Mac Studio Buyer’s Guide: All Models Compared

Apple has now refreshed the Mac Studio twice since its introduction in 2022, so should you upgrade your unit and is an older model still worth buying?

The new ‌Mac Studio‌’s main upgrade is its chip, moving from the M2 Max and ‌M2‌ Ultra to the M4 Max and M3 Ultra. Compared to its predecessor, the new ‌Mac Studio‌ is up to 75% faster with 2x faster graphics. It also now features up to 512GB of memory of 16GB of storage, as well as Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.

See the breakdown below for each new feature, change, and improvement that was added with the latest ‌Mac Studio‌ compared to its predecessors:

‌Mac Studio‌ (2022)

‌Mac Studio‌ (2023)

‌Mac Studio‌ (2025)

Apple M1 Max or M1 Ultra chip

Apple ‌M2‌ Max or ‌M2‌ Ultra chip

Apple M4 Max or M3 Ultra chip

M1 Max: 10-core CPU (8 performance cores, 2 efficiency cores)

M1 Ultra: 20-core CPU (16 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores)

M2 Max: 12-core CPU (8 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores)

M2 Ultra: 24-core CPU (16 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores)

M4 Max: Up to 16-core CPU (12 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores)

M3 Ultra: Up to 32-core CPU (24 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores)

M1 Max: Up to 32-core GPU

M1 Ultra: Up to 64-core GPU

M2 Max: Up to 38-core GPU

M2 Ultra: Up to 76-core GPU

M4 Max: Up to 40-core GPU

M3 Ultra: Up to 80-core GPU

Hardware-accelerated ray tracing

AV1 decode

M1 Max: 16-core Neural Engine (11 TOPS)

M1 Ultra: 32-core Neural Engine (22 TOPS)

M2 Max: 16-core Neural Engine (15.8 TOPS)

M2 Ultra: 32-core Neural Engine (31.6 TOPS)

M4 Max: 16-core Neural Engine (38 TOPS)

M3 Ultra: 32-core Neural Engine (76 TOPS)

M1 Max: Video decode engine

M1 Ultra: Two video decode engines

M2 Max: Video decode engine

M2 Ultra: Two video decode engines

M4 Max: Video decode engine

M3 Ultra: Two video decode engines

M1 Max: Two video encode engines

M1 Ultra: Four video encode engines

M2 Max: Two video encode engines

M2 Ultra: Four video encode engines

M4 Max: Two video encode engines

M3 Ultra: Four video encode engines

M1 Max: Two ProRes encode and decode engines

M1 Ultra: Four ProRes encode and decode engines

M2 Max: Two ProRes encode and decode engines

M2 Ultra: Four ProRes encode and decode engines

M4 Max: Two ProRes encode and decode engines

M3 Ultra: Four ProRes encode and decode engines

M1 Max: 32GB or 64GB memory

M1 Ultra: 64GB or 128GB memory

M2 Max: 32GB, 64GB, or 96GB memory

M2 Ultra: 64GB, 128GB, or 192GB memory

M4 Max: 36GB, 48GB, 64GB, 128GB memory

M3 Ultra: 96GB, 256GB, or 512GB memory

M1 Max: 400GB/s memory bandwidth

M1 Ultra: 800GB/s memory bandwidth

M2 Max: 400GB/s memory bandwidth

M2 Ultra: 800GB/s memory bandwidth

M4 Max: Up to 546GB/s memory bandwidth

M3 Ultra: 819GB/s memory bandwidth

512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD storage

M2 Max: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD storage

M2 Ultra: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD storage

M4 Max: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD storage

M3 Ultra: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB, or 16TB SSD storage

M1 Max: Four Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-C ports

M1 Ultra: Six Thunderbolt 4 ports

M2 Max: Four Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-C ports

M2 Ultra: Six Thunderbolt 4 ports

M4 Max: Four Thunderbolt 5 ports and two USB-C ports

M3 Ultra: Six Thunderbolt 5 ports

HDMI 2.0 port

HDMI 2.1 port

HDMI 2.1 port

Support for up to four Pro Display XDRs and one 4K display

Support for up to eight 4K displays, six 6K displays, or three 8K displays

Support for up to eight 4K displays, eight 6K displays or four 8K displays

3.5mm headphone jack

3.5mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones

3.5mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones

802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6

802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6E

802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6E

Bluetooth 5.0

Bluetooth 5.3

Bluetooth 5.3

Released March 2022

Released June 2023

Released March 2025

Only those 2022 ‌Mac Studio‌ users who consistently push their machines to the limit with tasks like 3D rendering, video editing in high resolutions, machine learning workflows, or large-scale software development should consider upgrading to the 2025 model. The 2025 ‌Mac Studio‌ introduces a considerable leap in performance, particularly with the M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips, offering substantially better GPU performance, more powerful GPUs with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a significantly faster Neural Engine, and support for up to 512GB of memory and Thunderbolt 5. These improvements dramatically improve workflows that demand extreme parallel processing, faster memory access, or broader external display setups. If your current 2022 ‌Mac Studio‌ ever feels like a bottleneck, or if you are preparing to work with increasingly complex projects over the next few years, the upgrade is likely to be worth it. However, for users whose workloads remain well within the capabilities of the ‌M1 Max‌ or ‌M1 Ultra‌, especially those focused on less GPU-intensive tasks, the gains may not justify the cost at this time.

Upgrading from the 2023 ‌Mac Studio‌ to the 2025 model is likely to be worth it for far fewer users, simply because the performance gains, while significant on paper, will make less of a real-world difference for most professionals already using the ‌M2‌ Max or ‌M2‌ Ultra chip because the 2023 model is still exceptionally capable. However, there are a few edge cases where the upgrade may be justified—particularly for users working with local large language models or intensive AI workloads, where the vastly improved Neural Engine in the M4 Max or M3 Ultra can offer major benefits. Similarly, users who rely on extremely high memory capacity or bandwidth, or those building systems around Thunderbolt 5 and AV1 decode support, might see tangible improvements that justify the cost. Still, for the vast majority of users, especially those in video production, app development, or general pro workflows, the 2023 ‌Mac Studio‌ remains more than sufficient for the foreseeable future, making the 2025 upgrade more of a luxury than a necessity.

The 2022 and 2023 ‌Mac Studio‌ models are still very much worth buying, especially if found refurbished or second-hand at a good price. Both models offer excellent performance that remains highly competitive even in 2025, with the ‌M1 Ultra‌ and ‌M2‌ Ultra still delivering substantial CPU and GPU power, high memory bandwidth, and dedicated media engines that easily handle demanding tasks like video editing, music production, 3D rendering, and software development. While they lack newer features like Thunderbolt 5, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, or the enhanced Neural Engine performance found in the 2025 models, those are largely beneficial only to users with very specific, future-facing workloads. For most professionals and power users, especially those upgrading from Intel Macs or base M1 systems, the 2022 and 2023 models remain an outstanding value—and often represent the best balance between performance and cost when purchased refurbished or pre-owned.

This article, “Mac Studio Buyer’s Guide: All Models Compared” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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