One of the big surprises for me when opening the box for the Mac Studio was the lack of keyboard, mouse or touchpad. You have to make sure you get that correct up front because you aren't able to change it after you've purchased, either.įor the lowest specifications of the computer and monitor combined, you're looking at forking out around $6598 in Aotearoa - which you'd think would be enough to get anyone up and going quickly. There are a multitude of options to configure the devices as you want - more RAM, more storage etc - all of which will add substantially to the overall cost.
There's just no getting around the fact these very professional devices are out of the budgets of those simply looking for a nice high-end computer for their home office. to pay the massive bill you're going to end up with. The badĪs already alluded to, with great power comes great responsibility.
My Windows laptop plugged into the Studio Display via USB-C also displayed fine - although not all functionality of the Display is supported for Windows devices. The three-mic array undoubtedly helps with that audio quality, with a high signal-to-noise ration and directional beamforming used to ensure your voice is picked up and as much of the background nonsense as possible is ignored.įor the record, the Mac Studio plugged into my curved, widescreen LG desktop monitor using USB-C worked just perfectly. Guess my old webcam isn't up to scratch, eh?
Indeed, the picture quality was commented on by a couple of people I conversed with. I enjoyed high quality chats with family and friends overseas, during which my video and audio was as clear as it's ever been. Or perhaps mine just wasn't afflicted with the same issue.
I never noticed the problem my review device, undoubtedly due to the issue being fixed via a software update. Some early reviewers had problems with the quality of streaming video, presumably caused by software issues rather than the hardware, which should be more than good enough for work meetings. The 12MP Ultra Wide camera has a 122 deg field of view and supports Centre Stage, Apple's technology that puts the focus on someone as they move around the room. Of course, there's a front-facing camera included to support video conferencing and those of us who like to take photos of themselves pretending to work hard. One of the more impressive features is the sound quality that comes from the high-fidelity six-speaker system and force-cancelling woofers.Īpple's own Spatial Audio is supported as well as Dolby Atmos for videos, and I'm simply not used to hearing such a true audio experience from a thin screen like this. There are an additional four ports on the Display, three USB-C and one Thunderbolt 3, all on the rear. The 27-inch 5K retina display offers a resolution of 5120x2880 pixels at 218 pixels per inch (ppi), and a maximum of around 600 nits of brightness.Įven in a well-lit room I was able to enjoy the brilliant picture and the deep colours without having to adjust anything.
The Studio Display is a brilliant companion to the Mac Studio. It is, without doubt, the fastest and most capable computer I've ever used and it made me dread having to send it back. Not only was there no spinning colourful circle indicating hangs, there was no real heat output either. With the M1 Max onboard and 64GB RAM there was nothing I could do to cause the Studio to have to think hard at all about what it was doing.
If I was a good-guy hacker in a spy movie, this would be my set-up, with scrolling green code everywhere, hacked surveillance cameras showing me the mean streets of Auckland, a real-time plot of the antagonist's movements and still enough space on the monitors for social media, Netflix, a game or two and my internet browser. That's enough ports to power up to FIVE displays at once - four Pro Display XDRs at 6K resolution over USB-C and one 4K display over HDMI - as well as change your phone and your keyboard at the same time. If that's not enough, then throw in the SDXC card reader and, on my version, two USB-C ports on the front (the M1 Ultra version has two extra Thunderbolt 4 ports there instead).
It measures just 7.7-inches square at the bottom and 3.7-inches high but has more than enough room on the back for four Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 10GB ethernet port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port and audio jack. The cooling fan alone on my gaming desktop isn't that much smaller than the Studio.