Although the Mac Studio has been well received since its release last spring, Apple may not release an updated model in the near future as many users expect. Mark Gurman reports in Bloomberg that the next Mac Pro with Apple Silicon is “similar in functionality to the Mac Studio,” and it might be redundant for Apple to sell both the Mac Pro and the revamped Mac Studio.
In the latest issue of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that a new version of Mac Studio is not expected “in the near future”. Instead, Apple will most likely “never update Mac Studio” or wait up to the M3 or M4 generation of Apple Silicon chips. If Apple waits a few more years, it could “better differentiate Mac Studio from the Mac Pro to come.”
I wouldn’t foresee the introduction of a Mac Studio in the near future. The upcoming Mac Pro is very similar in functionality to the Mac Studio, adding the M2 Ultra chip instead of the M1 Ultra. So it wouldn’t make sense for Apple to offer a Mac Studio M2 Ultra and a Mac Pro M2 Ultra at the same time. Most likely, Apple will never update Mac Studio or wait until the M3 or M4 generation. At that point, the company will be better able to differentiate the Mac Studio from the Mac Pro.
The revamped Mac Pro with Apple Silicon is expected to launch this year with M2 Ultra and M2 Max chip configurations. Originally, Apple had envisioned an “M2 Extreme” chip that basically consisted of two M2 Ultra chips fused together, but the idea was scrapped for cost and production reasons.
The new Mac Pro is expected to maintain an identical design to the current model. This means that it will be a tower machine with a ample internal space for possible extensions. The question, however, is what users can expand or if Apple is keeping the space for future models that do not require and maintain the line in the design. So far, it has been reported that Apple’s Silicon Mac Pro will not support expandable RAM, but will support expandable SSD, GPU, and networking capabilities.
Another advantage of the Mac Pro design over the Mac Studio is better cooling.. The Mac Studio has faced some criticism for its cooling system. With a much larger design, the Mac Pro could offer better cooling and maintain peak performance levels for longer.
If you are waiting to buy a Mac Studio, keep this news in mind and the possible offers that may be coming out, because, as Gurman says, a renewal is not expected any time soon.