Housed in the signature Apple unibody aluminum enclosure, the unit shares some strong similarities with the Mac Mini, but with an increase in height, weight, ports and cooling systems (not that the system ever seems to get hot) to allow for the extra power inside. (Image credit: Paul Reiffer) (opens in new tab) It's hardly a laptop, but the Mac Studio is perfectly portable and could make a great mobile workstation. Put together as a package, the Mac Studio is reassuringly aimed at a high-end creative workflow – whether back at base, or on the road – where power, connectivity and flexibility are critical to a project’s success. The addition of external ports will leave most users satisfied – with standard 10Gb Ethernet & HDMI, 2x classic USB-A ports for older peripherals, a front SD card slot and either 4 (Max) or 6 (Ultra) Thunderbolt 4 ports available both front and back (or an extra 2x replacement USB-C ports on the front for the Max model). While the M1 Max edition delivers the same processing power as the latest top-end MacBook Pro 14” and 16” models, the M1 Ultra version gives you access to a system made up of two of these chips combined into one system, with the 20-core CPU setup we’ve tested here. In return for your investment in a Mac Studio, you get a choice of the very latest Apple M1 Max or M1 Ultra System-On-A-Chip (SoC) hardware – with their ultra high speed processors, unified memory, GPUs and video engines. As with other M1 releases, don’t let the Mac Studio’s relatively compact size deceive you.

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