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Apple Announces M1 Ultra CPU, Mac Studio and Studio Display

All good points. As you say, if I upgraded, I'm confident I'd enjoy improvements in speed and (more generally) have a better overall experience in the MacOS environment.

Because I'm not using my computer professionally (for photography), it's little harder to weigh the cost/benefit vs. fun/novelty factor. Had there been an M1 iMac 27" starting around ~$2000, I would have already ordered.

Instead, for (nearly) the same level of integration, the starting point is ~$3600, and easily over $4k for more future-proof specs.

I'm pretty sure it will be noticeably faster for 80%-90% of my use cases. But for that price, I'd also want to see a "wow" improvement with gaming (even though that's a low priority). And that remains to be seen.

So I'll probably wait a few more weeks to see more real world, side by side comparisons, to get a clearer picture - just to be sure.

Thank you again for your input. It really does help to hear different and informed perspectives on these kinds of decisions. I'm I'm sure others will also benefit for your thoughtful replies, too.

Thank you, you're most welcome! I do definitely try my best to provide an 'informed perspective' (as you say) as a user as in my view (as a Mac user of more than 25 years) a system's strengths can only be proven when they are used on a daily or regular basis. Nothing beats real-world usage data. This is probably one of the reasons why Apple brought back the SD card slot on the new Macbook Pro (for example). It was a highly used and valued function (especially for photographers/videographers) and taking it out really hit a nerve with a lot of users (especially in the professional field) as you had to carry around a whole bunch of accessories just to use the laptop (not forgetting the potentially heavy camera gear which you'd likely have with you also). Which probably explains why the 2015-18 Macbook Pro take-up hadn't been as good as the 2011-2012 version. That and the lack of overall memory & storage upgradeability meant it was a terrible choice for creatives (despite running Adobe apps, which is one of its core strengths). I am glad Apple didn't listen to Jony Ive (for once) with the new 2021 MBP update. I don't know how many times I've seen folks convert and upgrade their 2012 Macbook Pro with an extra SSD hard drive in the CD drive slot. As far as features go that is still one I miss.

TBH on pricing I find it hard to spend more than $1,500 on a setup these days on either laptops or desktops as hardware is so much more faster for the value they provide (compared to years past, especially Coffee Lake systems onward). We get so much more 'computing power' these days for the money compared with years past it is a no-brainer to upgrade to a better system with much better I/O throughput. The ability to upgrade to a more updated OS is a plus.

As for the Mac Studio, I totally agree with you. We should see what the reviews say first before deciding (as $2,000 or even $4,000 is a fair bit of money to drop on a new setup). I'm interested to see how well it works with Thunderbolt 4 and how hot the new Studio system will run under regular usage.
 
As for the Mac Studio, I totally agree with you. We should see what the reviews say first before deciding (as $2,000 or even $4,000 is a fair bit of money to drop on a new setup). I'm interested to see how well it works with Thunderbolt 4 and how hot the new Studio system will run under regular usage.
A M1 Ultra is less than half the cost of original mac in adjusted money, while today you know a lot about what you want to do with the device then back in 1984.

When Mac was introduced, the engineers had to go on tour telling everyone:
"And after clicking all these thousands of pixels to make a pointalized fish drawing, you can click and stretch and squish it so it fits on a page with some text I have no idea why you would want to do this but you can" and entire audiences tilted their heads to one side like the dog in front of the RCA grammaphone, then started cheering, without even knowing whether that fish pix thing was even a good idea. Here, take my 2700–5000 dollars! That fish is incredible I must do it myself!

40 years later, the Mac Studio is announced and Apple haven't changed prices since 1984 but the device is a world-wide connected television production and distribution facility. So basically this stuff is now infinitely powetful and effectively free...

But people are still worried that it might not be a good deal.
 
Agreed. Now if they would just allow RAM and storage upgrades rather than soldering them on the logic board I would buy one in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, I don't think those options are ever returning. Just make sure you get enough RAM. Storage can always be upgraded through Thunderbolt.
 
Does AppleCare Cover SSD's? So for example, If I got a Mac Studio & wrote/deleted tons of files over the span of 2 years & after 24 months the SSD dies/was no longer good, would Apple still replace the Mac Studio? Or would they consider it "normal wear/tear" like a car's brake pads & not cover it?

It should.

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Agreed. Now if they would just allow RAM and storage upgrades rather than soldering them on the logic board I would buy one in a heartbeat.

Btw, it's technically not impossible...


 
Im sure it will be a beast for those in the studio or lab, because AMD ‘claim’ to have 6O% of the North American market in workstations. It is extremely good value considering the M1 Ultra benches close to a Threadripper 3990X, (Amazon currently has 4 options starting at… gulp!). And the GPU, according to TsH at least, equivalent to a RTX 3090, one of those cost more than the base Studio. I’m fascinated by the ‘UltraFusion Technology’ though, didn’t we see this in the G5 Mac Pros?.
 
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Im sure it will be a beast for those in the studio or lab, because AMD ‘claim’ to have 6O% of the North American market in workstations. It is extremely good value considering the M1 Ultra benches close to a Threadripper 3990X, (Amazon currently has 4 options starting at… gulp!). And the GPU, according to TsH at least, equivalent to a RTX 3090, one of those cost more than the base Studio. I’m fascinated by the ‘UltraFusion Technology’ though, didn’t we see this in the G5 Mac Pros?.
your link is broken
 
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