Well, what a birthday present for Mike Thornton! Apple announces two new Mac desktop computers, both with the M2 Ultra chip. But in the cold light of the following day, which is the better computer for pro audio users? Mike investigates…

We have seen the base prices, and we have seen the fully fitted prices, but what about a real-world specification and price for the new M2 Ultra powered Mac Studio and Mac Pro? How do they compare, and which one is going to be best for pro audio users?

Fortunately, because both the Apple Silicon Mac Pro and the new upgraded Mac Studio are built around the same chip, it is possible to do a straight even-handed comparison, so let’s start there.

A Real World Spec As A Basis

Rather than build this comparison around the base model or the fully loaded model, I have decided to go for a real-world spec. For both the Mac Studio and Apple Silicon Mac Pro, I chose a machine with the following spec…

• Apple M2 Ultra chip

  • 24-core CPU with 16 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores

  • 60-core GPU

  • 32-core Neural Engine

  • 800GB/s memory bandwidth

  • 64GB unified memory

• 1TB SSD storage

• Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW

• Two video decode engines

• Four video encode engines

• Four ProRes encode and decode engines

• Simultaneous support for up to eight displays:

  • Eight displays with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz

  • Six displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz

  • Three displays with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz

• Support for native DisplayPort output over USB-C

• Support for one display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz

• Support for variable refresh rate (VRR), HDR, and multichannel audio

• Built-in speaker

• 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones

• HDMI port supports multichannel audio output

What About?

Yes, I could have gone with more unified memory, the top-of-the-range GPU version, or more SSD storage, but I chose this option as a good spec for the kind of work we do. I also chose a desktop Mac Pro rather than the rack mount version.

That’s the easy part. Let’s move on to the differences.

The Differences Between A Mac Studio and Mac Pro

As you can see from the table below, there are a lot of similarities because they are built around the same chip.

Because the Mac Pro comes with a Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse as standard, I have included them as options with the Mac Studio to give a more valid price comparison.

Interestingly, even though they are built around the same M2 Ultra chip, there are more ports on the Mac Pro than on the Mac Studio, with two more Thunderbolt 4 ports and double the HDMI and Ethernet ports on the Mac Pro.

The Mac Pro maintains its ‘expandable’ claim by offering SSD Storage options. If this is of interest, check out our article Upgradable SSD Is Back In A Mac! Also, be aware that you can’t just add to the existing SSD storage and like a memory upgrade, you have to remove the existing SSD and replace it with a new kit, making the old SSD redundant.

What About PCIe Slots?

Obviously, with the Mac Studio, if you need PCIe slots for, say, Avid HDX cards, then you will need to buy a PCIe expansion chassis, whereas they come included with the Mac Pro.

For one HDX card, you could look at the Avid desktop option at $599, although we note that this is a Thunderbolt 3 equipped chassis. If you need up to 3 HDX cards, or a combination of HDX and M2 storage cards, then Sonnet Technologies makes an Echo Express III-D (HDX Edition) Optimized for Avid HDX Cards for Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 3 with three PCIe 2.0 slots (One x16 Plus Two x8 Slots) priced at $799.99.

Looking at the Mac Pro PCIe slots, six of the seven slots are 4th generation, which Apple claims provide… “twice the bandwidth for audio and video I/O, networking, and storage cards”. Apple goes on to claim that “the latest PCIe gen 4 SSD cards, for example, are capable of a colossal 26GB/s”.

That’s a look at the specs. Next, let’s look at our options…

Mac Studio Or Mac Pro?

Let’s start with the price. As you can see from the table above, the Mac Studio, including a keyboard and mouse, comes in at $4,297, whereas the Mac Pro comes in at $6,999. That is a difference of $2,702.

If you need PCIe slots for HDX cards, then the Sonnet chassis adds $800 to the price of the Mac Studio, bringing the difference down to $1,902 as long as you only need 3 PCIe slots.

When looking at which one to go for, the Mac Studio or the Mac Pro, in my view, it all comes down to bandwidth.

• Do you need the extra bandwidth offered by the Mac Pro 4th Gen PCIe slots?

• Do you need more than 3 HDX cards?

• Do you need the PCIe bandwidth for storage solutions?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then the $1,902 premium for a Mac Pro is something you are going to need to accept.

If the answer is no, and you also don’t need the PCIe slots for HDX cards, then the Mac Studio is over $2,700 cheaper than the Mac Pro.

If you do need up to 3 HDX cards to run Pro Tools, we note that Avid HDX cards only need PCIe 2.0 and Thunderbolt 3 to work. You can save spending over $1,900 by going for the Mac Studio and a Sonnet chassis.

Only if you need the extra bandwidth or the expandable SSD storage should you consider going for the Mac Pro.