In her review of the 2023 edition of the Apple Mac Studio, Brenda Stolyar referred to the compact powerhouse as “the Goldilocks Mac,” indicating that its balance of performance and cost was nearly perfect for power users—especially for those who don’t require the extreme performance of the Mac Pro tower.
With today’s announcement, Apple looks to uphold that reputation, refreshing the device to meet modern demands and reintroducing the Studio in two distinct versions, one of which is perfectly suited for creatives.
The 2025 Mac Studio can now be equipped with either the new M4 Max CPU or the M3 Ultra. While it may seem counterintuitive, the M3 Ultra variant is actually the more advanced of the two configurations, and by a considerable margin; the Ultra family is designed to combine two Max CPUs that the system accesses as a single chip. Though there’s no M4 Ultra CPU available yet, ultra-performance users will receive the equivalent power of two M3 Max CPUs instead. This isn’t merely a compromise. In most direct performance comparisons, the M4 Max is shown to be only marginally faster than the 2023-launched M2 Ultra, while the M3 Ultra far surpasses it. Currently, Apple markets the new Mac Studio as “the most powerful Mac ever created.”
Christopher Null
Similar to its predecessors, the Mac Studio is a compact, lunchbox-sized machine that hardly looks like it should be the most powerful Mac ever designed; aesthetically, it resembles a premium stereo component. Yet, appearances can be misleading, as the internal architecture is packed with formidable capabilities, tailored specifically for creators. I evaluated the entry-level M4 Max version, which features a 14-core CPU, 32-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine, along with 36GB of unified memory and a 512GB SSD priced at $1,999. While that storage capacity feels somewhat limited in today’s context, it can be expanded (only at initial purchase) on the M4 Max model all the way up to 8TB.
In contrast, the $3,999 M3 Ultra model comes with a 28-core CPU, 60-core GPU, and 32-core Neural Engine, plus 96GB of unified memory and a 1TB SSD. When fully upgraded with an 80-core GPU, 512GB of RAM, and a 16TB SSD, your total expenditure rises to a staggering $14,099. The most powerful Mac ever produced may very well also rank as the most costly Mac ever sold.
It’s worth noting that the machine boasts impressive speed, making it difficult to articulate its power in mere text. The Apple MacBook Pro I reviewed last fall, based on the M4 Pro, might provide the best point of comparison, as it sits just one step lower on the CPU hierarchy than the M4 Max.
