Apple Mac Studio 2023 (M2 Max) review: All the computing power a creative needs

I’ve been impressed with nearly each machine into which Apple has injected its proprietary chips. The MacE-book Pro is nice. The MacE-book Air might be the finest laptop computer for most individuals proper now. And I additionally actually loved the first iteration of the Mac Studio with the M1 Max chip inside. Now, Apple has upgraded the Mac Studio to its M2-series silicon, together with the M2 Max (which I’m reviewing right here) and the much more highly effective M2 Ultra (which might be overkill for all however the most critical customers). While the M2 Max isn’t a revolutionary bounce from the M1 taste (like the M1 was from the Intel Macs), the new technology does present a very noticeable velocity enhance, in addition to some welcomed options for superior customers. 

Overview

• The chassis has stayed the identical, however the laptop now jumps as much as the M2 Max and M2 Ultra-series chips.
• The base M2 Max mannequin begins at $1,999 with a 12-core CPU, 30-core GPU, 32GB unified reminiscence, and 512GB storage.
• M2 Ultra fashions begin at $3,999 with a 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU, 64GB unified reminiscence, and 1TB built-in storage. 
• M2 Max fashions help as much as 5 high-res shows directly.
• Apple guarantees 1.8x enchancment in CPU efficiency over M1 Max and three.8x GPU efficiency enhancements.

Pros

• The design remains to be improbable
• Super-quiet
• Noticeably quicker than the earlier mannequin in each process
• Solid set of ports for a small laptop

Cons

• Expensive
• Gets actually costly as you add to the specs

Verdict: The sophomore Mac Studio supplies a stable improve over its still-worthy predecessor and represents a monumental leap from the outdated Intel Macs—so, in case you’re nonetheless on a type of, that is a nice time to improve.

The Mac Studio 2023 (M2 Max) construct

Our assessment unit has an M2 Max chip inside with 12 CPU cores, 38 GPU cores, 64GB shared reminiscence, and 4TB built-in storage. This configuration is a step up from the $1,999 base mannequin when it comes to the chip, which provides $200. The further shared reminiscence (the base mannequin gives 32GB) provides $400. And the improve to 4TB storage provides a fairly gnarly $1,200. The base mannequin solely gives 512GB of built-in storage. And whereas many creative professionals rely closely on super-fast exterior storage, I feel 1TB is the ground for a work laptop at this level. 

The Mac Studio 2023 (M2 Max) efficiency

I’ve used the Mac Studio as my primary laptop for the higher a part of a week at the time of this assessment. That contains very heavy photograph modifying with giant uncooked recordsdata, 4K video modifying, and plenty of browser tabs. As you may anticipate, the Mac Studio handles on a regular basis computing duties very simply. Windows shortly snap open. Switching home windows occurs immediately. Even tons of tabs don’t appear to tax the machine too significantly. I did discover that the machine is actually silent always, even once I’m doing one thing that creates a heavy load on the {hardware}. That’s been the Mac Studio’s brag because it debuted, nevertheless it’s nonetheless spectacular for the little field to churn out 4K video edits with out making a peep. 

Ports

The again of the machine sports activities 4 USB-C Thunderbolt ports, an Ethernet port, the power connector, two USB-A ports, an HDMI, and a headphone jack. The entrance of the machine rocks one other pair of USB-C ports and an SDXC card reader. In addition to the bodily ports, the new Mac Studio now comes with Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 6E connectivity. 

It’s a actually stable arsenal of connectors for such a small machine. The ports on the entrance turn out to be useful typically, and I’m a enormous fan of the SDXC card slot. As extra high-end cameras swap to CFExpress playing cards, nevertheless, it’d begin to really feel outdated relying in your digicam gear improve path. 

While this doesn’t actually have an effect on how the laptop runs or what you are able to do with it, the Mac Studio nonetheless comes with considered one of the nicest power cords I’ve ever seen. It’s wrapped in cloth and pleasantly rounded on the edges. That’s the form of factor you wish to see once you spend a ton of cash on a machine. 

Photo modifying on the Mac Studio M2 Max

This shouldn’t be a benchmarking website, so we’re not going to bombard you with a ton of charts and inscrutable check outcomes. I ran the Mac Studio via Cinebench, and it completed above 14,000 on the multi-core CPU check. That handily beats the earlier M1-series Mac Studio I examined final 12 months, which scored in the 12,000s. The new M2 Max machine completed the single-core check in the mid-1,700s. 

The real-world, hands-on testing was extra informative for me. I loaded a batch of 5,000 or so 45-megapixel Canon R5 uncooked recordsdata into Adobe’s Lightroom Classic. I used the arrow key to shortly transfer via the pictures, marking these I needed to edit and ship. My M1 Pro-powered MacE-book Pro (which I completely love) strikes noticeably slower than the Mac Studio. That’s not shocking, nevertheless it shortly spoiled me. It’s straightforward to neglect how a lot fractions of a second add up when coping with 1000’s of pictures. 

When it involves exporting full-res jpegs from uncooked recordsdata, the Mac Studio M2 Max did the job roughly twice as shortly as my M1 Pro MacE-book Pro. That velocity varies, in fact, relying on what else is working and what sort of resizing/sharpening the pictures want. But it’s noticeably quicker, and that’s a good factor. 

AI

You could have seen wild movies of Photoshop’s new AI-based content-aware fill system. It makes use of generative AI so as to add to, edit, or retouch photographs in actually spectacular methods. It can really feel a little like magic when it will get it excellent. That’s coming from somebody who as soon as made a residing as a photograph retoucher. 

While the AI-powered fill is enjoyable, it’s additionally very useful resource intensive. While the Mac Studio wasn’t fairly twice as quick as my M1 MacE-book Pro, it wasn’t far off. The progress bar on the Mac Studio strikes completely easily throughout the display screen as Photoshop extends the background or inserts a random astronaut into a picture. This efficiency enchancment possible comes partly from the Mac Studio’s improved machine studying {hardware}, which has jumped in capabilities since the earlier technology. 

I observed comparable, although much less pronounced, velocity will increase on the subject of different AI-powered picture modifying processes. Lightroom Classic’s Denoise perform is a stable instance. This AI-powered perform pulls digital noise (some folks incorrectly name it grain) out of pictures with out making issues look muddy or ruining the high-quality particulars inside the picture. This course of sometimes takes roughly 30 seconds per picture in case you don’t make many changes to the energy. The Mac Studio did it in about 20 seconds. If you’re working this perform on a lot of pictures, that’s a large time saver. 

Video modifying

While I’ve a lengthy historical past {of professional} photograph modifying, my video expertise aren’t almost as refined. Still, I repeatedly edit 4K video in Final Cut Pro from my Canon R5, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and any variety of different cameras I could also be reviewing for PopPhoto.com at the time. 

Final Cut Pro has a bonus in speedy modifying because it’s made by Apple and particularly tweaked to run excellently on the firm’s proprietary chips. While I don’t have any points with my M1 Pro MBP and 4K modifying, I’ve gotten used to a sure modifying tempo that I do know received’t jam issues up or trigger a crash. With the M2 Max, I can considerably enhance that tempo. Scrubbing via previews, including transitions, and rendering scenes all transfer noticeably quicker right here. Again, that isn’t shocking, however it’s value noting that Apple has delivered on its lofty efficiency processes. 

The Mac Studio M1 Max vs. Mac Studio M2 Max

Moving from M1 chips to M2 {hardware} is a generational shift. It’s not the identical huge revolution you’d expertise making the leap from an Intel-based Mac, however it would present a noticeable velocity enhance, even over a machine simply a 12 months outdated. If your M1-series Mac Studio retains up together with your present workflow, then there’s in all probability no hurry to improve. If you’re nonetheless utilizing an Intel Mac, you’re actually lacking out and possibly losing a ton of time ready for progress bars to maneuver. 

The Mac Studio M2 Max vs. Mac Studio M2 Ultra

While the Studio M2 Max is a beast, Apple’s lineup contains an much more monstrous configuration in the type of the M2 Ultra. It’s the firm’s strongest chip, solely out there in the Mac Studio and the just lately introduced Mac Pro. If you want absolute power, the Ultra is your transfer, despite the fact that the base mannequin will begin at twice the M2 Max’s $1,999 ground. But ensure you really want all that power. The Mac Studio M2 Ultra can drive as much as eight high-res screens. As a gear author, I’ve a lot of screens round right here, however I don’t even use 4 of them at a time. It’s all the time tempting to get the smartest thing you possibly can probably afford, however it might be extra power than you want and extra cash than you might want to spend. 

So, what Mac Studio M2 Max must you purchase?

The bounce from a 30-core GPU to a 38-core mannequin will solely set you again an additional $200 (although this improve is simply out there in case you purchase instantly from Apple). That’s a worthwhile funding. The base mannequin ships with 32GB of unified reminiscence, which is respectable. However, we all the time advocate splurging on RAM (or, on this case, the Apple equal) in case you can as a result of it makes a tangible distinction in efficiency. And whereas $200 looks as if a large price ticket to go from 512GB inner storage to only 1TB, I nonetheless suppose it’s a worthy improve. I wouldn’t transcend that, although. Just get some quick exterior solid-state storage to attach through USB-C. 

Considering all the variables, the Mac Studio M2 Max is a improbable laptop, particularly in case you do creative work or different resource-intensive initiatives. It blasts via photo-editing packages, simply chews via high-res video, and helps all the most up-to-date wi-fi applied sciences for fast communication. It’s not low-cost, and it could actually get very dear in a hurry in case you begin making upgrades, however be sensible about your buy. If you want the firepower, then spend the cash and spend much less time looking at gradual progress bars. Or, if in case you have a lot of cash and also you simply need a actually slick, quick, subtle desktop, the Mac Studio M2 Max completely matches the invoice.