Apple Developing 'Mac Studio,' Described as a Mac Mini and Mac Pro Hybrid

[w5jck]

I suspect this guesser Mac mini is mostly imaginary, wishful thinking by people who have absolutely no clue, much less proof. Click bait at its best, or worst, depending on your perspective. But does it really matter at this point? Apple could produce the most powerful Mac computer ever, but with a buggy, hog tied OS, and being port challenges beyond belief, it would still be pathetic in its usefulness to professional studios.

Personally, I wish Apple would hold off on new devices for at least two years and only work on bug smashing and developing more usable and useful OSes.

 

[Pezimak]

These were the numbers provided by Apple. I mean, if it’s your idea that Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi, and John Ternus have no idea about how many laptops versus desktop systems they sell, and who’s buying them, there’s no one here that’s going to be able to convince you otherwise!

Just to be clear, I said


you said


I pointed to the story where Apple had the following to say about the Mac Pro share


For 2021, that’s still roughly 1-2 million Mac Pro’s or Mac Mini’s a year which is certainly enough for Apple to make a profit from and continue to produce. Still, though, they sold 26-28 million of “every other Mac”.

Actually you have not provided a single source linking to Apples statement of its Mac Pro sales. If you are going to quote them perhaps you could? All you did was post a link to Gruber who has been wrong about things before so isn't a purely trustworthy source IMO, he certainly won't have seen Apples actual sales figures.

At this point I have to ask myself why on earth am I arguing with you and your 'opinion' on Apples sales figures of its devices.
The devices are selling. Probably a lot more then you think in the case if the Mini. A new higher end Mini Pro or Studio will fill a gap very nicely.

 

[Dydegu]

Just call it “Mac”

 

[JM]

That is exactly what “peek” means, so get ready

Naw, I don’t wanna peek, I was see what’s poppin’!

Lol. For real though, if they have a spring event that lets us “peek behind the curtain” at what they’re working on, I’ll be bummed that it’s more promises, promises…. But it will be cool to see some amazing soon-to-be-here tech (like goggles, or car, or something else amazing…. Upcoming iOS things would be great earlier than June WDWC.)

 

[JM]

Just call it “Mac”

Mac and Me.

(TBH an enjoyable film if you watch the MST3000 treatment ?)

 

[JM]

I wish it was. Until the new machine runs fanless and allows you to change CPU, RAM, GPU, and storage I will hold my breath.

G4 opening tab: ka-chunk.

 

[MacAddict1978]

Apple has to be careful when it comes to form over function, fragmentation, all that stuff.

I'd agree 100% if these were machines of old and not with SoC's that prevent upgrading. The trashcan was that tale of form over function, but Apple Silcon somewhat hamstrings every form factor in most ways.

 

[MacAddict1978]

You don’t think enterprise customers that have their own displays wouldn’t utilize this category of Mac, that would be a odd thought. This mentality of iMacs and laptops are adequate for all needs is contrary to business usage. It started back in 2005 with the PowerMac G5 that was renamed Mac Pro. Apple through the following years constrain us to accepting only their limited product lines over what business typically deploy in offices. I do agree that the latest MBP and iMac are quite useful for a lot of purposes, but neither suits the enterprise like a good desktop.

Agree. This is why Apple has never made a dent in enterprise. Just as they were starting to get some traction, they canned all their server products and towers that could be upgraded/self-repaired.

Really, Apple kind of did give the middle finger to such a large variety of sectors and demographics: enterprise, pro, education, and options for lower income folks. The e-mac was really a repackaged version of the multicolored i-Macs when they moved to the lamp design, but was affordable for schools and people who didn't have tons of money for buy their kid a computer.

I don't need to comment on the middle finger to the pro market.... which is still a headscratcher. That market is where the high spend comes from. Volume is low, but margin dollars be high. Back in the day, a pro desktop/monitor and software combo would be a small number of purchases, but it would take a dozen iMac sales to make the same margin dollars, and it attracted interest in the mac in other areas.

Mac growth and success is in spite of Apple's blunders and dropping all focus for iPhone. I imagine Mac market share would be so much higher if they hadn't shot that big middle finger at everyone.

Not to mention, macs included software offerings were once a huge selling point that really have no fanfare, focus, or development effort anymore. Aside of some minor "we're really behind the universe" updates to iWork apps, crickets and not even a mention or focus. When i switched to a mac in the early 2000's, that whole package was so appealing it was what made me do it, and options.... and the ability to upgrade my crap.

 

[sdf]

Apple is working on a "Mac Studio" device that seems to be a cross between a Mac Pro and a Mac mini, according to a report from 9to5Mac that cites an unspecified source with knowledge of Apple's plans.

I swear I've heard this rumor all the way back to 2001. Prior if you don't count people thinking this was the G4 Cube.

 

[ColdShadow]

That would be cool.
I’m interested.

 

[ignatius345]

It would be great to see a standalone Mac that sits somewhere in the vast middle between the Mini and the Pro.

Let's hope they figure out how to sell a monitor that goes with it...

 

[mikethemartian]

I’d argue that in the current world that power consumption could be a major factor with the price of energy potentially skyrocketing for the next few years.

we could easily see Apple pushing performance per watt going forward, it might even have made this rumoured Studio machine a go if they think people are more likely to cut their energy budget and reuse existing monitors. For people who can afford new screens then clearly the new Apple displays rumoured may fit the bill.

When you have to perform a 3D physics or engineering simulation that takes 1TB of main memory or it is a no go, you don’t worry about the electrical bill.

 

[richinaus]

When you have to perform a 3D physics or engineering simulation that takes 1TB of main memory or it is a no go, you don’t worry about the electrical bill.

the best part is the more the computer works, the hotter it gets, so we use more power to cool the studio down......
100% max use of GPU's on constantly for hours is not much fun in summer.

 

[iPadified]

Silent and small and tailor-made for FCP, Logic and Photoshop. Why would they not? It has been their market like forever.

It will be in interesting to see if Apple commit to other markets like scientific computing and 3D modelling/rendering but software is not fully there and often locked-in to NVIDIA.

ASi was the final nail in the coffin of the fantasy xMac. Move on and buy a PC.

 

[EdT]

This has expensive written all over it. I would probably love a computer that had the processing power but I need to pay the rent for the next 24 months, and I probably couldn't afford to do both for that length of time.

 

[ACD30"]

With discrete GPUs out of the picture, and more TB4/USB4 ports on a multi-SoC model (so one can dedicate a TB4 controller to a PCIe expansion chassis), third time may just be a charm for a No Slots Mac...!

I very much think it will be, whichever the case! The PowerMac G4 Cube was outlandish and well ahead of its time; the 2013 Mac Pro was significantly closer to the mark, but it still was not a true high-end workstation. (As I may have mentioned — that should have been a 'Mac Studio,' rather than a Mac Pro.)

With Apple Silicon, Apple finally has the chance to do this properly — to make it their own. After all, this really is the nature of these systems to begin with: maximum efficiency, at the expense of internal expansion. That will be immediately understood by the target audience, who simply needs an M1 Mac with more oomph. (Think of customers of the current M1 Mac mini, who love the form factor but still feel they need more power.) And, for those who still want to supplement their setup, there is always the TB4/USB4 route (as you had mentioned). It's a much better solution than telling that audience to go shell out money for a desktop with several PCIe expansion and RAM slots that they may or may not need / want.

 

[mikethemartian]

the best part is the more the computer works, the hotter it gets, so we use more power to cool the studio down......
100% max use of GPU's on constantly for hours is not much fun in summer.

I live in Central Florida. The number of Joules of heat produced by a PC per day is nothing compared to the heat energy the Sun bombards my house with.

 

[sublunar]

When you have to perform a 3D physics or engineering simulation that takes 1TB of main memory or it is a no go, you don’t worry about the electrical bill.

Somehow I don't think that's going to be a major use case for most users.

 

[richinaus]

I live in Central Florida. The number of Joules of heat produced by a PC per day is nothing compared to the heat energy the Sun bombards my house with.

I live in Australia.
hot fans blasting out of a desktop computer, multiplied, for hours does not help at all.

 

[richinaus]

I very much think it will be, whichever the case! The PowerMac G4 Cube was outlandish and well ahead of its time; the 2013 Mac Pro was significantly closer to the mark, but it still was not a true high-end workstation. (As I may have mentioned — that should have been a 'Mac Studio,' rather than a Mac Pro.)

With Apple Silicon, Apple finally has the chance to do this properly — to make it their own. After all, this really is the nature of these systems to begin with: maximum efficiency, at the expense of internal expansion. That will be immediately understood by the target audience, who simply needs an M1 Mac with more oomph. (Think of customers of the current M1 Mac mini, who love the form factor but still feel they need more power.) And, for those who still want to supplement their setup, there is always the TB4/USB4 route (as you had mentioned). It's a much better solution that telling that audience to go shell out money for a desktop with several PCIe expansion and RAM slots that they may or may not need / want.

quiet, powerful, not too small so can cool down - sounds perfect to me.

 

[MichaelDroste]

Would love 40 cores in the $6000 range….

 

[jjcs]

Somehow I don't think that's going to be a major use case for most users.

Enough in the "spending a fortune for a workstation" category.

 

[DeepIn2U]

This is the minitower everyone's been waiting for.

Just had a re-thought of this.

1. How popular is the mini XT towers in in PC gaming or otherwise vs the traditional tall desktop PCs? Via sales (pre-built or aftermarket)?
2. With ARM based chips and embedded RAM, is a tower with expandable RAM and Storage from Apple with Apple Silicon possible for all pro needs without the massive tower size?

NVME expandable storage - makes multiple storage options even up to 1.5TB MUCH smaller than SSDs,
Cooling - definitely under sustained maximum processing power (cpu/gpu, storage etc) is no longer needing HUGE large fans that the current Intel Mac Pro needs necessary anymore.
IO - USB-A/USB-C4/TB4 (and future USB/TB connections), HDMI, DisplayPort don’t need large space requirements, although IO cards still needed but 4-6 full size slots still can be implemented and NOT needing a Tall tower, but maybe wider.

So … do we still NEED a large, tall tower that in a Mac Pro when a Mac Studio is capable of even THE most top end users’ needs??

Hmmm.

 

[jjcs]

So … do we still NEED a large, tall tower that in a Mac Pro when a Mac Studio is capable of even THE most top end users’ needs??

I wouldn't bet on that. The problem sizes expand to fill the available hardware.

 

[mikethemartian]

Somehow I don't think that's going to be a major use case for most users.

Not talking about most users. I’m speaking about persons with the need for HPC systems which probably includes many of Apple’s own hardware engineers.