The Ultra is an Ugly sandwich box

[macnick2]

The trashcan, while not technically what we wanted, was at least a brilliant piece of design.

It looks amazing, has a great finish and a built in handle.
The Ultra on the other hand, needs to be hidden away - It is not what we expect from Apple design.

It is an ugly metal sandwich box - and just as ugly and impractical. The proportions don't work.

Any suggestions as to how to make it look better?

As soo as Ifixit have done the teardown, I'll seriously look at re-finishing mine.

 

[dugbug]

looks ok to me. I agree the trashcan was neat looking but nothing wrong with this guy.

 

[F-Train]

If you maker an effort to look, you'll find that there's already a thread dedicated to the same proposition. Is there a need for two of them?

 

[bobcomer]

At first I thought it looked fat in comparison to my Intel Mac Mini, but really I *like* better cooling, so I *like* the Studio. So it looks like a box, no big...

 

[ravinder08]

I think this a great direction Apple are now taking they are putting function first opposed to the super thin Johnny Ive designs, where cooling was an issue and they suffered from a serious lack of ports. I am more interested in having a computer that doesn’t over heat and has enough ports so I don’t have to use dongles.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Bet the Mac Studio will look much better and smaller in real life.

 

[joker00]

I just had to break out a tape measure and the hight really is shorter than I expected.

However, they really missed it....this would have been super amazing if they used the trash can for the new studio. Heck, I'd pay a bit extra for that.

 

[appltech]

Thinking it's a matter of time when we'll see a "revolution": Mac mini/Studio in Mac Pro 2013 case

Mac Studio reminds me 1st gen Mac Mini

 

[Moonlight]

It is a beautiful silver cube

 

[SJ Burnett]

I think this a great direction Apple are now taking the are putting function first supposed to the super thin design where cooling and ports suffered. I am more interested having a computer that doesn’t over heat and has enough ports so I don’t have to have dongles.

Pity they chose to power it from the mains and put the PSU inside though.

 

[m1maverick]

The trashcan, while not technically what we wanted, was at least a brilliant piece of design.

It looks amazing, has a great finish and a built in handle.
The Ultra on the other hand, needs to be hidden away - It is not what we expect from Apple design.

It is an ugly metal sandwich box - and just as ugly and impractical. The proportions don't work.

Any suggestions as to how to make it look better?

As soo as Ifixit have done the teardown, I'll seriously look at re-finishing mine.

Yes, don't buy it.

 

[ascender]

I'll probably put it under my desk like my Mac mini is, so won't see it. I'm sure you could also tuck it off to one side of your desk - it looked really out of place in some of the Apple publicity, front and centre on a desk. I don't think many people will place it there!

 

[wolfboy]

Any suggestions as to how to make it look better?

All it really needs is something to break up the dead space in the middle

 

[fathergll]

This folks is why we can't have nice things. Apple finally releases the a midrange to high end desktop and the complaints come because it's more about function. Looks fine. I'm more interested in specs, ports and cooling.

 

[UltimateSyn]

It's gorgeous.

 

[Baja63]

The trashcan, while not technically what we wanted, was at least a brilliant piece of design.

It looks amazing, has a great finish and a built in handle.
The Ultra on the other hand, needs to be hidden away - It is not what we expect from Apple design.

It is an ugly metal sandwich box - and just as ugly and impractical. The proportions don't work.

Any suggestions as to how to make it look better?

As soo as Ifixit have done the teardown, I'll seriously look at re-finishing mine.

Good thing I love sandwiches. I think the best view is the back of the device. All those vents and ports. I agree it’s not a work of art but I think it looks pretty good. Of course, they could have given it more edge but I think the idea is it’s a work device not a lifestyle device.

 

[Moonlight]

I like the Mac Studio, but I would like it more if it looked like this:

 

[now i see it]

Put a sticker on it

 

[Traverse]

The only change I would have made would have been to rotate the USB-C ports on the front by 90 degrees. The Mac Studio definitely looks a bit esoteric or very "machine" looking, but I don't mind it. It's design fits with the current trend from the MacBook Pros and displays.

I think it's fine and the fact that it's clearly a computer designed for form over function (ports in the front!) has me thrilled to bits every bit as much as when they showed off the MacBook Pros.

 

[ixxx69]

I do appreciate design, that's one of things that I really like about Apple. While it's almost universally agreed that Apple went too far with thinness over everything else, I don't think that means their products can't still look beautiful in that generally minimalist style that is (and should remain) their signature.

I think the Studio is just plain looking - it's uninspired. As a MP 6,1 owner, and soon to be Studio owner, I remember those "can't innovate my ass" promo videos, and however one eventually felt about the 6,1, it certainly looked cool in that Apple way. However, the Studio, it's, well... fine. They didn't blow it, but they didn't blow me away either.

The internals OTOH, I'm super impressed. And cost is reasonable, and actually pretty fair for Apple prices. The Studio is a tremendously more powerful computer than the 6,1 for its day, and it starts $1,000 less than the 6,1 from 8 years ago, not even accounting for inflation (I think that probably says more about the 6,1 being way overpriced).

This folks is why we can't have nice things. Apple finally releases the a midrange to high end desktop and the complaints come because it's more about function. Looks fine. I'm more interested in specs, ports and cooling.

It is funny, but this is the internet after all... on a planet with over 7 billion people, there's always going to be enough Mac users on this forum to make it seem like lots of people are saying the same thing. As we all should know by now, literally no matter what Apple released, no matter what price, there are going to be disappointed folks.

How it sells will say a lot about how successful Apple was at figuring out their target market (and they might even discover that there are a lot of people who are going to buy this that aren't in their so-called target market).

 

[-narcan-]

It's perfect.

 

[Boil]

The Mac Studio is the perfect chassis for the M1 Max SoC, zero throttling for any sub-system...

I would have liked to see a Space Gray option though...

I expect we will see design elements from the Mac Studio find their way over to a new Mac mini before the year is out...?

 

[idktbh]

 

[th0masp]

Is that ... a power light on the front? And who needs plugs and that ghastly slot? ? Pro? More like amateur hour.

Now excuse me while I twist and turn my Trashcan around to glee at how the rear lights up and marvel at how exquisitely they managed to sandwich the power button right between power cable and network plug. That's more like it. Somebody bring back Ive!

 

[treehuggerpro]