# Are Mac Studio computers appropriate for discriminating musicians?



## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 8, 2022)

I say yes.









Are Apple’s Mac Studio Models a Good Fit for Music Studios?


Oh yes they are, and here’s why For years, a lot of Mac users have been facing one compromise or another when it came time to upgrade computers for a Synth and Software studio. That probably changed with the new machines Apple announced today. Maybe the price was too high (how’s $51,800 for a...




synthandsoftware.com


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## carlc (Mar 8, 2022)

Looks like a Mac Mini on steroids. I am running most everything on a Mac Mini, BTW. I have been quite happy with it now that I've maxed out the RAM. It is nice to be able to select my own monitor without having to step up to a Mac Pro. Maybe once I am finally ready to make the jump to M1 I'll consider the Mac Studio.


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## RSK (Mar 8, 2022)

carlc said:


> Looks like a Mac Mini on steroids.


More like the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro had a love child.


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## carlc (Mar 8, 2022)

I miss my Mac G4 tower where the side door swung down allowing easy access to all components for expansions & upgrades.

Swapping out RAM in my Mac Mini last week I felt like a surgeon performing an appendectomy on a turtle.


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## aeliron (Mar 8, 2022)

RSK said:


> More like the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro had a love child.


AND a Big Mac.


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## KEM (Mar 8, 2022)

Good thing I already ordered one!!


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## PhilA (Mar 8, 2022)

Discerning not discriminating I hope 😎


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## benwiggy (Mar 8, 2022)

If it isn't, I'd say you're too discriminating!

Seriously, this thing is more powerful than the 2019 Mac Pro that sells for twice the price, at least. The disk speed (as with the Pro/Max MBPs) is 7.4GBps. 

I'd say audio work is going to become a trivial task.


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## seclusion3 (Mar 9, 2022)

Would be nice to set the audio buffer at 32 and forget about it. 
looking forward to some real music related stress tests of the ultra.


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## rMancer (Mar 9, 2022)

PhilA said:


> Discerning not discriminating I hope 😎


I have, on occasion, experienced discrimination by mac users


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## Mike Greene (Mar 9, 2022)

Tempting, although with the pop stuff I do (rarely orchestral), I haven't been hitting any walls with what I already have. (A 2013 Mac Pro and an M1 Mac Mini.) So this would be a want, rather than need. But ... the want is strong!


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## dcoscina (Mar 9, 2022)

KEM said:


> Good thing I already ordered one!!


Which one did you spring for?


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## dcoscina (Mar 9, 2022)

Mike Greene said:


> Tempting, although with the pop stuff I do (rarely orchestral), I haven't been hitting any walls with what I already have. (A 2013 Mac Pro and an M1 Mac Mini.) So this would be a want, rather than need. But ... the want is strong!


Hey Mike I have the exact same set up!


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## davidson (Mar 9, 2022)

dcoscina said:


> Hey Mike I have the exact same set up!


Me too! I went for a new studio, all 20 beautiful cores of it with a big fat juicy 8tb drive. Can't afford to eat ever again but who cares, I'd have just wasted the money on string libraries I wouldn't use anyway.


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## KEM (Mar 9, 2022)

dcoscina said:


> Which one did you spring for?


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## Jett Hitt (Mar 9, 2022)

KEM said:


>


Is this price for real? My price for the same set up is $4499.


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## KEM (Mar 9, 2022)

Jett Hitt said:


> Is this price for real? My price for the same set up is $4499.



My friend works at Apple so he was able to get me a discount, after tax it was about $4,030 or something like that


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## Mike Stone (Mar 10, 2022)

seclusion3 said:


> Would be nice to set the audio buffer at 32 and forget about it.
> looking forward to some real music related stress tests of the ultra.


Yeah, but it's still an M1 chip, only with more cores. Does anyone know what kind of clock speed difference there is between the M1 chips in Mac Mini vs Mac Studio? If it's more or less the same clock speed, you might waste your money getting a Mac Studio (unless you need the additional RAM).


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## benwiggy (Mar 10, 2022)

Mike Stone said:


> Yeah, but it's still an M1 chip, only with more cores. Does anyone know what kind of clock speed difference there is with the M1 chips in Mac Mini vs Mac Studio? If it's more or less the same clock speed, you might waste your money getting a Mac Studio (unless you need the additional RAM).


The Mini still has the 'original' M1 with 8 cores, 16Gb RAM and only 1 display output. 
The base Studio has the M1 Max, which has 10 CPU cores, at least 3x GPU cores, faster SSD and up to 4 external displays.

Clock speed way well be higher, but that's not the only thing that's making it faster than the Mini. There may be a Mini refresh later in the year, but Apple won't let the Studio and Mini compete: if you need more RAM/displays/performance, you have to go for the Studio.


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## nolotrippen (Mar 10, 2022)

KEM said:


>


A Mac II was about $5500 in 1987, no monitor included. We've come a long way.


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## Mike Stone (Mar 10, 2022)

benwiggy said:


> The Mini still has the 'original' M1 with 8 cores, 16Gb RAM and only 1 display output.
> The base Studio has the M1 Max, which has 10 CPU cores, at least 3x GPU cores, faster SSD and up to 4 external displays.
> 
> Clock speed way well be higher, but that's not the only thing that's making it faster than the Mini. There may be a Mini refresh later in the year, but Apple won't let the Studio and Mini compete: if you need more RAM/displays/performance, you have to go for the Studio.


The M3 could change that, but that's another 1.5 years away for now. I'm still happy with my maxed out Mac Mini i7 from 2020 (2018). My main gripe is I would like lower latency in Logic Pro, but doubt the uplift in M1 single thread performance is big enough to make a difference. 

I'll probably for the 3nm M3 chip. The Mac Studio is so expensive, that it would have to last at least 7-8 years for me to make any financial sense (but I'm not a professional composer, only a music teacher who composes on the side).


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## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 14, 2022)

Mike Stone said:


> Yeah, but it's still an M1 chip, only with more cores. Does anyone know what kind of clock speed difference there is between the M1 chips in Mac Mini vs Mac Studio? If it's more or less the same clock speed, you might waste your money getting a Mac Studio (unless you need the additional RAM).



It's not a waste of money. The base model uses the same M1 Max processor in the expensive laptops (or one with the same name, whether or not it's identical), and it's $1K less.

For an additional $2K (minus the price of the additional RAM and larger drive, so $1400) the Ultra has two of those chips strapped together.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 14, 2022)

nolotrippen said:


> A Mac II was about $5500 in 1987, no monitor included. We've come a long way.


We have, but that was early on. For years a studio computer was $2500 - $3500 by the time it was fully configured.

One of the differences is that machines have a much longer athletic career today.


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## nolotrippen (Mar 15, 2022)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> We have, but that was early on. For years a studio computer was $2500 - $3500 by the time it was fully configured.
> 
> One of the differences is that machines have a much longer athletic career today.


Like Tom Brady?


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## Mike Greene (Mar 15, 2022)

nolotrippen said:


> Like Tom Brady?


Exactly! Many a time I've sworn I'm going to get a new Mac and retire the old one, but then I decide the old one is still pretty good and can play another year.


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