There's definitely a gap in the lineup here. One thing I haven't seen anyone comment on yet is the graphic performance gap. Right now for apple silicon mac desktops there are only entry-level macs or high-end macs:
iMac 24" or Mac Mini: M1 8-Core
Mac Studio: M1 Max 24-Core
Theoretically you could purchase an M1 Mac Mini with the Studio Display but you'd still be limited to the 8-core GPU performance, which is well below the entry-level graphics for the intel iMac 27". For some people (myself included) this just isn't enough and it is a drop in graphics performance from my 2015 5k iMac which has a Radeon R9 M390.
Jumping up to M1 Max 24-core GPU is just overkill for most people, not to mention that $2k for the studio desktop without the monitor is more expensive than the entry level iMac 27" was. The M1 Pro entry level (14-Core GPU) is roughly equivalent to a Radeon 5500M, which would put it more or less on par with the graphics for the last 27" iMac.
My hope is that apple is just trying to push the upsell on Mac Studio before they release a more reasonable option. Which is either an iMac or Mini with M1 Pro options.
Edit: Updated the M1 Max 24-core as the entry level option, previously had it listed as 32-core. Still feels like a significant gap from my opinion.
iMac 24" or Mac Mini: M1 8-Core
Mac Studio: M1 Max 24-Core
Theoretically you could purchase an M1 Mac Mini with the Studio Display but you'd still be limited to the 8-core GPU performance, which is well below the entry-level graphics for the intel iMac 27". For some people (myself included) this just isn't enough and it is a drop in graphics performance from my 2015 5k iMac which has a Radeon R9 M390.
Jumping up to M1 Max 24-core GPU is just overkill for most people, not to mention that $2k for the studio desktop without the monitor is more expensive than the entry level iMac 27" was. The M1 Pro entry level (14-Core GPU) is roughly equivalent to a Radeon 5500M, which would put it more or less on par with the graphics for the last 27" iMac.
My hope is that apple is just trying to push the upsell on Mac Studio before they release a more reasonable option. Which is either an iMac or Mini with M1 Pro options.
Edit: Updated the M1 Max 24-core as the entry level option, previously had it listed as 32-core. Still feels like a significant gap from my opinion.
Last edited: