Apple updates the Mac Studio and introduces an Apple Silicon-equipped Mac Pro : Tech Live Trends

Today at its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple announced introduced the new Mac Studio and Mac Pro, the two most powerful Macs ever made. 

The Mac Studio features M2 Max and the new M2 Ultra and is purportedly up to 6x faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac, and up to 3x faster than the previous-generation Mac Studio with M1 Ultra.

The Mac Pro, now featuring M2 Ultra, combines the unprecedented performance of Apple’s most powerful chip with the versatility of PCIe expansion, according to John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. The Mac Pro is up to 3x faster than the previous-generation Intel-based model, he adds.

The Mac Studio with M2 Ultra and Mac Pro support up to 192GB of unified memory. The new Mac Pro completes the Mac transition to Apple silicon and, together with the rest of Apple’s pro systems, gives users the most powerful and capable lineup of pro products Apple has ever offered, says Ternus. The Mac Studio and Mac Pro are available to order today, with availability beginning Tuesday, June 13.

Mac Studio

Apple says the Mac Studio with M2 Max is up to 50% faster than the previous-generation Mac Studio and 4x faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac. It features a 12-core CPU, up to a 38-core GPU, and up to 96GB of unified memory with 400GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Apple says that, when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Max, Mac Studio with M2 Max:

• Empowers motion graphics designers using After Effects to render up to 50% faster.
• Enables developers to build new versions of apps with Xcode at blazing speed, with up to 25% faster performance.
• Is up to 3x faster than the previous-generation Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 6x faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac.
• Features a 24-core CPU, up to a 76-core GPU, and up to 192GB of memory with 800GB/s of unified memory bandwidth for workstation-class performance.

The new Mac Studio now has higher-bandwidth HDMI, enabling up to 8K resolution and 240Hz frame rates. With the M2 Ultra, Mac Studio supports up to six Pro Display XDRs — driving over 100 million pixels — allowing for a vast amount of screen real estate for pro workflows. Additionally, it now features built-in wireless technologies. Wi-Fi 6E delivers download speeds that are up to twice as fast as the previous generation, while Bluetooth 5.3 allows users to connect to the latest Bluetooth accessories. On the back, the Mac Studio includes four Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 10Gb Ethernet port, an enhanced HDMI port, and two USB-A ports. It also has two USB-C ports and an SD card slot on the front.

Mac Pro

Ternus says that now every Mac Pro has Apple’s most powerful 24-core CPU, an up to 76-core GPU, and starts with twice the memory and SSD storage. The new Mac Pro can also be configured with up to 192GB of memory with 800GB/s of unified memory bandwidth. According to Apple, when compared to the Intel-based Mac Pro, Mac Pro with M2 Ultra:

• Empowers demanding real-world pro workflows like video transcoding and 3D simulations to run up to 3x faster.3
• Enables video engineers to ingest 24 4K camera feeds and encode them to ProRes in real time, all on a single machine, when using six video I/O cards.5

The new Mac Pro brings PCIe expansion to Apple silicon for pros who want the performance of M2 Ultra and rely on internal expansion for their workflows. It boasts seven PCle expansion slots, with six open expansion slots that support gen 4, which is 2x faster than before, so users can customize Mac Pro with essential cards. 

The array of connectivity in Mac Pro now sports eight built-in Thunderbolt 4 ports — six on the back and two on the top — which is twice as many as before. It supports up to six Pro Display XDRs, along with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, which come to the new Mac Pro for fast wireless connectivity. 

Additionally, the desktop includes three USB-A ports, two higher-bandwidth HDMI ports that support up to 8K resolution and up to 240Hz frame rates, two 10Gb Ethernet ports, and a headphone jack that enables the use of high-impedance headphones.

Pricing and availability

The new Mac Studio and Mac Pro are available to order today on apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app. They’ll start to arrive to customers, and will be available in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers, beginning Tuesday, June 13.

The Mac Studio starts at US$1,999 and $1,799 or education. Additional configure-to-order options are available at apple.com/store.

Available in both tower and rack-mounted enclosures, Mac Pro (Tower Enclosure) starts at $6,999 and $6,599 for education. Mac Pro (Rack Enclosure) starts at $7,499 (U.S.) and $6,999 (U.S.) for education. Additional technical specifications and configure-to-order options are available at apple.com/mac-pro.