Mac Studio + Studio Display might not be for users like me, but then it’s hard not to be blown away by what it can do

But soon the differences become apparent. For instance, this one has space for every type of input you might need in your workflow. In the front, you have two USC-C Thunderbolt ports and an SDXC card slot, while on the back you have four more Thunderbolt ports, one 10Gb Ethernet and two USB-A ports along with an HDMI slot and 3.5mm jack. The power button is also here, which for me is the only design issue with the Studio as I am not a big fan of reaching to the back of the cube to find it. The cube gets a small lift from the surface thanks to a circular base that houses the fan.

The 27-inch Studio Display with 5K Retina display just needs to be yoked to the Mac Studio using a Thunderbolt cable. And you are set up… it is as easy as that. The display is stunning, even for someone who has used a lot of large monitors over the years. With 5120x2880p resolution at 218 ppi and 600 nits brightness, this display can really give you the kind of detail that takes your photos and videos to a whole new level. That said, you will also see that a lot of “stunning” smartphone photos don’t look all that great when ported here. The colours are so true on the screen that it becomes easier to edit RAW images and get the highlights perfect in videos.

This display can really give you the kind of detail that takes your photos and videos to a whole new level. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

If you just want to use this screen to consume content, then this becomes the best 27-inch TV you can buy with the best picture clarity and audio output. Also, having a screen that is this wide offers you new work possibilities. For instance, when I was recording my podcast, I had the full zoom window along with a timer and the Bear app for my notes. And still there was some space left. If you are editing video, this means the ability to really get into the minute details of edits.

Plus, there are four USB-C ports behind the display too so that you are never short of options. I preferred one of these ports for my podcast mic, for instance. You can also keep a lightning cable here to charge the keyboard, Magic Trackpad and mouse when needed. The screen can easily tilt to give you the right angle, something very important for me as I get easily irritated with reflections on the screen when I’m working.

The combo of Apple’s Magic Mouse, Trackpad and Keyboard connect seamlessly to the Mac Studio without the need for dongles and cables. However, if it’s not really required, you can skip the mouse and work with the Magic Trackpad — this works perfectly well for me. Now all three are available in black, which is stunning to say the least. Also, the full keyboard makes more sense for Studio users, though its nearly Rs 20,000 price tag is a bit hard to gulp.

One aspect to keep in mind is that you need 16A power plugs for both the Mac Studio and Studio Display. It is very tough to get two power plug sockets next to each other in any home or office, so you will need to get converters or a power strip that can manage this without any risk.

The Mac Studio I got for review is powered by the M2 Max processor. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Mac Studio processing power

The Mac Studio I got for review is powered by the M2 Max processor. I will give a moment for that to sink in. Yes, it is a notch above the M2, which is anyway way more powerful than any processor I have used before. And this is not even the most powerful Mac Studio… there is a version above this powered by M2 Ultra. In fact, I was at wit’s end to figure what I could do to see how powerful this processor would be. No, I am not into 3D modeling or data mining to really give this a run for its money.

But as the name suggests, this combo will be used more in the creative space where video editors have been cutting their processing, rendering and export times drastically with Apple silicon over the past couple of years. And to test how the Mac Studio can help this user set, I used iMovie to edit 10 cinematic 4K clips shot using the iPhone 14 Pro Max. First, colour corrections, focus changes and the like were instant and you could not even feel the files in question were really large. To give you some context, when I used to edit a video about 15 years back on my first desktop, you could go make coffee with each edit render and watch a movie as the final output exported. In contrast, the 2.57-minute clip I created from the 10 files saved in about 25 seconds with all the transitions I added and the colour corrections I made.

 

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After this, you don’t really need to give more examples of what the Mac Studio is capable of. But I can say that the 10-odd days I used the device, with my text edits, podcast recordings, zoom calls, and other work, there wasn’t anything that stressed out this computer even one bit. It was all like Hulk playing with some puppies. But that said, I have to underline the fact that I am not the kind of user this device is meant for and only a really professional user will be a good judge of what this device is bringing to them. However, from what I have seen, I am sure that even those users will not have much to complain about.

I used iMovie to edit 10 cinematic 4K clips shot using the iPhone 14 Pro Max (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Should you buy the Mac Studio and Studio Display

This is an easy one to answer. Because it is a yes if you work in the creative space, or have a passion that needs high-end computing. For everyone else, it would be like having a pet elephant at home. Home users don’t need to think beyond the iMac if you ask me. But if your requirement is to edit feature-length videos, do motion graphics and animations and not just edit the occasional vacation videos, then the Mac Studio is a good investment.

Remember, this full rig will set you back by at least Rs 3,60,000, so if you are not the kind of person who will recover the money in a few months with the work you do, it might be too much of an extravagance, especially when high-performance computing is now literally available in your MacBook Air.

Mac Studio – ₹209900+
Studio Display – ₹159900+