Apple Mac Studio M1 Ultra Chip/64-Core GPU/4TB 2022, 64GB, 4TB SSD

A silent, CPU-crushing compact workstation that's a terrible gamer. Get the M1 Max version instead unless you have a very specific, CPU-bound reason not to.

What surprised us most is the sheer speed of the internal SSD. At the 97th percentile for storage, it's one of the best on the market, making file transfers and project loads feel instantaneous. The 20-core CPU is strong, landing well above average, and it chews through multi-threaded tasks like a champ. But that 64-core GPU? It's a letdown. Sitting at the 11th percentile, it's disappointing for a machine pitched at creative pros. It's fine for GPU-accelerated video effects, but it gets stomped by a mid-range dedicated NVIDIA card in raw 3D rendering.

The Mac Studio's real competition isn't a gaming tower like the HP Omen 45L or the ASUS ROG GM700TZ. Those machines are in a different universe for gaming, where the Studio is dead last. The real fight is against a high-end Dell Tower Plus or a custom-built PC with a monster NVIDIA RTX card. For pure CPU grunt in a tiny box, the Studio wins. But a decked-out PC tower will crush it in GPU tasks and offers a path to upgrade later. The Studio is a commitment.

Value is tough to judge without a current price, but the original cost was steep. The M1 Ultra is a specialized tool. If your hourly rate depends on shaving seconds off render times, it pays for itself. For everyone else, it's overkill. The M1 Max model delivers 85% of the performance for a lot less cash.

The Mac Studio with M1 Ultra is a weird beast. It's a compact silver box that absolutely demolishes creative workloads but falls flat on its face the second you try to play a game. If you're editing 8K video, running complex simulations, or compiling massive codebases, this thing is a dream. But for most people, even most creative pros, the M1 Max version is the smarter buy. The Ultra's extra GPU cores sound impressive on paper, but in the real world, they don't scale as well as you'd hope for the massive price jump.

If you're looking for a machine that can game, this isn't it. Go get an HP Omen or a custom-built PC instead. Even light gaming is a miserable experience here.

Buy the Mac Studio M1 Ultra only if your workflow is specifically bottlenecked by CPU performance and you need absolute silence. For most video editors, motion graphics artists, and developers, the M1 Max version is the sweet spot. This Ultra model is a niche tool for a niche audience, and that audience knows exactly who they are.