Apple’s desktop computers hadn’t enjoyed such diversity in years. Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ event has added the Mac Studio to the catalog, but it has also guaranteed the future of the Mac Pro. So it’s a good time to put Apple’s “boxes” side by side and compare all Mac models like Mac Studio vs M1 Mac Mini vs Mac Pro with specs, features and price.
Mac Studio vs M1 Mac Mini vs Mac Pro: Features, Specs, and Price
Apple recently launched a completely new computer called Mac Studio with an extremely powerful configuration and not cheap price. Although it can be said that the size is quite compact, the Mac Studio is twice as thick as a Mac Mini or more like two Mac Mini’s stacked on top of each other, around 9.5cm thick.
The machine has a lot of connectivity ports including 4 Thunderbolt 4 ports, 10GB Ethernet port, 2 USB-A ports, HDMI port, and professional audio jack. The front has 2 more USB-C ports with a 10GB/s data transfer rate along with an SDXC card reader that will be very convenient for photographers. One USB-C 3 port for the M1 Max instance or one Thunderbolt 4 port for the M1 Ultra instance.
The M1 Ultra is an extremely powerful chip just released, it combines 2 M1 Max chips together so it’s up to 80% faster than the Intel Xeon chip in the Mac Pro, 3.8x faster than the iMac 27-inch 10-core CPU machine, graphics 4.5 times faster than iMac 27-inch, 12 times faster than iMac 27-inch and 5.6 times faster Mac Pro 28-core when decoding video. Only Mac Studio is equipped with this chip at the moment. The machine supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5. The Mac Studio M1 Max version has 64GB of unified memory and the M1 Ultra version has up to 128GB of memory.
To imagine how powerful this machine is, you should know it can transmit up to four 6K ProDisplay XDR displays and one 4K display via HDMI at the same time, which is horrible. This will be a product for professional users who need to handle many tasks at the same time. To dissipate heat, the machine has 2 large fans inside and pushes hot air to the back.
Mac Studio has a starting price of 1,999 USD for the M1 Max version, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD. The M1 Ultra version starts at $3,999 and comes with 64GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
Mac Studio vs M1 Mac Mini vs Mac Pro Comparison Chart
| MAC MINI | MAC STUDIO | MAC PRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIMENSIONS | 3.6 x 19.7 x 19.7cm | 9.5 x 19.7 x 19.7cm | 52.9 x 45 x 21.8cm |
| WEIGHT | 1.2kg | 2.7 or 3.6kg | 18kg |
| CHIP | M1
4 performance cores 4 efficiency cores 8 core GPU 16-core Neural Engine |
M1 Max or M1 Ultra
8 or 16 performance cores 2 or 4 efficiency cores 24 or 48 core GPU Neural Engine with 16 or 32 cores |
Intel Xeon W 8, 12, 16, 24 or 28 cores
Discrete graphics with AMD Radeon Pro 580X, W5500X, W5700X, W6800X, W6900X or W6800X Duo Apple Afterburner Option |
| MEMORY | 8 or 16 GB of unified memory | 32, 64, or 128 GB of unified memory | ECC DDR4 32, 48, 96, 192, 384, 768 GB or up to 1.5 TB |
| STORAGE | 256 or 512GB
1 or 2TB |
512GB
1, 2, 4, or 8TB |
256GB
1, 2, 4, or 8TB |
| PORTS | 2 USB-C USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 ports
2 USB-A ports (5Gb/s) 3.5mm headphone jack 1 HDMI port 1 Ethernet port (1 or 10 Gbps) |
4 rear USB-C USB4/Thunderbolt 4 ports
2 front USB-C ports (can be Thunderbolt 4) 2 USB-A ports (5Gb/s) 3.5mm headphone jack 1 HDMI port 1 10Gbps Ethernet port SDXC memory card reader |
6 USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports
2 USB-A ports (5Gb/s) 2 10Gbps Ethernet ports 3.5mm headphone jack |
| SCREENS/MAXIMUM DEFINITION | 1 6K screen at 60Hz and in addition
1 4K display at 60Hz |
4 screens 6K at 60Hz and in addition
1 4K display at 60Hz |
8 4K displays, 4 5K displays, or 6 Pro Display XDR displays |
| WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth 5.0 |
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth 5.0 |
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
Bluetooth 5.0 |
| SOUND | integrated speaker | integrated speaker | integrated speaker |
| PRICE | From $699 | From $1,999 for M1 Max version, and From $3,999 for M1 Ultra version | From $5,999 |