Apple today introduced the Mac Studio, an all-new Mac that's a hybrid between a Mac Pro and a Mac mini, with the new machine equipped with M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips.
Priced starting at $1999 for the M1 Max version and $3999 for the M1 Ultra version, the Mac Studio can now be ordered from Apple's website.
Alongside the Mac Studio, Apple introduced the new 5K 27-inch Studio Display, which is also available to be ordered starting today. Adding nano-texture glass will cost $300, while the adjustable tilt display that Apple described is priced at $400.
Both the Mac Studio and the Studio Display will begin arriving to customers on Friday, March 18.
Preorders for the new iPhone SE and the new iPad Air will begin this Friday, and those products will also begin shipping on March 18.
Top Rated Comments
a 2020 Mac Mini with an 8 Core M1, 8 Core GPU and 16 Core Neural Engine with 16GB unified memory and 512GB SSD runs $1,099, $1,199 if you bump it up to a 10GB Ethernet.
OR
a 2022 Mac Studio (Mini Max) with a 10 Core M1 Max, 24 Core GPU, 16 Core Neural Engine and double!! 32GB unified memory and 512GB SSD runs $1,999 with the standard 10GB Ethernet and more IO and can drive more display resolution.
That $800 delta is way in favor of the studio and makes the existing M1 Mini look like a ripoff in comparison, even if the Studio is overkill for most people's needs and desired pricing.
This BYO Keyboard, Mouse, and Display in something other than the "entry level" Mini is the closest thing to a powerful computer below Mac Pro territory that Apple has ever offered without a built in Display. And b/c of that it will be wildly successful. A bit pricey, but truthfully for the power, the M1 Max Studio at $2k is not a bad machine. At $1400-1700 it would sell at crazy volumes.
Best options if you are not a true professional using this as a means to a living are either waiting for an M2 Mini release before year end (along with the corresponding laptops) OR a refurb or discounted base Studio before year end as they become available at slightly better pricing. Unless you "need" it today, I wouldn't pay $2k for a base Studio.
The crappy part is that the sweet spot is a $2,200 Studio with 1TB storage. But refurbs and deals will likely be stock configs. So grab some external storage and deal with the fact that they start with 512GB. It's insulting but on par with Apple tactics to start a $2k computer with 1/2 a TB of storage in 2022.