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Hoping I can "get by" with a base M2 Max... help?

J

jrm27

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 3, 2008
579
31
Hi all,
It's time to update my aging 2016 MBP (2.7ghz i7, 16G RAM, 512gb), and rather than upgrade to a new laptop, I'd like to go back to a desktop and snag a Mac Studio. However, I'm gonna have to buy a whole bunch of stuff to update my whole setup (monitors, peripherals, external drives, etc..), so I'm trying to maximize my budget.

I'm thinking that the base M2 studio would be a HUGE improvement over my current arrangement, but I hope that it'd be enough of a step up to last me at least another 5 years. Here's my use case: I'm a graphic designer who works mainly in the Adobe Creative Suite. Illustrator, Photoshop, and Lightroom are my main uses. However, I also shoot video and find myself (from time to time) in Premiere, AE, and DaVinci Resolve... not often, but sometimes. I'm not looking for a killer video editing machine, but I do need to handle edits from time to time on this new machine.

So, with that in mind, I'm wondering how the base M2 studio would fare? I was thinking that if I were to upgrade anything it would be the internal storage to 1TB, and then maybe the memory to 64gb. However, I'm reading that this new unified memory is incredibly capable, even at 32. If I didn't have to buy new monitors, new external storage, new peripherals, etc... I'd definitely be looking at other configurations, but I'm new to Apple Silicon and am bringing old experience to new tech. Any input would be appreciated!
 
jrm27 said:
Hi all,
It's time to update my aging 2016 MBP (2.7ghz i7, 16G RAM, 512gb), and rather than upgrade to a new laptop, I'd like to go back to a desktop and snag a Mac Studio. However, I'm gonna have to buy a whole bunch of stuff to update my whole setup (monitors, peripherals, external drives, etc..), so I'm trying to maximize my budget.

I'm thinking that the base M2 studio would be a HUGE improvement over my current arrangement, but I hope that it'd be enough of a step up to last me at least another 5 years. Here's my use case: I'm a graphic designer who works mainly in the Adobe Creative Suite. Illustrator, Photoshop, and Lightroom are my main uses. However, I also shoot video and find myself (from time to time) in Premiere, AE, and DaVinci Resolve... not often, but sometimes. I'm not looking for a killer video editing machine, but I do need to handle edits from time to time on this new machine.

So, with that in mind, I'm wondering how the base M2 studio would fare? I was thinking that if I were to upgrade anything it would be the internal storage to 1TB, and then maybe the memory to 64gb. However, I'm reading that this new unified memory is incredibly capable, even at 32. If I didn't have to buy new monitors, new external storage, new peripherals, etc... I'd definitely be looking at other configurations, but I'm new to Apple Silicon and am bringing old experience to new tech. Any input would be appreciated!
Click to expand...
It'll handle it great, staying with the 32GB RAM.

I would suggest going the 1TB disk, but only because it's faster. (and you can never have enough disk. <g>)
 
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Graphic Designer here who upgraded from a 2016 MBP to a Mac Studio (M1 Max) and also does a bit of video, so I just had to chime in here. The base M2 Max will be a massive upgrade and pretty much a breeze at most Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign tasks. Only time I notice some sluggish performance is if I'm dealing with very complicated vector shapes in Illustrator but other than that, no issues.

I went with the 1 TB and 64 GB option but for Graphic Design, I could definitely get by with the 32 GB option. Since I'm using After Effects more and more lately and that application eats up a ton of memory, I'd only recommend 64 GB if you plan on using that a lot or plan to have multiple applications or browser tabs running.
 
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Graphic designer here too. There's no way I would spec a machine with 32GB RAM in 2023, whatever is said about how good AS silicon is at handling it. Multiple colleagues had to return their base spec M1 MacBook pros because they were constantly running into memory issues. Given RAM is no longer user upgradeable it makes sense to get as much as you can afford and future proof new machines.
 
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Thanks everyone. I appreciate the advice to upgrade the RAM, but I just didn't have the budget. I pulled the trigger nd ordered the base model while upgrading the internal storage to 1Tb. Hopefully I'm not kicking myself too hard looking for 32 more gigs of RAM too soon! Now to go blow the rest of my money on peripherals!
 
jrm27 said:
Thanks everyone. I appreciate the advice to upgrade the RAM, but I just didn't have the budget. I pulled the trigger nd ordered the base model while upgrading the internal storage to 1Tb. Hopefully I'm not kicking myself too hard looking for 32 more gigs of RAM too soon! Now to go blow the rest of my money on peripherals!
Click to expand...

Apple card = 12 months of interest free payments.
 
Deffo get the 1TB, it is double speed of 512G. Apple is nickel and diming only putting 512G in a computer these days.
I was in the same boat as the OP. For sure the Ultra looks appealing but in all honesty saving a minute off of a video render is no big deal to me and I bet nearly every hobbyist. I think the M2 Max/1TB and 64G RAM is a real sweet spot for one of these systems, one that I went for and I am delighted with it.
 
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jrm27 said:
Thanks everyone. I appreciate the advice to upgrade the RAM, but I just didn't have the budget. I pulled the trigger nd ordered the base model while upgrading the internal storage to 1Tb. Hopefully I'm not kicking myself too hard looking for 32 more gigs of RAM too soon! Now to go blow the rest of my money on peripherals!
Click to expand...
Send it back and get 64G and borrow and scrape the money from somewhere. It will future proof the machine massively.
 
In your situation, I would look at a maxed out M1 Max Mac Studio. Get the 1TB (or 2TB), and the 64GB of RAM in an M1 Max. Perhaps look at the refurbished units? I would send the M2 back and go that direction.

I am a photographer and do a bit of video work as well, and I have super-stoked about my maxed out M1 Max.
 
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