At its keynote, Apple also had a little surprise in store – and introduced the new Mac Studio and the new Studio Display. The target group: Creative people such as musicians, designers and developers. At the same time, Apple has announced the most powerful chip to date: the M1 Ultra. We have all the information about it.

The M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max are now followed by the M1 Ultra, Apple's most powerful chipset to date. The basis is the M1 Max. For the M1 Ultra, Apple has connected two M1 Max together with UltraFusion – a special architecture – to increase the performance. It has 20 cores, including 16 high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores. This chip also works energy-efficiently and performs when demanding workflows are run through in apps such as Logic Pro.

Mac Studio – powerful computer for demanding tasks

Apple has also presented new hardware to match the new chipset in the form of the Mac Studio – a kind of Mac mini with a greater variety of connections and more power. It has a square footprint of just 20 centimeters and a height of just 9.4 centimeters, which means the Mac Studio should fit under most screens.

Despite the high performance, a more sophisticated heat management system consisting of double-sided fans ensures efficient cooling of the chip. Even at high work rates, the Mac Studio works extremely quietly. In combination with the new M1 Ultra, up to 128 GB of RAM is possible. If you opt for the M1 Max, you can still choose up to 64 GB. The fast SSD with a throughput of up to 7.4 GB/s offers plenty of space for all important data and projects with a capacity of up to 8 TB.

High connection variety

On the connection side, the Mac Studio is well positioned: the various ports are easy to reach. Four fast Thunderbolt 4 ports are available on the back for connecting additional monitors and other devices. A fast 10 Gbit Ethernet connection is available as well as two USB-A ports and an HDMI port. There is even a pro-audio jack for high-impedance headphones or external amplified speakers. Fast WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 are also part of the equipment. There are two USB-C ports and an SD card slot on the front. Up to four Pro Display XDRs can be connected to the Mac Studio, as can a 4K TV.

Price and Release: Mac Studio

The new Mac Studio starts at €2,299 and will be available on March 18th. It is available with both the M1 Max and the new, faster M1 Ultra.

Studio Display: 5K display for professionals

The Studio Display has a brilliant 5K screen. Image: © Apple 2022

With the Studio Display, Apple has also presented a new screen that should be of particular interest to professional users. The screen has narrow bezels and the case is made entirely of aluminum. The display can be tilted by up to 30 degrees using the integrated stand. With the VESA mount adapter, which is available separately, the screen can be aligned in both portrait and landscape format for more flexibility.

The Studio Display has a 5K Retina screen with a diagonal of 27 inches and represents more than 14.7 million pixels. The brightness is 600 nits and the large P3 color space is also supported – important for photo and video editing.

Thanks to True Tone, the color temperature automatically adjusts to the ambient light, which ensures a more natural viewing experience. The anti-reflective coating is designed to minimize reflections and guarantee better legibility. As an additional option, Apple offers a nano-texture glass, which primarily minimizes the glare effect in direct sunlight.

Ideal for video calls

A strong A13 Bionic chip works inside the Studio Display, which primarily drives the camera and audio system. A 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera is said to be particularly suitable for video calls. A so-called follow mode ensures that users are always automatically kept in the center of the image – even when they are moving. A ring of studio-quality microphones is designed to ensure clear conversations and voice recordings. The Mac Studio has six loudspeakers, of which four woofers should deliver powerful bass and two tweeters are responsible for precise mids and clear highs. 3D audio for music and video with Dolby Atmos should deliver an impressive sound experience.

Three USB-C ports deliver speeds of up to 10 Gbit/s, with which fast accessories such as storage media can be connected. The Studio Display and all connected accessories can be connected to the Mac with just one cable via the Thunderbolt connection. The 96-watt cable also quickly recharges a MacBook Pro. A total of up to three studio displays can be connected to a MacBook Pro.

The new Studio Display is available starting at 1,749 euros.