New Mac Studio and Mac Pro Support Up to Eight 4K Displays, Mac Pro Works With These PCI Cards

[TallManNY]

Priced out a basic studio rig to replace my aging 27” iMac. Came out to $4,850 before tax. This is insane. I paid about $2,000 for the iMac, maybe less.

Apple has an incredible gap in their lineup without a 27” or 32” iMac.

People should not complain about the price of Apple Vision seeing cases like this. The Apple laptops are fairly priced. The desktops, no.

That Studio rig is a different class of computer than an iMac. You should have started with a base mini or mini pro if you wanted to do like for like. Using Studio really is bringing yourself into a true pro set up and should be compared to a Mac Pro as it previously existed in many ways.

The iMac has always been a screaming deal though because of the quality of the monitor. And the Studio Display is overpriced. Try this: base M2 mini Pro, latest Samsung ViewFinity S9 monitor. You will land in approximately the $2,000 range and you will have a computer very comparable to that 27" iMac in terms of its place in modern Apple lineup.

I will note that the payoff from getting away from the all in one is not in the initial purchase. The payoff comes when you keep the monitor for over a decade and replace the computer every five years. You just have to bite the bullet for the nice monitor once, then it all makes sense going forward after that.

 

[NY Guitarist]

By the way there is no list of compatible PCI cards.

The apple link just says many cards are compatible

I went to the link looking for a list of cards and found the same.

 

[Born Again]

Most projects we work on are under NDA, but it’s not difficult to imagine a Mac Studio connected via Thunderbolt to HDMI/DP adapters to 6x/7x simultaneous 4K60 inputs on Barco E2, Novastar MCTRL4K, Lightware MX2 matrix etc.

Just because you can’t envisage a usage scenario, doesn’t mean there aren’t real-world cases for such.

And this is applicable to how many users?

 

[routine_analyst]

I'd love a demo of the user turning the machine on and off. I'd marvel the moment when the machine recognizes all of the displays correctly, without scaling or claiming they are 60inch monitors. I'd love to witness macOS remembering where the monitors are supposed to be in relation to one another. This is STILL a problem in 2023 for me when I boot my Mac. It NEVER happens when I boot my gaming PC. /smh

 

[FNH15]

That Studio rig is a different class of computer than an iMac. You should have started with a base mini or mini pro if you wanted to do like for like. Using Studio really is bringing yourself into a true pro set up and should be compared to a Mac Pro as it previously existed in many ways.

The iMac has always been a screaming deal though because of the quality of the monitor. And the Studio Display is overpriced. Try this: base M2 mini Pro, latest Samsung ViewFinity S9 monitor. You will land in approximately the $2,000 range and you will have a computer very comparable to that 27" iMac in terms of its place in modern Apple lineup.

I will note that the payoff from getting away from the all in one is not in the initial purchase. The payoff comes when you keep the monitor for over a decade and replace the computer every five years. You just have to bite the bullet for the nice monitor once, then it all makes sense going forward after that.

I’d agree with everything, except that those Samsung monitors aren’t a 5K panel (in a normal 27” config).
Given the power of even a base model M2, it’s probably a better comparison to price out an Apple Studio Display + M2 Mac mini with 16GB RAM. At which point it becomes pretty competitive with the old 27” iMac (adjusting for inflation).

And while not a completely Apples to Apples comparison, there’s always the refurb section of apple.com too.

 

[lazyrighteye]

It was always zero. Same for M2 Pro. The thermals wouldn't permit it. People already complained that the M2 ran a little warmer in the 13" MBA than the M1 had.

Yep, got it. Was more a joke/riff on the fact that MBA doesn't support dual external monitors. There is no expectation (here) of an M2+ in an MBA. 😉

 

[jsalda]

People really need to master virtual desktops, 8 screens, GTFO.

If you have to keep an eye on multiple processes at the same time, have different apps that you have to reference at the same time, or work in one app with a lot of tools; there's any number of scenarios that make it more efficient for multiple screens vs virtual desktops. Just 'cause your workflow doesn't dictate it necessary doesn't mean others don't need it. GTFO

 

[ryanfritzsche]

I like how they threw in those 1990's speakers to balance out the look

I'm no fan of these Genelecs, but they are in fact an industry standard in edit rooms all over LA & NYC.

 

[avkills]

Just who are these people who are running 8 displays? I'm sure there's a few dozen in the world, but it seems like a very niche thing.

Massive LED walls need lots of pixels to be pushed for native resolution. I have any ultrawide; a 1080p portable off to the side and then 4 4K monitors for testing show stuff.

Once some of the software stuff gets fully worked out, M2 Studios are going to be awesome for this running Millumin.

 

[-BigMac-]

At my office, I have six displays running at a time for investment analysis. Use two computers for it. Wouldn’t need to anymore.

Thats epic! Thanks for the example do you have a photo? Would love to see it🥰

 

[HVDynamo]

I like how they threw in those 1990's speakers to balance out the look

Those aren’t 1990’s speakers lol They look like Genelec monitors which are very modern and good speakers

 

[hoodafoo]

Those aren’t 1990’s speakers lol They look like Genelec monitors which are very modern and good speakers

I don't care what everyone says about these speakers. It looks like the set designer went shopping at CompUSA for these things

 

[FoxyKaye]

I don't care what everyone says about these speakers. It looks like the set designer went shopping at CompUSA for these things

CompUSA... Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time.

 

[TallManNY]

I’d agree with everything, except that those Samsung monitors aren’t a 5K panel (in a normal 27” config).
Given the power of even a base model M2, it’s probably a better comparison to price out an Apple Studio Display + M2 Mac mini with 16GB RAM. At which point it becomes pretty competitive with the old 27” iMac (adjusting for inflation).

And while not a completely Apples to Apples comparison, there’s always the refurb section of apple.com too.

I did not know that the Samsung monitors weren't a 5k panel. I thought the whole point of them was to be a Studio Display without the inflated Apple Studio Display price. I have a Studio Display on my Mini and I like it, but I also acknowledge that it is overpriced. It is also over engineered in some ways because many users will not necessarily want a webcam and microphone on each of their displays. I use them on mine, but I also retired a very good webcam and yeti mic in favor of the cleaner desktop set up of having those things built in. Apple has left wide open a place in the market for a nice 5k monitor that plays well with mini, studio and mac pro, but which doesn't break the bank.

 

[Aston441]

Yeah! RCA inputs work great; why change something that isn’t broken?

Courage.

 

[Aston441]

Is there ANY reason, other than Apple's sheer bloody minded refusal, that software could not be developed to allow M2 Studio to drive/use my 27" iMac as it's display?
It's an excellent screen, fully as good as the Studio display and I already have it.

Apple makes no money that way. That is the reason.

 

[ectoplasmosis]

And this is applicable to how many users?

Does it matter? Certainly enough for Apple to implement. We get what we need, and buy more Macs because of it. So do others who need this.

You carry on being perplexed.

 

[ectoplasmosis]

Massive LED walls need lots of pixels to be pushed for native resolution. I have any ultrawide; a 1080p portable off to the side and then 4 4K monitors for testing show stuff.

Once some of the software stuff gets fully worked out, M2 Studios are going to be awesome for this running Millumin.

Just need Apple to enable framelocking multiple outputs, and it’ll be perfection.

We have developed a way of framelocking 2x native video outputs on Apple Silicon, but this cannot compete with Watchout/Pixera/Disguise running on PC hardware with full framelocking, external sync, EDID management etc.

 

[SamRyouji]

Fibonnaci strikes again!

So, based on that pattern...we will have support for 13 4k monitors running at 60 fps on M4 Ultra (?) Color me impressed. ❤️

 

[avkills]

Just need Apple to enable framelocking multiple outputs, and it’ll be perfection.

We have developed a way of framelocking 2x native video outputs on Apple Silicon, but this cannot compete with Watchout/Pixera/Disguise running on PC hardware with full framelocking, external sync, EDID management etc.

That's no lie. I know a lot of people are using the Black Magic 8k card to get frame sync; but then you gotta have the SDI ports to handle all of that.

 

[ectoplasmosis]

That's no lie. I know a lot of people are using the Black Magic 8k card to get frame sync; but then you gotta have the SDI ports to handle all of that.

Using an 8K quad-split SDI output card over Thunderbolt is an expensive bodge; no custom resolutions and increased latency.

Our solution framelocks two native video outputs, using standard Thunderbolt to DP/HDMI adapters. I’m currently using it on a show with custom EDIDs.

 

[Born Again]

Does it matter? Certainly enough for Apple to implement. We get what we need, and buy more Macs because of it. So do others who need this.

You carry on being perplexed.

You sound upset. Who is we?

 

[ectoplasmosis]

You sound upset. Who is we?

Not upset, just bemused that some people still find the concept that there are others buying computers for uses different to their own, difficult to grasp.

 

[Born Again]

Not upset, just bemused that some people still find the concept that there are others buying computers for uses different to their own, difficult to grasp.

You do understand your use case is extremely niche which was the point of my comment. Or do you think is a mass market feature?

 

[ectoplasmosis]

You do understand your use case is extremely niche which was the point of my comment. Or do you think is a mass market feature?

It’s a feature that Apple bothered to expend R&D resources on, to include in mass-market products… make of that what you will.