Poll: *** The official Mac Studio thread (it has the M1 Max, the M1 Ultra and everything!) ***

[thewanted]

I didn’t - do you have a link please?

 

[Irish_Tom]

Just watched that ^^^

Some interesting points, especially about not needing to upgrade the RAM from 32GB.

I thought the 16GB of RAM was where my 24" iMac was struggling, so just assumed 64GB would be a minimum.

I think I'm going to wait for some real-world comparison videos before making a decision. At the moment I'm toying with the base-spec Studio and a pair of Dell U2723QE instead of the Apple Studio display… but I'll probably change my mind again a few times before pressing the buy button.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Just watched that ^^^

Some interesting points, especially about not needing to upgrade the RAM from 32GB.

I thought the 16GB of RAM was where my 24" iMac was struggling, so just assumed 64GB would be a minimum.

I think I'm going to wait for some real-world comparison videos before making a decision. At the moment I'm toying with the base-spec Studio and a pair of Dell U2723QE instead of the Apple Studio display… but I'll probably change my mind again a few times before pressing the buy button.

I have had 32G of RAM inside my iMac since day 1, it was OTT at the start but as time goes on, it's less so.

One thing I am thinking is that although more RAM isn't necessarily beneficial in terms of speed, since the SSD is so fast in handling overflow, there is an argument to say that using the SSD this way is taxing and would shorten its lifespan.

 

[Cromulent]

What is your delivery date? Mine is due between the 24th of March and the 31st of March.

 

[Feek]

Thanks, it's interesting that I'd already come to pretty much that same conclusion

The reason I'm now angling towards the Ultra is that I really think that a desktop should be more powerful than a laptop and the M1 Max in it is basically the same as the top of the range MBP. I know that tech will move on and it won't take long for it to be overtaken but I've always been one to buy the best I can afford to make it last as long as I can which is why my original iMac lasted six years and I've had my current one for five years.

It works out as about £1200* more to buy the base Ultra with a 2Tb drive than it does to buy the base Max with extra GPU cores, 64Gb RAM and a 2Tb drive.

Considering the difference between the base models is £2000, this makes sense to me. I'd be getting 48 GPU cores as opposed to 32, the same RAM, the same SSD but effectively double the computing power, double the memory bandwidth and double all the decode/encode engines along with that sparkly, smug feeling of having the spanky new chip

I think it's worth delaying the purchase a couple of months to put the extra cash together.

*Actually it'll be just £1000 more as I'm getting it ex-vat

 

[LiE]

I really think that a desktop should be more powerful than a laptop

My 24" iMac desktop is as powerful as an iPad Air *cries in M1*

 

[Raymond Lin]

My 24" iMac desktop is as powerful as an iPad Air *cries in M1*

It will be iPad Mini next come September.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Thanks, it's interesting that I'd already come to pretty much that same conclusion

The reason I'm now angling towards the Ultra is that I really think that a desktop should be more powerful than a laptop and the M1 Max in it is basically the same as the top of the range MBP. I know that tech will move on and it won't take long for it to be overtaken but I've always been one to buy the best I can afford to make it last as long as I can which is why my original iMac lasted six years and I've had my current one for five years.

It works out as about £1200* more to buy the base Ultra with a 2Tb drive than it does to buy the base Max with extra GPU cores, 64Gb RAM and a 2Tb drive.

Considering the difference between the base models is £2000, this makes sense to me. I'd be getting 48 GPU cores as opposed to 32, the same RAM, the same SSD but effectively double the computing power, double the memory bandwidth and double all the decode/encode engines along with that sparkly, smug feeling of having the spanky new chip

I think it's worth delaying the purchase a couple of months to put the extra cash together.

*Actually it'll be just £1000 more as I'm getting it ex-vat

I am thinking the same...

I typically max out the spec so to get the maximum life span from it. My first MBP lasted 8 years, my current MBP I’ve had since 2018, cost me £2300 with Educational Discount!)….it’s hot garbage…emphasis on the hot but it still work and does what i need on the go. I’ve only had 2 iMacs since 2007. First one lasted until 2012 (5 years), that one I am still using today and it was top of the line spec with Quad Core i7, 32G of Ram and nVidia GFX.

The difference is that spec was £2200 or so I think with Education Discount. To go big on this one I will need £4k for the computer alone (the base Ultra seems to be most future proof), but £2k difference? Do I put the £2k towards the next computer in 5 years?

That’s the dilemma.

 

[Feek]

To go big on this one I will need £4k for the computer alone

That's just one big wedding

 

[Raymond Lin]

That's just one big wedding

I don't charge that much, I wish!

 

[ChrisD.]

I don't charge that much, I wish!

That's just reminded me, I still need to speak to you and now the weather is starting to get better I'll try and remember to message over the next week.

 

[Raymond Lin]

That's just reminded me, I still need to speak to you and now the weather is starting to get better I'll try and remember to message over the next week.

Ah no worries, speak soon!

 

[HACO]

I am thinking the same...

I typically max out the spec so to get the maximum life span from it. My first MBP lasted 8 years, my current MBP I’ve had since 2018, cost me £2300 with Educational Discount!)….it’s hot garbage…emphasis on the hot but it still work and does what i need on the go. I’ve only had 2 iMacs since 2007. First one lasted until 2012 (5 years), that one I am still using today and it was top of the line spec with Quad Core i7, 32G of Ram and nVidia GFX.

The difference is that spec was £2200 or so I think with Education Discount. To go big on this one I will need £4k for the computer alone (the base Ultra seems to be most future proof), but £2k difference? Do I put the £2k towards the next computer in 5 years?

That’s the dilemma.

With edu pricing there's a £1080 difference between M1 Max and Ultra (1TB, 64GB ram). I decided that it's not worth it. Yes we're getting 2x the cores and 1.5x the GPU cores (64-core GPU costs extra). I don't think it's worth an 45% more money for me. I'd rather put the money towards the screen or accessories, or keep it and upgrade again in a couple of years rather than wait another 5-6 years.

This is still first gen desktop-grade Apple Silicon. They're great, but there's no doubt that Apple is going to improve these quite significantly in a couple of generations. First gen products are not known for their longevity, they get outdated pretty fast. Apple A15 is already a major improvement over A14 (which M1 series are based on), especially on the GPU side (20% faster per core and more efficient, and they pack more cores).

So I decided to get the M1 Max, which is a huge upgrade over my Intel iMac, and keep the money and upgrade again maybe during the M3 cycle where the platform will be more mature and I'll be more comfortable making a longer term purchase. My two cents.

 

[Raymond Lin]

With edu pricing there's a £1080 difference between M1 Max and Ultra (1TB, 64GB ram). I decided that it's not worth it. Yes we're getting 2x the cores and 1.5x the GPU cores (64-core GPU costs extra). I don't think it's worth an 45% more money for me. I'd rather put the money towards the screen or accessories, or keep it and upgrade again in a couple of years rather than wait another 5-6 years.

This is still first gen desktop-grade Apple Silicon. They're great, but there's no doubt that Apple is going to improve these quite significantly in a couple of generations. First gen products are not known for their longevity, they get outdated pretty fast. Apple A15 is already a major improvement over A14 (which M1 series are based on), especially on the GPU side (20% faster per core and more efficient, and they pack more cores).

So I decided to get the M1 Max, which is a huge upgrade over my Intel iMac, and keep the money and upgrade again maybe during the M3 cycle where the platform will be more mature and I'll be more comfortable making a longer term purchase. My two cents.

Pretty much and I think I could even get away with the base model Studio, I don’t think Adobe for photo side of things uses much on the GFX side, 512g SSD might even be enough for OS and apps, but I can’t help but want to add more RAM…I do know the Ultra is not worth it for me. Exporting photos between 5 mins or 10mins is kind of irrelevant as it currently takes like 90mins.

Since the screen is now separate, i don’t have the waste of having to pay for a new screen for every iMac iteration.

 

[233]

Serious want, very little need

currently all mac in the office with a mix of Mac mini’s and a couple of 5.1s. The most taxing thing we have is possibly outlook a dozen chrome tabs WhatsApp and a couple of excel sheets open at the same time

the old 5.1s are absolutely fine machines and I won’t part with them one 6 core one 12 core but these are tempting

how do they handle multi monitor setups? Could I drive 6x4k displays off one?
How would it handle some light gaming ? Are talking on par with the current 5700xts we run in our 5.1s?

Would love to pickup a couple for the office and one for home

 

[HACO]

Serious want, very little need

currently all mac in the office with a mix of Mac mini’s and a couple of 5.1s. The most taxing thing we have is possibly outlook a dozen chrome tabs WhatsApp and a couple of excel sheets open at the same time

the old 5.1s are absolutely fine machines and I won’t part with them one 6 core one 12 core but these are tempting

how do they handle multi monitor setups? Could I drive 6x4k displays off one?

They support four 6K (via thunderbolt/usb-c) and an extra 4K (via HDMI). So 5x4K is fine, but not 6.

How would it handle some light gaming ? Are talking on par with the current 5700xts we run in our 5.1s?

Would love to pickup a couple for the office and one for home

Mac games will be fine. Windows games will be very poor given that you'd need to install ARM Windows via virtualisation (with no drivers) and then run x86 Windows games via Windows emulation. Don't even bother trying.

 

[mr.sly]

Does anyone know what happens to pre-orders if your card is declined? Will I move to the back of the queue now?

I went for the M1 Max, upgraded to the 32 core GPU and 1TB SSD but I wasn't expecting the payment to be taken today, so I hadn't moved the money across into my main account. As the store is down at the moment I can't modify the order.

 

[LiE]

Does anyone know what happens to pre-orders if your card is declined? Will I move to the back of the queue now?

I went for the M1 Max, upgraded to the 32 core GPU and 1TB SSD but I wasn't expecting the payment to be taken today, so I hadn't moved the money across into my main account. As the store is down at the moment I can't modify the order.

Speak to Apple, they should be able to sort it without cancelling the order.

 

[mr.sly]

Speak to Apple, they should be able to sort it without cancelling the order.

Thanks. I got another email later which said they’ll continue to try and take the payment until the scheduled delivery date. Hopefully they’ll try again today or early next week and it will be processed.

 

[random_matt]

Does anyone know what happens to pre-orders if your card is declined? Will I move to the back of the queue now?

I went for the M1 Max, upgraded to the 32 core GPU and 1TB SSD but I wasn't expecting the payment to be taken today, so I hadn't moved the money across into my main account. As the store is down at the moment I can't modify the order.

Do they? haven't checked myself, although the studio monitor has changed to preparing order.