In addition to a fabulous new 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip, Apple unveiled the next-generation Mac Studio at WWDC 2023 with two brand-new powerhouse chips inside.
While the Mac Studio probably isn’t the first desktop of choice for most people, anyone that does any kind of professional workflow could benefit from the amazing performance these machines provide for the relatively accessible price tag (at least, compared to other machines in its class) that starts at $1,999.
In this piece, we’ll walk you through the technical specifications of the all-new 2023 Mac Studio.
2023 Mac Studio tech specs
Finish
- Silver
Size and weight
- Height:7 inches (9.5 cm)
- Width:7 inches (19.7 cm)
- Depth:7 inches (19.7 cm)
- Weight (M2 Max):9 pounds (2.7 kg)
- Weight (M2 Ultra):9 pounds (3.6 kg)
Chip
- Apple M2 Max chip
- 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
- 30-core GPU
- 16-core Neural Engine
- 400GB/s memory bandwidth
- Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
- Video decode engine
- Two video encode engines
- Two ProRes encode and decode engines
- Configurable to: M2 Max with 12-core CPU, 38-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine
- Apple M2 Ultra chip
- 24-core CPU with 16 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores
- 60-core GPU
- 32-core Neural Engine
- 800GB/s memory bandwidth
- Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
- Two video decode engines
- Four video encode engines
- Four ProRes encode and decode engines
- Configurable to: M2 Ultra with 24-core CPU, 76-core GPU, and 32-core Neural Engine
Storage
- 512GB SSD:
- Configurable to: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB
- 1TB SSD:
- Configurable to: 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB
Memory
- 32GB unified memory
- Configurable to: 64GB (M2 Max) or 96GB (M2 Max with 38‑core GPU)
- 64GB unified memory
- Configurable to: 128GB or 192GB
Connections and Expansion
- Four Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for:
- Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
- DisplayPort
- USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
- USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)
- Two USB-A ports (up to 5Gb/s)
- HDMI port
- 10Gb Ethernet
- 5 mm headphone jack
- On front (M2 Max):
- Two USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s)
- SDXC card slot (UHS-II)
- On front (M2 Ultra):
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports (up to 40Gb/s)
- SDXC card slot (UHS-II)
Display Support
- M2 Max
- Simultaneous support for up to five displays:
- Four displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI
- Two displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at up to 240Hz over HDMI
- M2 Ultra
- Simultaneous support for up to eight displays:
-
- Eight displays with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz
- Six displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz
- Three displays with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz
- Thunderbolt 4 digital video output
- Support for native DisplayPort output over USB-C
- HDMI display video output
- Support for one display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz
- Support for variable refresh rate (VRR), HDR, and multichannel audio
Audio
- Built-in speaker
- 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
- HDMI port supports multichannel audio output
Communications
- Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
- Bluetooth 5.3
- 10Gb Ethernet (Nbase-T Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb, and 10Gb Ethernet using RJ-45 connector)
Conclusion
The Mac Studio is a powerhouse of a machine that packs some serious computing power in a tiny, but mighty tower. It’s perfect for multi-display setups where you’ll be doing video work, programming, and other hardware-intensive tasks. But if you’re just a casual user that checks your favorite news sites from time to time, then this is way too much power for you.
What are your thoughts about the hardware bump for the 2023 Mac Studio? Let us know in the comments section down below.