I tried a combination of Mac Studio and Studio Display. Looking at the articles already published, it seems that many of them are focusing on performance.
I tried the highest-end model of M1 Ultra in Mac Studio, equipped with 20CPU, 64GPU, 128GB memory and 4TB SSD, and the model that boasts the highest performance.
The performance per watt of M1 Ultra is terrible, but …
In terms of performance, the CPU scored twice as much as the M1 Max, and the GPU scored around 1.75 times, which is in a sense expected.
It’s amazing performance for an SoC in one package, but the biggest surprise is that it’s achieved by just stretching the Mac mini a few centimeters vertically. The M1 Ultra is challenging all the chips that pursue performance without worrying about power consumption.
Only the expanded version of the M1 architecture, which emphasizes performance per power consumption, does not waste the need for four times the power to obtain twice the performance. Since the maximum operating frequency does not change from M1 to M1 Ultra, is it natural? Therefore, even if a load is applied, the cooling fan does not start to rotate violently.
Even when the CPU usage rate of all cores is stuck to 100% and the GPU usage rate is 75% or more and it has been used for 15 minutes or more, the main body only gets slightly warm. The cooling fan was spinning, but I couldn’t confirm it was spinning without bringing my ears close.
Mac Studio, on the other hand, is not a product that competes in absolute performance. It can be said that it is a computer for creators housed in a compact housing in order to take advantage of the processor that realized high performance such as M1 Max and M1 Ultra with high power efficiency. It is not a product that focuses on absolute performance.
However, if you change your perspective and take a bird’s-eye view of the entire product, you will see another view.
It’s amazing that we have developed such a chip and actually installed it in the product, but when we actually started using it, I felt it was amazing in another point. It’s a system integration between the display and the Mac that wasn’t available on traditional computers with separate displays. And, despite being separate, almost all of the reasons for delivering an all-in-one experience are concentrated on the Studio Display side.
If you think about it this way, you can understand that Studio Display has a big influence on how to choose a Mac in this Studio combination. Mac Studio is the key to choosing whether it can meet the requirements such as required performance, memory and SSD capacity, but before that, you should think about “what to combine with Studio Display”.
It seems to be a Zen question and answer, but if you change the starting point, the point of choosing a Mac becomes clearer.
Studio Display for a “latest Mac” experience with any Mac
The Studio Display incorporates the various elements of the MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. High-quality cameras, high-quality microphones and speakers, True Tone and reference modes that optimize color temperature, and even automatic backlight brightness behave like iMacs and MacBook Pros. Will do it.
Combined with the fact that Touch ID through the wireless keyboard that was already realized on the 24-inch iMac has become possible, the quality of the experience will be unified in all combinations of notebook type, display integrated desktop, and separate type. become.
As you can see from the experience, Studio Display is a large display with 5K resolution, but it has a full lamination structure that completely adheres from the entire glass to the liquid crystal panel surface and has high image quality. With a wide color gamut compatible with Display-P3, color adjustment has been pushed to the same level as the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro. The maximum brightness is 600 nits, which is not as good as the display for HDR, but the contrast is high and unless it is used for image evaluation in a dark room, there is almost no dissatisfaction with the display.
Further colors are the built-in microphone and speaker. Above all, I was impressed by the straightforward sound quality of the speakers, the good localization, and the high reproducibility of spatial audio. Since the low-frequency reproduction capability is not high, you will want a subwoofer when you enjoy video works such as movies, but it is enough to enjoy popular music, and you do not need half-finished external speakers.
The settings and controls are done from the macOS side, and the Studio Display firmware is also from the Mac, so it is better to give up the combination with other than Mac, but if the connection partner is Mac, whatever Mac it is (5K display) (If it supports), it raises the experience level to the same level as the latest Mac.
Studio Display changes the guidelines for building a desktop environment
The story has become completely centered around Studio Display.
If you need an M1 Ultra or M1 Max and want to work on a big screen, the combination of Mac Studio and Studio Display is perfect. But probably more readers aren’t.
If the M1 is sufficient and you only use your Mac on your desktop, then the M1-equipped Mac mini is a good choice. Or if you want to take it outside and use it, the MacBook Air is the way to go. No, there must be some people who will continue to use Intel-equipped machines until the next generation.
▲ The same installation area when stacking Intel-equipped Mac mini and Mac Studio
▲ Studio Display worked fine on Intel-equipped Macs, and all the built-in functions were available.
Whatever the situation, if you want to connect your Mac to a high-definition 27-inch display and work on your desktop, Studio Display will be your best partner with any Mac.
If you want to choose the best-performing Mac, you can buy Mac Studio at the same time. Whether it’s a desktop or laptop display, this display has a huge impact on the guidelines for buying a Mac.