Apple officially introduced Mac Studio with M2 chips at its WWDC 2023 developer conference. The long-awaited update comes after a successful launch in 2021 and is set to be one of the most powerful Macs ever thanks to the integration of the new M2 Ultra. Powerful Apple Silicon fuses two M2 Max chips and doubles the performance due to its architecture.
According to Apple, the Mac Studio with chip 24-core M2 Ultra is 20% faster than its predecessor, in terms of processor. For its part, the GPU of up to 76 cores offers 30% improvement in performance compared to the M1 Ultra. the new chip supports up to 192 GB of unified memorywhich according to its creators, can outperform the most powerful discrete GPU in demanding tasks.
The Mac Studio with M2 Ultra supports up to 6 Pro Display XDR, as well as 8K resolution with a 240 Hz refresh rate. Wi-Fi 6E connectivity technology is also integrated with download speeds twice as fast as the M1 Ultra. Although the focus of the new Mac Studio is on the new processor, this will not be the only one to debut in this category.
Apple will also launch a Mac Studio with M2 Max which is a mighty workhorse. This variant is offered with a 12-core CPU, 38-core GPU, and up to 96 GB of unified memory with 400 GB/s bandwidth. According to Cupertino, this chip is up to 50% faster than M1 Max and 4 times faster than the 27-inch iMac with Intel’s most powerful chip.
Apple M2 Ultra, the powerful chip that powers the Mac Studio
Along with the Mac Pro, the Mac Studio will be one of the first Macs to include the M2 Ultra, the most powerful chip ever created by Apple. This large SoC connects two M2 Max SoCs using UltraFusion technology, which doubles the performance. Under the hood, the M2 Ultra is made up of 134 billion transistors, supports 192GB of shared memory, and has 800GB/s bandwidth. All of the above manufactured under the second generation 5 nanometer process.
Cupertino engineers have pushed the limits with a chip capable of dealing with demanding workflows. Mac Studio with M2 Ultra features a 24-core CPU (16 high-performance + 8 high-efficiency), a configurable GPU up to 76 cores, and a 32-core Neural Engine capable of 31.6 billion operations per second.
In terms of productivity, Apple revealed that the Mac Studio with M2 Ultra can render scenes 3 times faster in Octane X. For its part, video processing in DaVinci Resolve is up to 50% faster compared to the M1 Ultra. Added to that, the chip offers new connectivity features to enhance professional work.
Added to its performance in productivity environments, the new chip you can train massive machine learning workloads on a single system. A Mac Studio with M2 Ultra, 76-core GPU, and 192 GB of RAM could easily outperform a PC with NVIDIA RTX A6000 with 48GB of GDDR6 memory in tests using deep learning models. Although the chip is intended for studios and professionals, its application in the field of artificial intelligence could open new doors for Apple.
New Mac Studio: price and availability
The new Mac Studio with M2 Ultra will be available from June 13 in Spain and can be reserved now at the Apple store. At the time of writing there are two base configurations available: one with the M2 Max and one with the M2 Ultra. Each can be customized with more RAM, more GPU cores, and more storage capacity.
- The Mac Studio with M2 Max (CPU 12 cores, GPU 30 cores, Neural Engine 16 cores), 32GB unified memory and 512GB SSD is priced at 2,429 Euros or $45,999 Mexican pesos.
- The Mac Studio with M2 Ultra (CPU 24 cores, GPU 60 cores, Neural Engine 32 cores), 64 GB of unified memory and 1 TB SSD, will cost 4,849 euros or $92,299 Mexican pesos.
The more robust Mac Studio setup with M2 Ultra (24-core CPU, 76-core GPU, and 32-core Neural Engine), 192GB memory, and 8TB SSD It has a cost of 10,369 euros or $212,999 Mexican pesos.
