Forget the cheese-grater Mac Pro and the Pro Display XDR! Apple’s Mac Studio and Studio Display offer the best performance and visual experience for less.

If you’re one of those people who waited for the latest MacBook Air, Pro, or even the M2 chip announcement, well Apple just skipped all of that in favor of two new products meant for the full-on “studio” use.

Mac Studio

The Mac Studio is the first product of its kind. It might look just like a double-stacked Mac mini, but it offers more especially that it supports the newest M1 Ultra chip.

Measuring at just 7.7″ in width and 3.7″ in height, it’s Apple’s most compact M1 Ultra device just yet.

There’s plenty port support for the Mac Studio as well.

At the back, there are four USB-C Thunderbolt ports, an Ethernet LAN port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. There’s also an SDXC card slot on the front but the difference being, the M1 Max has two USB-C ports while the M1 Ultra has Thunderbolt support in it.

With support of up to 20-cores CPU, 64-core GPU, 128GB unified memory, and an 8TB SSD, the Mac Studio isn’t a slouch.

Targeted for professionals, the Mac Studio is suited for the needs of any creative professional — from photo and video editing, to 3D animation, and even music production.

Studio Display

Paired with the newest Studio Display, they both bring unparalleled performance and display experience to any multimedia creative out there.

With a stunning 27-inch 5K Retina display, you’ll enjoy the visual goodness this monitor provides. It has 600 nits of brightness with TrueTone technology and DCI-P3 wide color gamut for that better color accuracy.

Aside from the included display stand, you can opt for the tilt-and-height-adjustable stand found on the higher-end Pro Display XDR. There’s also a VESA-mount adapter so you attach it to any VESA-supported leg arm or stand. You can even rotate the display whenever needed.

With the A13 Bionic chip inside, it brings out the better camera and speaker usage. There’s a six-speaker system with support for high-fidelity Spatial Audio for that pitch-perfect audio experience.

It also has a 12MP ultra-wide camera with Center Stage support found on the newer M1-powered 2021 iPad Pro and 2022 iPad Air.

The Studio Display also has three USB-C ports that bring speeds of up to 10GB/s. This can also fast-charge the 96W battery of the 14-inch MacBook Pro.

And with this shiny stainless steel aesthetic in mind, it complements Apple’s latest ecosystem of computing machines. Aside from the Mac Studio, it also goes well with the latest line of MacBook Pros, Mac mini, and even the older MacBook Air and Pro.

Moreover, the new black Magic Trackpad, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Mouse (all sold separately) completes the overall look of the new Mac Studio and Studio Display.

Pricing and Availability

The Mac Studio is now available for order today and will start shipping on March 18 (Friday). Pricing starts at US$ 1999 (SG$ 2899 / ₱171,990) for the M1 Max configuration with 32GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Meanwhile, the M1 Ultra option sells for US$ 3999 (SG$ 5899 / ₱237,990) with a 64GB unified memory and 1TB SSD. More configurations are available at US and Singapore Apple online stores. Availability in the Philippines is coming soon, though.

If you’re getting your hopes up for a cheaper Apple monitor, the Studio Display starts at a base price of US$ 1599 (SG$ 2299 / ₱94,990). The base price will remain the same once bundled with the regular tilt-adjustbale stand or the VESA mount adapter.

From there, you can also configure if it will have a Standard Glass or the Nano-Texture Glass a la Pro Display XDR worth US$ 1899 (SG$ 2699 / ₱112,990). Adding the tilt-and-height-adjustable stand makes the monitor ramp its price to US$ 2299 (SG$ 3299 / ₱136,990).

That still makes it a LOT cheaper than the US$ 4999 (SG$ 8699 / ₱299,990)-worth Pro Display XDR from 2019 —  that with just the Standard Glass and without the “Pro” stand neither a VESA-supported mount adapter.