I applaud Apple for targeting our “studio” market segment with this release. I would love to buy a loaded Ultra, just because, but likely will pass because its power is more than I need. But how cool is a $4k base config that rivals a loaded 2019 Intel Pro at 3x the price?

To me this is a Mini Pro - same form factor upsized for heat management and connectivity. M1 Max should run cool and quiet, and no problem expanding via multiple TB4 and USBC ports. I would like to know if each TB4 has its own channel. More to come.

Sky

The M1 Max variant is great value to the (more than) average home studio. The Ultra is simply brute force, eheh. I can't justify either paying 4K for that, but for sure it will almost double the track count on any DAW. Great keynote for us, audio people.

I just got my M1 Mac mini and I'm already tempted by this. Ugh. Just the base $1999 is all I'd need since I'm using external SSD storage. Just having the SD card slot on the front is a huge improvement over having to stick a dongle into the rear of my current model.

Like the idea - but you can build a top-end PC and a nice holiday for that!

Haven’t seen all the coverage, but I assume this is the end of the 27” iMac?

I’m about to sell my iMac and grab one of these. Looks super solid and is exactly what I’ve been holding out for!

Beyond stoked but I'm not going to purchase until pro tools can actually run on the OS Mac Studio comes with

I just think the jump from the MacStudio Max to the Ultra (2x) is a bit heavy.

I wouldn't call it a "Mini Pro". For the "Pro" label I would like to see ECC memory.

This $3600 config looks like a nice sweet spot:

* Apple M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
* 64GB unified memory
* 4TB SSD storage

I would like as much high performance internal SSD as possible; 8TB is still excessive price-wise and 4TB should hold the system, apps and sample libs nicely.

32GB is probably enough RAM but the $400 increase for 64TB seems reasonable for future proofing.

Sky

looks great. good options. lot's of power. finally.. the mac mini "pro" arrives.

I'd probably spend a bit more on the Ultra for double the power and deal with the annoyance of external storage.

A base Mini Pro when released should start at $1099 replacing the i5. The M1 Ultra makes sense for audio. The M1 Max not really.

I really don’t have any complaints about the specs but that design ?! Yuuuhh, am i the only one to find it super ugly? Those fake leaks of an updated mini were looking sooo much better

Agree. My timeline is driven by needing a newer hub for our household's Mac ecosphere. Things are increasingly broken for my non-DAW needs and to date I've been running a single desktop for DAW and everything else. So I may keep my 2010 5,1 awhile longer as a dedicated Pro Tools engine while bringing the Mac Studio online. Once PT + plugs are fully ready I can retire the older CPU. In downsizing mode, I would like to stay with a single CPU for everything once this is sorted out.

Sky

I had a chuckle during the presentation video.... the Ableton developer said something along the lines of the M1 Ultra lets you "add more wavetable synths together to provide a richer sound."

Yeah OK... but the lowly M1 is already powerful enough to have dozens of wavetable synths on top of each other. Such rich sound!

I think it's a solid design, compared to a typical desktop mini-tower. It's very compact and has usable ports on the front. With the light the lower corner it kind of reminds me of Deep Thought from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (movie version).

Well, my 2014 MBP has run its course. Just got the Max Base model and even with those specs it's going to be a beast of a machine that will last me for years to come. Now, I just need to figure out what monitor to nab. There's way to many options out there.

I discovered that retina resolutions on a desktop monitor are wasted on my aging eyes... so instead of trying to hunt down a 5K 27" screen I went with an LG 32" 4K screen (which included clamp-on monitor mount). Now a 27" screen seems cramped!

I'll be getting one with the Max chip later this year, once things settle out, etc.

This is exactly what I have been needing.

Right on, thanks for the tips. I really want to try and get this right from the get go. The new Mac Studio doesn't show up until the 18th, so it's going to be a joy to work on this new setup. My MBP is still awesome, and I can use it for anything mobile.

Since I do music and code, not video/gaming/etc., I use a couple of 27" Dell monitors, and they're great. Crisp and clean, not too expensive.

Those Apple displays look nice, but I just cannot pretend they add any value to what I do for a living or for fun.

The 16" MBPro 16GB RAM/1 TB SSD is only about 200€ more expensive than the M1 Max Studio with 32GB RAM /1TB SSD. Just saying.

Looking forward to the real life testing.
It sure would be nice to work on a song from start to finish at 32 buffer with my quantum, including mixdown.
Pretty sure the Max Pro/64 Ram is enough for my needs.
Another + $2k CAD gets top performance.
The monitor looks like it would rock if u we’re doing live streaming etc. but not sure for $2k CAD
A 4K 43”-55” would be really nice

I gotta have that extra RAM, 32 is my minimum these days.

https://www.apple.com/mac-studio/

Ordered the M1 Max setup.
But at $1600 for a 27" monitor....no thanks!
I can stick with my $400 32" LG

I had my Apple card ready to go but now that Im a little calmer, I think I'll wait it out and see the first reports.. Had I not just bought an iPad Pro, I would have definitely bought one of them but I think I'll be safe for now. I still have a few plugins waiting to move to AS/VST3 (just switched from Logic back to Cubase a couple months back), and apparently Apple at this point isnt going to update the old AMT8/Unitor drivers either so its time for a new MIDI interface.. Not to mention I just bought a Sonnet eGPU a few months ago and my 2020 Mini hasnt hit any brick walls just yet..

Looks pretty solid but the lack of upgradability is a major issue with their “green” message, forces you to shell out a lot more (why is their base platform so massively under specced for HD and Ram?), and there’s still very little M1 software support.

Obviously the game is changed a lot with Apple Silicon, so maybe the real world results aren’t all in yet, but what is the consensus on whether this new M1 Ultra is just flat out overkill for music production or not? That’s a big jump in price from the M1 Max!

I tend to think the Max with 32 gigs of RAM would be a massive music machine.

I have an apogee Rosetta still with firewire to my Mac Pro, and Lunchbox. It’s OSX native so doesn’t need drivers, the software just runs on Rosetta software for separate playback outside your daw. I do not want to upgrade my AD/DA :(. I know know Intel macs it’s simple as 2 dongles. But I still have seen iffy stuff about the M1s working with that. Anyone know? I’m almost at the point of finding a place with a good return policy to test. Or grabbing a 2018/2020 Intel Mac Mini loaded.