait time costs $2/minute. If spending $10k on hardware for a video editor or other professional saves 83 hours over the life of the machine, you're in the black.
Slightly more I would argue as "time cost" rarely is interchangeable between activities 1:1
But otherwise fully agree, sometimes things just make sense for certain people/tasks that seem otherwise absurd for many others
But otherwise fully agree, sometimes things just make sense for certain people/tasks that seem otherwise absurd for many others
They’re talking about the previous model there.
The Verge does a lot of 4K edits for their content, not just photoshopping.
The Verge does a lot of 4K edits for their content, not just photoshopping.
You can earn the money back of this machin in either 16-32 days
What do they think the "Pro" in MacBook Pro stands for ?
> Bad Stuff: expensive
They are comparing their old $16,599 machine, which could cost up to $52,000 (as per their own article) to a $6,199 machine that wipes the floor with the old one and call it expensive ?