Mac Studio and Studio Display: a dream and a nightmare

Apple’s Mac Studio is heavy, gray, and full of ports. But the really exciting stuff is on the inside. Meet the M1 Ultra, Apple’s brand-new processor that combines two M1 Max chips into one monstrous CPU. We gave this device to professionals across The Verge’s creative team. Here’s what they had to say.

Quick correction! At 9:07 the current MacBook Pro and iPad Pro use a mini-LED display, not micro-LED. Thank you to DGB Antho for flagging 😀

0:00 Intro
0:54 M1 Ultra
2:30 Mac Studio configuration
3:00 Mac Studio vs Mac Pro for video editing
3:50 Mac Studio for Video, Audio and Illustration
7:32 Studio Display review
11:15 Studio Display speaker comparison
11:54 Studio Display webcam
12:56 Apple’s response to poor Studio Display webcam quality
13:51 Mac Studio M1 Ultra benchmarks (Geekbench 5, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Cinebench R23, PugetBench)
16:45 Mac Studio display output
17:10 M1 Ultra vs M1 Max
18:25 Conclusion

[TheVerge]

“What else can you glue two of together and double it’s performance?”

[DanteVertolli]

“Words have meanings.”

Dieter’s love of semantics has left it’s mark on the Verge!

[ravonrogers]

This is why The Verge is the best. I like the multiple perspectives. Very comprehensive review. Nicely done.

[jeremenichelli]

I usually don't comment videos, but I loved this type of review, really going for the target audience of the product, well scripted. Congrats to all the team involved in this, specially Monica who amazes me as a reviewer on every single piece. If the algorithm is telling you to do shorter videos instead of this, please ignore it!

[kenthan]

I think the most impressive thing in this video is Alex drawing with a mouse (vs. a pen/tablet). 1) who does that? 2) how is he doing it so well?

[martmeister]

I was very impressed with the thoroughness of this review. 10/10 for delivering an exceptional review covering all the bases and also considering so many workflows and people's opinions. And wow. That camera situation? The way it was presented with all those other Apple cameras was impressive. Not to mention the seamless audio comparison. Well done team.

[TheVerge]

Quick correction! At 9:07 the current MacBook Pro and iPad Pro use a mini-LED display, not micro-LED. Thank you to DGB Antho for flagging 😀

[gradeA]

The Python test really depends on what you did in Python since a majority of tasks will be single threaded and you won’t see a benefit from extra cores.

[anzymecom]

There's no way that display should sell for $1599. If the 27" iMac were still around, it'd be about time for it to get HDR and high refresh rate at the same starting price.

[sebastianguerraty]

The reason you got almost identical results on the scientific test is python, unless explicitly coded otherwise, will only use 1 thread. So essentially what you tested is the new chip in single core performance for a real world application.

It's good to know the single core performance is better on the new chip (I suspect cooling has a lot to do with that result), but ideally you could complement it with a multicore workload for future reviews, you can do that using Numba if you chose to run python or some other language that is more oftenly used for multicore workloads (Such as Java or C++)
:)

PS: I'd be happy to share a basic Numba script you could try out :D

[GustavoSena]

Probably the best review The Verge ever done. Very in-depth analysis of every relevant part of the products. Congrats to the team!

[LexAstro]

yo! Alex from The Verge team here. I had a blast filming with Becca and the team, they're incredible and always knock it out of the park! Using the mac studio was also a dream.
Feel free to hit me with any questions, I'll do my best to share what I can. Love ya! - Alex / The Verge

[weljenks]

This is so much more professional and informative than most other reviews it’s ridiculous.

[cheeloc]

Amazing editing! And great practical review. Instead of just listing specs and comparing with others. Great job!

[bryan.w.t]

I feel so happy seeing a bunch of the verge team making an appearance on this video

[MichaelBaugh]

Well done, this is a beautifully made review and has helped me in my decision making. Thank you!

[qqq]

The BEST review format. Please use this format for future reviews, thanks Verge!!!

[junrosamura]

One of your best vids yet! I had to pause the vid and see how much time was left because I didn't want it to end. This was so informative and a very truthful review with many perspectives.

[hito]

Love that the reviewers keep it real. Nice cutting through Apple's marketing hyperbole!!!

[Torresnic]

Absolutely incredible review! Very comprehensive and gorgeous cinematography.