Hands-On With the M2 Ultra Mac Studio

[MacRumors]

Apple at WWDC surprised us with the M2 Ultra chip, which is the key feature in the new second-generation Mac Studio. We thought we'd compare it to the first-generation Mac Studio with M1 Ultra chip to see whether it's worth upgrading.

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Compared to the base M1 Ultra, the base M2 Ultra has a 24-core CPU (up from 20 cores) and a 60-core GPU (up from 48 cores). It has the same 64GB unified memory and 32-core Neural Engine.

In a real world Final Cut Pro export test with 4K footage, a 13 minute clip exported in five and a half minutes on the M1 Ultra machine, and just over three minutes on the M2 Ultra. An export of an hour-long video took almost seventeen minutes on the M1 Ultra Mac Studio, and just eight and a half minutes on the M2 Ultra.

Over time, the M2 Ultra is going to save a lot of exporting time for video editing, and other GPU-intensive tasks will likely see the same time savings.

The Mac Studio with M2 Ultra we tested is equipped with an upgraded 2TB SSD, and on the BlackMagic Disk Speed Tests, we got read speeds of 5,455 and write speeds of 5,100. With a 1TB SSD on the M1 Ultra machine, we were seeing read speeds of 1,853 and write speeds of 5,092, so SSD speeds are up on the higher end at a minimum.

If you've already got an M1 Ultra Mac Studio, it may be worth upgrading if you want to save time on video exports and similar tasks, but if you're not going to take advantage of the increased GPU speeds, it won't be worth the $3,999 starting price for the entry-level M2 Ultra Mac Studio. The M2 Ultra Mac Studio is unquestionably the best desktop machine that Apple sells in terms of price and performance for professionals.

There is an M2 Mac Pro, but it is priced starting at $6,999 for the same performance but with PCIe slots. What do you think of the M2 Ultra chip? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Link: Hands-On With the M2 Ultra Mac Studio

 

[MayaUser]

the gpu difference its huge..and this is just from one gen to the other

 

[macsplusmacs]

I can't wait to see the Game Porting Tool benchmarks.

 

[jonnysods]

Still don't understand why they didn't save the Ultra for the Mac Pro, because the Studio is a great deal compared to the new MP.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

All that performance and power in that teeny tiny box. It’s definitely worth upgrading!

 

[Ethosik]

the gpu difference its huge..and this is just from one gen to the other

Yep looks like the scaling issue is resolved. Same with the scaling issue with the 2x media encoders.

I’m still on the fence though. If the whine issue is gone, I’ll upgrade immediately.

 

[haruhiko]

Still don't understand why they didn't save the Ultra for the Mac Pro, because the Studio is a great deal compared to the new MP.

They want Pros to gradually transition to the Mac Studio.

 

[MayaUser]

Yep looks like the scaling issue is resolved. Same with the scaling issue with the 2x media encoders.

I’m still on the fence though. If the whine issue is gone, I’ll upgrade immediately.

exactly...at state of the union, they said they changed something at hardware also to reach around 1.9x

 

[TallManNY]

Still don't understand why they didn't save the Ultra for the Mac Pro, because the Studio is a great deal compared to the new MP.

Because then they would be gatekeeping the chip behind a huge purchase price that much less people would want to spend. The Mac Pro solves a few specific needs and is obviously a bit of a placeholder for a higher class of computer than the Studio, but Apple can't actually make that computer yet. Or might have little interest in doing so ever.

Side note, we are living in the "best of times" for the much coveted "headless Mac". The mini is good enough for a huge group of folks, the Studio is good enough for a huge group of Pros, and the Mac Pro is good enough for some specific niches that the Studio doesn't satisfy. We still have a hole for true enterprise GPU performance or vast RAM needs, but Apple is still in a very good place right now.

 

[Onimusha370]

Yep looks like the scaling issue is resolved. Same with the scaling issue with the 2x media encoders.

I’m still on the fence though. If the whine issue is gone, I’ll upgrade immediately.

Was listening to ATP earlier and sounds like the whine is gone! 6db vs 15db last year

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Next year Apple needs to introduce Mac Studio Mini.

 

[Darren.h]

I'm waiting to buy the M3 Ultra Mac Studio.

I think Apple won't be able to shrink the die past 3nm. So New Mac products will hit a major slow down after 3nm.

 

[Velin]

Still don't understand why they didn't save the Ultra for the Mac Pro, because the Studio is a great deal compared to the new MP.

Because no one is buying PCIE lanes for $3k+, unless you're an Inc. who can tax-depreciate a $7k machine under 26 U.S. Code Sec. 179.

 

[Mousse]

All that performance and power in that teeny tiny box. It’s definitely worth upgrading!

If--*IF*--you need the video encoding advantage.

I see little reason to upgrade from the Gen 1 Studio for Photoshop work. Heck, I'm thinking I should bought the Mini instead since I'm the bottleneck. I'm not a heavy filter user, but I do work with huge photos. Moar RAM is always welcomed. Bring back user upgradable RAM.😤

 

[novagamer]

Has anyone checked to confirm that the base M2 Ultra vs. the Upgraded GPU M2 Ultra have the same CPU speeds? This may explain the "throttling".

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Still don't understand why they didn't save the Ultra for the Mac Pro, because the Studio is a great deal compared to the new MP.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?

Translation: instead of seeing this as some fault in maximizing a corporations profit, perhaps a consumer should see it through a consumer's lens: all of the computing power of a Mac Pro for about 40% less cost. If someone doesn't have specialized needs for PCI cards, this is just as powerful as the traditionally spun "most powerful Mac..." for $3000 less.

Apple corporate doesn't need our help towards maximizing their revenue & profit. They have that down... exceedingly well.

 

[Kylo83]

It’s mad these YouTubers saying £7000 is worth it for 1min quicker export, I don’t believe the whole time is money if 1min quicker means you save a lot of time your not thinking correctly

 

[Longplays]

Next year Apple needs to introduce Mac Studio Mini.

View attachment 2219002

Improving economies of scale further...

When do you think Apple will drop USB-A ports? TBH I find it weird they're capped at 5Gb/s and not 10Gb/s max of USB-A.

Do not get me wrong... Apple dumping USB-A in 2016 was daft.

They should have had a 1 decade long transition that started in 2016 & ends in 2026. By then almost everyone wouldn't want USB-A. Those who did could buy the last Mac with a single USB-A then keep it until 2036 when no one then would bat an eye to it when the slowest I/O would be Thunderbolt 5 80Gb/s.

 

[Kylo83]

No one needs to update just for a few min quicker export time

 

[macpro2000]

My 8TB Mac Studio Ultra has read speeds of 5767 and write speeds of 7203.

 

[Longplays]

It’s mad these YouTubers saying £7000 is worth it for 1min quicker export, I don’t believe the whole time is money if 1min quicker means you save a lot of time your not thinking correctly

They assume multiple projects in a series.

It does add up.

But if you're doing a project per week/month then you're right... 1 min faster is not a good use of that £7000.

Mentally I want a Mac Studio but in terms of use case even an iPhone chip 3 months from now is more than enough raw performance for me.

 

[rp2011]

Its almost a given that the M3 will offer ray tracing. That, along with the added performance from the switch to 3NM should make Nvidia and Intel really start worry.
I love my current M1 Mac Studio, but I plan to wait until next year to upgrade to an Ultra.

 

[mattopotamus]

Because then they would be gatekeeping the chip behind a huge purchase price that much less people would want to spend. The Mac Pro solves a few specific needs and is obviously a bit of a placeholder for a higher class of computer than the Studio, but Apple can't actually make that computer yet. Or might have little interest in doing so ever.

Side note, we are living in the "best of times" for the much coveted "headless Mac". The mini is good enough for a huge group of folks, the Studio is good enough for a huge group of Pros, and the Mac Pro is good enough for some specific niches that the Studio doesn't satisfy. We still have a hole for true enterprise GPU performance or vast RAM needs, but Apple is still in a very good place right now.

Seriously, for people that do not need a laptop, the Mac mini is an insane value.

 

[terminator-jq]

The M2 Max and Ultra really give me hope for the future of Apple Silicon. Apple has been ahead of the curve on the CPU side but on the GPU side, they had some serious scaling issues which started on the M1 Max 32 core and got progressively worse with each tier (although they are still VERY good chips and my M1 Max still wows me to this day).

Apple heard these concerns and the M2 Max fixed it. The M2 Ultra is even better. If they can get the GPU hardware rendering (rumored for the A17) into the M3 series, we might just have another golden era of Apple Silicon.

Even as a person who prefers laptops, I’m happy Apple decided to update the Studio rather than worrying about it eating into Mac Pro sales. It will be very interesting to see where the Mac Pro goes from here… especially with its lower customizability compared to the Intel version.

 

[Ethosik]

Its almost a given that the M3 will offer ray tracing. That, along with the added performance from the switch to 3NM should make Nvidia and Intel really start worry.
I love my current M1 Mac Studio, but I plan to wait until next year to upgrade to an Ultra.

Yeah that’s why I’m on the fence, but if the whine is gone, I’ll upgrade just for that. It’s so awful and annoying and I had to exchange my current one 5 times before giving up and just dealing with it.