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Next workstation-class mac will be called Mac Studio

A

Amethyst

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 8, 2006
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I got some info about next workstation class mac, list below.

- It will be called Mac Studio
- Powered by M1 max 2x
- 20 CPU cores and 48 GPU cores
- Low-end mac display (but the prices not seem to be low) will be call Apple 5K display
- As i have seen only front of display, it closely resemble of what Apple Pro Display XDR look like.
- i've not seen the back and the side of display, so cannot tell anything about stand and back design. (is it sell separately etc)
 
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Amethyst said:
I got some info about next workstation class mac, list below.

- It will be called Mac Studio
Click to expand...

Doubtful, too close in name to Surface Studio, and why drop the Mac Pro branding that has been around for sixteen years...?

Amethyst said:
- Powered by M1 max 2x
Click to expand...

This tracks with all other rumors about Jade2C & the ASi Mac Pro...

Amethyst said:
- 20 CPU cores and 48 GPU cores
Click to expand...

Why would Apple use binned SoCs in their flagship product...?

Dual M1 Max SoCs means 64 GPU cores (2 x 32)...
 
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From what i know, Mac Pro name may not be drop but we will got Mac Studio.
 
Amethyst said:
From what i know, Mac Pro name may not be drop but we will got Mac Studio.
Click to expand...
That would make sense, they have to differentiate the intel Mac Pro successor from the Apple SoC version, hence a new name. It’s a fork in the road In Apple’s product portfolio.
 
Boil said:
Doubtful, too close in name to Surface Studio, and why drop the Mac Pro branding that has been around for sixteen years...?
Click to expand...

Maybe because they've now produced a processor called the "M1 Pro" which isn't their most powerful processor.

Also, a 2x Max isn't going to "replace" a 28 core Xeon with 1.5TB RAM and multiple full-size workstation GPUs - so the current Intel Mac Pro may still be around for a while and/or Apple might decide to get out of that end of the market - which is the hardest one for Apple Silicon to penetrate.

Giving this rumour the benefit of the doubt, "Mac Studio" sounds more like the smaller Mac Pro variant that has been rumoured. Hopefully it will be priced to fit the hole created in 2019 when they doubled the starting price of the Mac Pro (effectively more than doubled, because the $6k Mac Pro config just didn't make sense...)

Boil said:
Why would Apple use binned SoCs in their flagship product...?
Click to expand...
Same reason as they use binned chips in the 14" MacBook Pro and MacBook Air - to offer an attractive base price that minimises "sticker shock" and then up-sell customers to the higher options.
 
I have got some info, that the machine i saw maybe not only config in the line-up. (aka you maysee 10/24 10/32 or 20/64 mac studio)
 
Thanks for the great report Amethyst. So it looks like the Apple Silicon Mac Pro may indeed be called Mac Studio. 'Mac Pro' may remain an Intel product line.
 
MisterAndrew said:
Thanks for the great report Amethyst. So it looks like the Apple Silicon Mac Pro may indeed be called Mac Studio. 'Mac Pro' may remain an Intel product line.
Click to expand...
Seems like they will keep Mac Pro, they just don’t have a chip that’s quite ready for that level of performance yet.
 
Boil said:
Why would Apple use binned SoCs in their flagship product...?
Click to expand...

With 2 of those chips in the same package they might hit a thermal limit at that point.

Or maybe the interconnect between the chips can only service a certain number of cores.

Or it is simple the base model with a full DoubleMax as BTO.
 
48 GPU cores seems short of what they'd need to compete in high end graphics. But this machine sounds much more audio or lower end graphics focused. Even for FCPX it will be pretty nimble even if it didn't wade into the high end 3D rendering space.

So clearly still a place for the Mac Pro, while this machine could better fill it's niche.
 
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Boil said:
With the removal of discrete GPUs and the move to TB4/USB4, I really see no need for PCIe slots in a Mac Pro/Cube/Studio/whatever...

Excuse me while I duck for cover...! ;^p
Click to expand...
Agreed. I think the full size Mac Pro may be the only Mac with PCIe slots. But who knows, maybe they will create MPX modules for both the Mac studio and Mac Pro to lower production costs.
 
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Boil said:
With the removal of discrete GPUs and the move to TB4/USB4, I really see no need for PCIe slots in a Mac Pro/Cube/Studio/whatever...

Excuse me while I duck for cover...! ;^p
Click to expand...

Jorbanead said:
Agreed. I think the full size Mac Pro may be the only Mac with PCIe slots. But who knows, maybe they will create MPX modules for both the Mac studio and Mac Pro to lower production costs.
Click to expand...

The only other product that uses the MPX slot is the Promise Pegasus R4i 32TB (four 8TB HDDs) RAID MPX module...?

And the MPX modules are SO long (same with the Pro Tools HDX cards), they demand more depth to a chassis than I could see in a new Cube; an external TB4/USB4 M.2 NVMe SSD RAID box seems more desktop real estate friendly...?

Sonnet has some neat products that offer either desktop or rackmount for external PCIe expansion, and they will fit the long-boi HDX cards...

Yeah, I want to see a new ASi Mac Cube...!
 
Boil said:
And the MPX modules are SO long (same with the Pro Tools HDX cards), they demand more depth to a chassis than I could see in a new Cube; an external TB4/USB4 M.2 NVMe SSD RAID box seems more desktop real estate friendly...?
Click to expand...

The way the Mac Studio has been described (closer to a Mac mini than a Mac Pro) I would not expect to see any MPX slots at all. I'd be surprised if there are any PCIe slots, but it's possible there could be half length slots.

Also the MPX branding is a nice way to deal with that. MPX stands for Mac Pro Expansion. No reason to think an MPX card would work with a Mac Studio instead of a Mac Pro.
 
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goMac said:
The way the Mac Studio has been described (closer to a Mac mini than a Mac Pro) I would not expect to see any MPX slots at all. I'd be surprised if there are any PCIe slots, but it's possible there could be half length slots.
Click to expand...

I, personally, don't care for any PCIe slots, as long as there is sufficient TB4/USB4 ports available; I also really want to see a new Cube, so "third time's the charm" for me...! ;^p

goMac said:
Also the MPX branding is a nice way to deal with that. MPX stands for Mac Pro Expansion. No reason to think an MPX card would work with a Mac Studio instead of a Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

Well, I was responding to another poster who was hypothesizing about Apple creating MPX modules for both the Mac Pro & Mac Studio (and yes, I know MPX is an acronym for Mac Pro eXpansion)...

I am excited to see what a Mac Studio might actually be, and I would also await pricing with trepidation, expecting a high-end price somewhere between US$10K & US$15K for a top spec dual SoC model with a 7K display...?

I will go forward with plans to get a M1 Max Mac mini & use my existing displays (27" 1920x1080 & 32" 2560x1440) for now; but by the time the high-end M3 (Pro/Max/Ultra) models roll out I might be ready to upgrade it all...?
 
Euroamerican said:
Will they have Phil Collins sing "Sussudio" for dat Mac Studio?
Click to expand...

Sorry bruh, beat you to it...! ;^p

The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

Huh, first I heard of "Mac Studio" was this thread, where the OP is acting as if they have an inside track on info for this new product... Naturally I dismissed it as malarkey, but now I see there is an actual rumor published by 9to5 Mac... Interesting, especially when tied to the Apple Studio...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
Boil said:
The only other product that uses the MPX slot is the Promise Pegasus R4i 32TB (four 8TB HDDs) RAID MPX module...?

And the MPX modules are SO long (same with the Pro Tools HDX cards), they demand more depth to a chassis than I could see in a new Cube; an external TB4/USB4 M.2 NVMe SSD RAID box seems more desktop real estate friendly...?

Sonnet has some neat products that offer either desktop or rackmount for external PCIe expansion, and they will fit the long-boi HDX cards...

Yeah, I want to see a new ASi Mac Cube...!
Click to expand...
You’re thinking within the limits of the 2019 slots. Apple could create a new MPX expansion where you can order the full size card for MP or the half size card for Mac studio (size here talking about length, not height). The afterburner motherboard for example only took up about half the length of the actual card itself.

To be fair, I don’t think Apple will do this (as MPX literally stands for Mac Pro expansion) but who knows. We also don’t know that it’s a cube. Nobody has confirmed that aspect. We just know it’s at least half the size of the Mac Pro.

I personally would welcome Mpx modules because I do not want to get an external PCIe chassis. I have an eGPU now and I honestly hate it (love the performance not the box). I would love to add more storage (maybe ram?) and other things to my Mac studio. Also if this is marketed towards audio engineers and video editors, for our respective studios, we really do still need PCIe slots.
 
MisterAndrew said:
Thanks for the great report Amethyst. So it looks like the Apple Silicon Mac Pro may indeed be called Mac Studio. 'Mac Pro' may remain an Intel product line.
Click to expand...
this would make the most sense to me, which is good because I wanted a refreshed Intel Mac Pro. I don't think the Apple Silicon chips are ready for that level, and I think a lot of developers are still working out the kinks with their software for the chips. I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that rely on stability day-to-day.
 
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windowsblowsass said:
so were finally getting the long pined for xMac. Can't wait for everybody to STILL complain
Click to expand...

That depends if it has slots or if it is a TB4/USB4 expansion only situation...

And people will still complain because they still want that sub US$2k xMac mini tower with the ability to upgrade everything and use third-party GPUs, including Nvidia...
 
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