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Mac Studio M1 Ultra User Review: 2 Weeks Later!

10:23 video

I always thought I’d work faster if only my computer were faster. The Mac Studio is the new flagship desktop from Apple: a new form factor, a new naming scheme and a chip option not available elsewhere. I’ve used it for two weeks, and I hate to say it: I’ll be returning it.

Specs and price

It’s the first pro, or at least prosumer, Mac desktop with Apple’s own silicon, with two chip options:

  • M1 Max: 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 32 GB of memory and 512 GB of storage for $2,000 (same chip as in the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro). It can go up to a 32-core GPU and 64 GB.
  • M1 Ultra: 20-core CPU, 48-core GPU, 64 GB and 1 TB for $4,000. That’s what I have, along with some heartburn.

Design and ports

It looks like a Mac mini all grown up: a sharp, flat top with rounded sides and an intake vent on the bottom. After years of a port drought, Apple levels out form and function: two USB-A, four Thunderbolt 4, 10 Gb Ethernet, a headphone jack and HDMI on the back, plus two Thunderbolt 4 ports (10 Gbps USB-C on the M1 Max version) and an SD card reader on the front. Who would have thought front ports on a desktop would be useful? I’ve used the crap out of both.

  • The front Thunderbolt ports are as fast as previous M1 Thunderbolt implementations: not always as fast as Intel Macs’, but fast enough for any workflow.
  • The SD card slot is a little slower than some docks’ readers, and, like the new MacBooks, it’s unsatisfying to insert cards. I’d prefer a spring-loaded slot.
  • The Ultra version has a 2 pound heavier heat sink, so I call it the cinderblock. Despite the heft and rubbery ring, it slides around the desk too easily, and you need two hands to plug in cables.
  • The front status light is annoying: brighter and bigger than it needs to be and always on, even in sleep. It’s the least good status light on a Mac that I can remember.

Performance

Once I got past some Ethernet issues (which came from a 10 Gb adapter on my switch, not the Mac), it’s been great. It’s stupid fast coming from an Intel Mac or the first-generation M1, with no stutters in any regular use. In Geekbench, multi-core is about double the M1 Pro and Max and about 3x the regular M1, and the 48-core GPU is about 30% faster than the M1 Max’s 32-core. Many benchmark videos show the Ultra about twice as fast in some tests, such as Blender rendering. The fans never spun up past their idle speed (about 1300 RPM) in any test, quieter than my studio lights’ fans.

But the most pressure I put on a computer is video editing, and here the Ultra saved me 1 second in a Final Cut Pro export versus the M1 Max, on a video I’ve tested on multiple computers for about two years (multiple H.264 streams with transitions, audio and color adjustments). With more recent H.265 footage, it saved about 13 seconds. For $2,000 more, that’s disappointing. It makes sense once you look at the chips: all M-series chips use the same cores, so single-core scores are about the same, and encoding happens on the media engines: one on the Pro, two on the Max, four on the Ultra, and apparently my export doesn’t take advantage of them.

Hitting my limit

That leaves me a bit sad: I always thought a computer 10% or 50% faster would let me get more done. Now there’s a faster chip that doesn’t make me faster. I’ve hit my limit with the M1 Max, which isn’t even the top chip. If there were a Max version with front Thunderbolt ports I’d pay the difference, since that’s the only difference that matters for me, but not even I can justify $2,000 for that.

Who should buy the Ultra?

If you made it this far, probably not you. If you think it’ll be good for real gaming through virtualization or CrossOver, spend your money elsewhere. The Ultra has headroom for certain workloads, and if you run them you know who you are. For me and just about everyone else, the M1 Max is the limit of what we need. The only way for me to get faster is newer, faster cores, not more of them.

So for the first time in a long time, I’m going to downgrade to the M1 Max Mac Studio. Overall it’s a fantastic desktop that solves what many people wanted in a “pro” Mac mini: performance and ports. Do you have workloads that actually take advantage of the Ultra? Let me know below, and see my video on the best Mac Studio accessories.

In this video

  • 0:00 intro and specs
  • 1:24 design and ports
  • 4:44 using the M1 Ultra
  • 7:49 is the M1 Ultra for me? You?

Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. See my ethics statement.

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