
- STANDARD ACCOUNTS FOR MAC REVIEW PRO
- STANDARD ACCOUNTS FOR MAC REVIEW SOFTWARE
- STANDARD ACCOUNTS FOR MAC REVIEW SERIES
- STANDARD ACCOUNTS FOR MAC REVIEW MAC
STANDARD ACCOUNTS FOR MAC REVIEW PRO
As with the most recent MacBook Pro models, this audio output supports both high‑impedance headphones and a true line output.
STANDARD ACCOUNTS FOR MAC REVIEW MAC
It also features the same wireless networking capabilities as the MacBook Pro, with support for Wi‑Fi 6 (technically known as 802.11ax, which is compatible with the earlier 802.11a/b/g/n/ac standards) and Bluetooth 5.Ĭompleting our tour of the Mac Studio’s rear is the 3.5mm audio jack for attaching headphones or active speakers.

The Mac Pro offers dual‑10Gb Ethernet networking, and it would have been nice if this had carried through to the Mac Studio, but there’s just the one 10Gb Ethernet port as standard. This is useful if you want to use a separate display, like a TV, to show picture if you’re working on a project with video assets. With the combination of ports and the graphics processing capabilities of the M1 Max or Ultra chip, it’s possible to connect a maximum of five external displays to the Mac Studio, pushing nearly 90 million pixels! Each of the four Thunderbolt 4 ports can be used to drive a display with a maximum 6K resolution, such as Apple’s own Pro Display XDR, and there’s also an HDMI port (as on the Mini and the 2021 MacBook Pro models) that supports an additional 4K display. Rear panel: Good news, folks: ports are back! Even the venerable USB Type A port, long since considered an endangered species. Joining the USB‑C ports are two USB‑A connectors supporting up to 5Gb/s for MIDI interfaces, dongles, other input peripherals and anything else you might need it for. On the rear you’ll find four USB‑C connectors supporting Thunderbolt 4 (allowing for speedy data transfer of up to 40Gb/s), DisplayPort (up to 6K resolution), USB 4 (also up to 40Gb/s), USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s), and a maximum of 15W for supplying power to bus‑powered devices. Given the physical similarities, it makes sense that Apple would use the Mac Mini’s connectivity as a starting point for that of the Studio, and that is exactly what the company’s engineers have done. Some users have reported issues with persistent fan noise, but this didn’t seem to be a problem with the test machine, and I wouldn’t be afraid to use it in a live room with a musician.
STANDARD ACCOUNTS FOR MAC REVIEW SOFTWARE
The only time I really got it going was running GFXBench, which throttles all the GPU cores on the chip in a manner that music and audio software does not. It simply didn’t seem interested in pushing any air though the system, whether I was running Geekbench tests or even when trying to play back a complex Pro Tools session. I don’t recall ever hearing any audibly obtrusive fan noise during the test period, even though the Mac Studio was placed on the desk in front of me. To put this in context, if you remember those charts you were shown at school, 15dB is between the sound of calm breathing or leaves rustling (10dB) and whispering (25dB). So much so, in fact, that according to tests compliant with the ECMA‑109 standard (for “Declared noise emission values of information technology and telecommunications equipment”), the Mac Studio emits only 15dB SPL as measured from the operator’s position.
STANDARD ACCOUNTS FOR MAC REVIEW SERIES
Given that the M1 series of chips are already designed for energy efficiency, this means the system is barely audible in use. The Mac Studio’s cooling system pulls air into and across the system from the bottom of the enclosure, before pushing it out of the rear exhaust. The warm air is then pushed out the back of the machine, through over 2000 precisely machined perforations, by a low‑impedance rear exhaust. Using a double‑sided blower (more commonly found in fireplaces), air is pulled in through the perforated circumference around the base of the enclosure and guided over the circular power supply to the chip’s thermal module. To cool the inside of the system, Apple’s engineers have once again created a unique and innovative thermal architecture, parts of which are visible from the outside. The Mac Mini weighs in at 2.6lb (1.2kg), while the Studio is 5.9 or 7.9 lb (2.7 or 3.6 kg), depending on how it’s configured.

The Studio and Mini both occupy the same 7.7‑inch square (197mm) footprint, but at 3.7 inches (95mm), the Studio is nearly three times as tall (it fits comfortably within 3U of rack space).

It’s been a great success, and is widely used in music studios, but is there still room for a more pro‑oriented compact machine? Apple obviously think so, and the result is the Mac Studio. However, Apple persisted with the idea of a miniature desktop machine, and four years later, the Mac Mini saw the light of day. Launched back in 2000, the Cube ended up being too limited for professionals and too expensive for other users, and was discontinued after just one year. Is Apple’s Mac Studio the perfect computer for the studio?Īpple users with long memories will remember the stunning, fanless PowerMac G4 Cube.
