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A new version of the Mac Studio with the "M2 Ultra" chip is unlikely to arrive in the near future, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

mac-studio-pink.jpg

In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that since the upcoming Apple silicon Mac Pro is "very similar in functionality to the Mac Studio," Apple may wait until the release of M3- or M4-series chips to update the machine, or simply never refresh the device at all:
I wouldn't anticipate the introduction of a Mac Studio in the near future. The upcoming Mac Pro is very similar in functionality to the Mac Studio — and adds the M2 Ultra chip rather than the M1 Ultra. So it wouldn't make sense for Apple to offer an M2 Ultra Mac Studio and M2 Ultra Mac Pro at the same time. It's more likely that Apple either never updates the Mac Studio or holds off until the M3 or M4 generation. At that point, the company may be able to better differentiate the Mac Studio from the Mac Pro.
To date, little has been rumored about the next-generation Mac Studio, so Gurman's latest remarks are the firmest indication yet that a new version of the machine is unlikely to arrive any time soon.

Last month, it emerged that Apple reportedly scaled back its plans for the first Apple silicon Mac Pro, scrapping the "M2 Extreme" chip and falling back on non-user-upgradable memory and the same design as the 2019 model. The device is now expected to offer the M2 Ultra only – a chip that would also have logically come to the next-generation Mac Studio.

The M2 Ultra chip is almost certain to double-up the capabilities of the recently introduced M2 Max chip, which is currently only available in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro. With reduced modularity and similar performance on the upcoming Mac Pro, Apple's move to hold off on updating the Mac Studio's hardware may make sense until it can work out a better strategy for the machine's positioning going forward.

Article Link: Apple May Not Launch Updated Mac Studio With M2 Ultra Chip Due to Similarity With Upcoming Mac Pro
 
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Killerbob

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Jan 25, 2008
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In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman explained that since the upcoming Apple silicon Mac Pro is "very similar functionality to the Mac Studio," Apple may wait until the release of M3- or M4-series chips to update the machine, or simply never refresh the device at all.


“Big” news… Hold the press…

We have been saying that for the last month in the forums. But now that Gurman says so, it must be right - just like the Apple Watch news 2 years ago.
 
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sam_dean

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Sep 9, 2022
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2022 Mac Studio was released in March 2022. That was 10.5 months ago.

I find it odd that no new M2 Max or M2 Ultra refresh will be done by June for WWDC 2023.

Apple expects users to replace their macOS devices every 4 years. By Dec 2023 would make the 2019 Mac Pro a 4 yr Mac.

The 2023 Mac mini M2 Pro has a very similar raw performance benchmark result of a 2022 Mac Studio M1 Max..

Mac Pro is just a Mac Studio with PCIe slots. I would not be surprised that >50% of Mac Pro users never used those PCIe slots. They bought a Mac Pro because they need the Xeons and possibly the RAM or SSD.
 
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bradman83

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Oct 29, 2020
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Buffalo, NY
Would they not update the Max version though? Depending on intro pricing for the Mac Pro (which we can assume would be high if we use the $3999 USD Studio Ultra model as a baseline) there's a bit of a gap in their lineup between the M2 Pro Mac Mini and a baseline Mac Pro with M2 Ultra. While the Pro and Max variants perform nearly identical from a CPU perspective there are users who would absolutely want the added graphics cores and media engines.
 

maflynn

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May 3, 2009
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I have no need for such powerful machines, and so as I'm on the outside looking in Apple has a product line problem. The Mini, Studio and the unrelease Mac Pro have to differentiate themselves but they don't. The M1 Mini was limited in options, with the M2 version its hard to justify buying the studio.

With impending release of the Mac Pro, which starts off at 6,000 and easily can exceed 12,000 dollars they need to show that the Mac Pro just isn't a more powerful studio - The ultra version can be purchased for 4,000 btw
 

UK-MacAddict

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May 11, 2010
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Ridiculous and pathetic really at this point. Holding back features and products for pricing structures again. Apple are really racing to the bottom in terms of building great products for consumers.

Just put the best chips in and let consumers decide. But of course Apple are penny pinching greedy gits at the moment so want to rob the customers blind.

Pay £10,000 starting price for Mac Pro with M2 Ultra when you can get it for £3999 if they put it in the Mac Studio.
 

Killerbob

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Jan 25, 2008
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- Mac Mini - cheap, Mx/Mx Pro, limited in RAM, limited in ports, limited in cooling
- Mac Studio - medium priced, Mx Max/Mx Ultra, lots of ports and lots of cooling, lots of RAM
- Mac Pro - expensive, Mx ”Insane”, over the top with RAM, ports, cooling, and expansion opportunities

It’s not a difficult roadmap to follow and understand… even Kuo and Gurman understands it.

Apple sees no reason to have every generation of CPUs in every Mac line - it’s that simple, and it makes sense - there simply isn’t enough of a performance improvement to justify that.
 

UK-MacAddict

macrumors 6502a
May 11, 2010
977
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I have no need for such powerful machines, and so as I'm on the outside looking in Apple has a product line problem. The Mini, Studio and the unrelease Mac Pro have to differentiate themselves but they don't. The M1 Mini was limited in options, with the M2 version its hard to justify buying the studio.

With impending release of the Mac Pro, which starts off at 6,000 and easily can exceed 12,000 dollars they need to show that the Mac Pro just isn't a more powerful studio - The ultra version can be purchased for 4,000 btw

This has been an issue for quite some time now. It’s because they want to set so many different prices they just make products up to fit them when there’s no need.
 

sam_dean

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Sep 9, 2022
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M2 version its hard to justify buying the studio.

With impending release of the Mac Pro, which starts off at 6,000 and easily can exceed 12,000 dollars they need to show that the Mac Pro just isn't a more powerful studio - The ultra version can be purchased for 4,000 btw

$2k premium is for expandability. The ability to put in PCIe expansion cards.

I'd buy the Mac Studio for it's industrial design. It's a pretty fly looking Mac.

I wish a year 2002 version of it came out more than 2 decades ago. I'd buy that over a Power Mac which had PCI slots that I never used.
 

lococroco

macrumors newbie
Dec 8, 2020
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Berlin
This “prediction” or rumor makes zero sense to me. Apple definitely saw a place for the Mac Studio to exist in between the Mac mini and the Mac Pro, otherwise they wouldn’t have released it. Whenever they release the Mac Pro, I am sure that they will have figured out how to differentiate it from a Mac Studio that costs a fraction of the Mac Pro.
 

nihil0

macrumors 6502
May 19, 2016
456
373
iMac 27" replacement pls.
I can imagine 3 27-inch lineups: cheapest with M2 Pro 10C, with option to go M2 Pro 12C, mid-line M2 Pro & Max with 12C + different GPU cores and high-tier M2 Ultra + different GPU cores but with better scalability than M1 Studio (eg. RAM starts at 16 GB and drive at 512 GB)
 
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