[expercom] - Mac Studio M1 Ultra, 128GB RAM, 1TB flash - $4499

[sfx2000]

These rarely go on sale... this is like $1300 off for new-in-box units, and lower than refurb prices...

Mac Studio M1 Ultra 20-core CPU / 64-core GPU / 128GB Memory / 1TB Sto

Mac Studio. A remarkably compact powerhouse that fits right on your desk with advanced connectivity for your studio setup. Choose the ferociously fast M1 Max or all-new M1 Ultra—the most powerful chip ever created for a personal computer. Apple M1 Ultra chip for a giant leap in CPU, GPU, and...

expercom.com

Networking - WiFi6, 10Gb ethernet, and there's always Thunderbolt 4

M1 Ultra - this is 4 E-Cores, 16 P-Cores, and 64 core GPU...

Review: The Mac Studio shows us exactly why Apple left Intel behind

Part Mac mini, part trashcan Mac Pro, the Studio is one impressive mini desktop.

arstechnica.com

There's always the Mac Tax - and FWIW, the Mac Studio really is the new Mac Pro...

 

[L&LD]

Yes, Apple is hurting, a lot.

Their brain must be exploding from having such low demand for their products today.

This is not a deal (no Apple product is), even when it was brand new last year.

If your workflows can use either Intel/AMD or Apple, this doesn't compare well in bang for the buck.

Of course, you'll also be stuck with a non-upgradeable configuration, but it will be silent!

But if overall performance is what you want, money is better spent elsewhere (even when it was newly introduced), particularly today.

Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) vs. Intel Core i9-13900K - Cpu Benchmark Specs & Test

Cpu Benchmark Specs & Test Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU) vs. Intel Core i9-13900K - Geekbench 5, Cinebench R20, Cinebench R15 and FP32 iGPU (GFLOPS)

cpu-benchmark.org

 

[sfx2000]

Yes, Apple is hurting, a lot.

Their brain must be exploding from having such low demand for their products today.

I would say that the M1 chip/device production plans may have over estimated the market... esp. on the m1-max and m1-ultras...

Most of the deals I'm finding are on that upper end of the scale - and those are actually fairly decent deals.

 

[L&LD]

Deals? Yes.

Value? Zero.

 

[sfx2000]

@L&LD - FWIW, looking at the deals for M1-Pro, M1-Max, M1-Ultra - all those SKU's offered up are CTO/BTO devices, not normal store/default configs...

I suspect that with all the big tech layoffs in 2023, there's a lot of unsold inventory/cancelled orders, and there, resellers like B&H and Adorama have been picking them up for a decent price...

Those prices are actually sane when compared to similar Dell/HP/Lenovo machines in the same class...

You may see zero value, and that's ok - you're not a Mac guy... and quoting specs about M1-Ultra vs i9-13900k doesn't change things, as the Intel chip doesn't run MacOS, and as such, doesn't work within that market's workflows...

As a personal note - I respect you, but there's times where you don't actually offer any value to the conversation - this is one of those times...

 

[L&LD]

I respect you too @sfx2000.

But I'm chuckling here this morning...

What value does your post add after more than a month? jk...

In either case, I've used Macs, I've bought Macs, and in the end, they are very limiting (I don't do the things they supposedly excel at), and I've returned to the PCs that allow me to use them as I want (Windows excels at multiple ways to do almost anything).

It's the OS. It's the iron-fisted control Apple has over my data (if you don't own an Apple device). And, it's the fact that my productivity (business) software doesn't run on MacOS. And no, using Windows on a Mac isn't my idea of a fun day (I vastly prefer the ergonomics of Thinkpads, not to mention the value and (supported) longevity they offer).

I don't know anyone who has bought a Mac when the Budget was important. But, that may just mean I only know poor people.

For the price of this machine you posted, most people can save over $3K and still be content with the performance. Or, have 4 people using new machines. Or, have a new machine every year or so before they get to anywhere near that total outlay.

In any case, I always appreciate your point of view. And I also like to offer mine. Thank you for the chance to clarify my perspective for anyone still reading along.

 

[sfx2000]

Keep in mind that I'm fairly agnostic when it comes to platforms - Mac, Windows, Linux, even ChromeOS...

They're all tools at the end of the day, and it's nice to have that option to apply just the right tool for the task at hand...