A quick clarification from the start: I’m not a so-called fanboy of either Mac or PC, but I use both systems interchangeably every day to get the job done as efficiently as possible. A few weeks ago, I purchased an Apple Mac Studio Max, and here are my thoughts and experiences so far:
Introduction
Våren 2022 overrasket Apple de aller fleste med å fjerne den populære iMac 27" fra sortimentet. Lillebroren, iMac 24", forblir, men det er altså ingen planer om å videreføre den større og kraftigere "alt-ett"-maskinen som har vært så populær i mer enn 15 år. En godt utrustet iMac 27" har også har vært arbeidstasjonen her hjemme i lang tid, men er nå moden for utskifting. Det skal sies at den virkelig har gjort jobben sin enten det har vært snakk om redigering i Photoshop, bildehåndtering i Capture One, webutvikling eller annet grafisk arbeid i Adobe portfolioen. Microsoft Office har fungert like godt i Mac OS som i Windows, og med Parallells installert har jeg kjørt Windows 10 på iMac`n helt problemfritt for applikasjoner som bare fungerer i Windows miljø.
At Apple-produktene koster litt ekstra i innkjøp spiller liten rolle når kostnad måles opp mot forutsigbarhet og god ytelse over tid. I samme tidsperiode som jeg har hatt iMac 27 har jeg også hatt en håndfull PC`r fra Dell, HP og Asus som på ingen måte har tålt tidens tann like godt. Når jeg nå skulle ha et nytt verktøy på hjemmekontoret, for det er nettopp det en PC er: et verktøy for å få jobben unnagjort, ble forskjellige alternativer vurdert opp mot hverandre før jeg tilslutt landet på Mac Studio Max.
x86 Intel, AMD or ARM?
An AMD- or Intel-based PC with performance equivalent to the Mac Studio Max would have been significantly larger, with potential noise issues, and most likely more expensive. The closest alternative was the new compact Intel NUC Extreme 12, featuring a Core i9-12900 processor, NVIDIA RTX 3070 graphics card, and 32 GB of RAM. With a good SSD, this combination could have been just as fast, but also more expensive than the entry-level Mac Studio I chose.
The fact that the NUC looks like a toy, with its glowing skull on the front and LEDs in every color of the rainbow, didn’t make the decision any easier. Of course, the same components could have been placed in another case, but that wouldn’t make it any more visually appealing.
It’s striking that today’s PCs are essentially built the same way as the first machines I assembled at engineering school over 30 years ago: an x86 processor, a graphics card, memory modules, I/O controllers, and a hard drive - all mounted on a motherboard powered by a PSU, housed inside a case. Of course, today’s components use modern 64-bit architecture, higher clock speeds, and faster data transfer protocols - but is the traditional PC just a “dinosaur on steroids”?
Intel NUC 12 Extreme. Leveres med 650W powersupply, noe som er minstekravet for Nvidia 3070 grafikkort.
Apple Studio Max. Strømforsyning på 250W er innebygd i enheten.
Why is the M-processors so quick?
Since Apple began producing its own integrated circuits based on ARM architecture, performance has outpaced both Intel and AMD in just a few years. An ARM processor is part of a family of central processing units (CPUs) based on RISC architecture, similar to what is found in Android and Apple mobile devices. Previously, Nvidia, Samsung, Qualcomm, and Rockchip were the largest producers of this type of processor, but Apple has now joined the field. Apple itself states that it will no longer use Intel or AMD processors in its products, instead focusing on developing its own technology, known as the M-processors.
Technically, the M isn’t just a processor - it’s an entire computer condensed onto a single chip. The M contains a CPU, graphics processing unit (GPU), memory, input/output controllers, and many other components that make up a complete computer. This is what is called a “SoC - System on a Chip.” Unlike Intel and AMD, which continue to add more general-purpose CPU cores, Apple has followed a different strategy: it has begun integrating specialized cores that handle specific tasks such as graphics and video processing. The advantage is that specialized cores can perform their tasks much faster and with significantly less power than a general-purpose CPU core. This approach isn’t entirely new, both Nvidia and AMD have done something similar with graphics cards to process graphics data faster than a traditional CPU.
Mac Studio Mac - SoC
Her er CPU, GPU, RAM og mer samlet på en liten datachip. Her kan ingen ting oppgraderes.
Tradisjonelt hovedkort for Intel eller AMD prosessor.
CPU, grafikkort og RAM er løse komponenter som er montert på forskjellige steder på hovedkortet. Komponentene kan enkelt oppgraderes.
Another key difference between Intel’s x86 architecture and Apple’s approach is that the former uses a complex instruction set (CISC) with many advanced functions, while Apple’s processor uses a reduced instruction set (RISC), which has only a handful of instructions by comparison. In practice, twice as many instructions can be processed on an M1 chip as on an x86 Intel or AMD processor at the same clock speed. As a result, all elements of the Apple SoC can access the same data without copying it across multiple fragmented memory areas, as is necessary on an x86 PC.
The SoC concept is therefore brilliant, but not easy for others to replicate, since neither Intel, AMD, Nvidia, nor Microsoft control the entire value chain. For Apple, it’s straightforward - they have full control over both hardware and software, and they also have the capital and resources to drive development forward.
Annonse
Rosetta 2
To get the most out of the software, it must be specifically developed for the M1 SoC architecture. Fortunately, Adobe has already made the necessary adjustments, so their heavy applications now take full advantage of the M1 SoC. The same applies to Capture One 22, the upcoming flight simulator X-Plane 12, DaVinci Resolve, and Parallels 17 for running Windows 10/11. Software that isn’t optimized for M1 must run through the “translation” framework Rosetta 2 to function. This happens entirely automatically, and in most cases, even “emulated” x86 apps run with phenomenal performance.
Mac Studio Max
I ultimately chose the simplest and most affordable version of the Mac Studio, known as the “Max.” It comes with a 10-core CPU, a 24-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine for machine learning. Additionally, it has 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The relatively small drive isn’t an issue, as I only plan to store programs on it. Everything else is saved on an external Thunderbolt RAID. The machine can’t be upgraded in any way - and I don’t care, because this is a tool that will get the job done for many years to come.
The Mac Studio is a compact product with an aluminum chassis, and it mostly looks like two Mac Minis stacked on top of each other. It’s elegant enough to sit on a desk. Mac Studio comes in two versions: the simpler “Max” and the more powerful “Ultra,” which has a processor twice as powerful. The main difference is the processor, both designed by Apple: the M1 Max or the M1 Ultra. The latter is essentially two M1 Max chips connected together. This is the beast of the lineup - and also twice as expensive.
Det vanskelig å ikke la seg imponere av Apple sin måte å pakke inn varene på. Delikat som alltid!
I esken ligger datamaskinen og en strømkabel. Alt annet utstyr må du skaffe selv. I god Apple-tradisjon er åpning av esken en opplevelse i seg selv.
Connectivity
There are plenty of connections, even on this entry-level Max Studio. On the front, there are two USB-C ports and one SD card slot, making it easy to connect gear and memory cards on a daily basis. On the back, there are four Thunderbolt 4 ports (supporting Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort, USB 4, and USB 3.1), two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, Ethernet, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the power connection. In principle, a single Mac Studio can drive five displays simultaneously. The base of the machine is a large air intake, with two internal fans pulling air over the processor as needed. So far, I haven’t yet heard the fans kick in.
Tilkoblinger bak: Thunderbolt 4-porter (som støtter Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort, USB 4, USB 3.1), to USB-A porter, en HDMI, Ethernet, 3.5mm hodetelefonutgang og strømtilkobling
Tilkoblinger foran: to USB-C porter og én til SD-kort
Summary
After a few months with the Mac Studio Max, I can confidently say that this is a machine offering excellent performance for its price. Of course, there are faster machines out there, and for gaming I would still choose a dedicated gaming PC. But for professional graphic work, photo and video editing, the Mac Studio Max is an extremely capable machine. It’s still possible to push it to the limit with Neural Filters in Photoshop or rendering in Blender, but for my typical workflow, I haven’t experienced a single hiccup, slowdown, error message, driver issue, or other interruptions. Working on a system that seemingly has an abundance of power and handles nearly every task lightning-fast is simply a joy. At the same time, everything feels familiar—macOS Monterey shines on the Mac Studio.
Blender 3D runs beautifully, rendering animations like never before. The 3D animations displayed on the Ocean Ventus website were produced and rendered on this machine, with an average render time of under 1 minute per frame. By comparison, the same scenes render about 15% slower on my almost twice-as-expensive ThinkPad with an i7 processor and 12GB RTX A3000, with the same amount of RAM, and a fan noise spectacle to prevent overheating. When Blender is pushed hard on the Windows machine, I experience significantly more instability and crashes than when working on the Mac.
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Premiere are installed and perform exactly as expected. Video handling in Adobe Premiere is excellent, with 4K editing essentially in real time. Effects, color adjustments, and transitions appear almost immediately. Capture One is now optimized for M-processor linup, and it shows. Now, even processor-heavy tasks like Luma Range adjustment on masks can be used as a real-time tool, and import/export is as fast as expected.
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