With each member of the Production Expert team narrowing down the product that makes their working life better, James Richmond talks about 2022’s contribution to his studio - The Apple Mac Studio.

What is it?

In my opinion this computer represents the best realised computer Apple have made that addresses the needs of audio professionals without expecting them to pay way over the odds for features they do not need.

Why I like it?

It is incredibly fast, has all the ports you want and some of them on the front and even under load I’ve never heard the fan running.

The base model, with a 10 core CPU, 32GB of RAM and a rather measly 500GB of internal storage which I have, is almost as powerful as my 16 core Mac Pro in multicore and it absolutely slays it on single core. 

It costs 1/5th the cost of that Mac Pro too. 

How it Helps My Work?

I bought the Mac Studio initially as a machine to run Vienna Ensemble Pro, allowing me to offload large orchestral libraries from my main studio Mac Pro and run increasingly large Max projects. 

If I didn’t need internal PCI slots I’d have switched over to it entirely. As it stands I use both machines but ever increasingly I am favouring the Mac Studio. If you are thinking of one then I suggest upgrading the internal hard drive beyond 500GB but so far 32GB RAM has been fine. As is well publicised these new M1 machines are very memory efficient, depending on your use you may find you don’t need to max the RAM like before. You also may be fine with the M1 Max, rather than the M1 Ultra. The M1 Ultra is an absolute powerhouse of a machine but it is also double the price of the M1 Max. If you are running huge sessions or doing a lot of video work then perhaps it is worth the expense, but I believe it will be overkill for most.

The only other drawback is the position of the power switch. If you put your machine on a rack shelf, as I do, you will find yourself pushing the machine about, potentially knocking cables out as you reach for it. I’m using an old mouse mat to stop it slipping about so much but it is still annoying.

If you need a new studio computer and you do not need the portability of a MacBook Pro then the Mac Studio is almost a no-brainer and is my 2022 Product of the Year.