One Year with the Mac Studio M2
Last Update: Sep 20, 2025
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If you know me or are a reader of this blog, you know about my love/hate relationship with Apple products. I love how they work, hate the walled garden and the price tag.
I bought a Mac laptop in 2003 that I loved, and I still own it. (Though it has Ubuntu on it now). I’ve had tons of Mac Minis through the years and loved them, and was disappointed by the last one. I promptly returned it.
I was not ready to give up on Apple, though. Six months after buying a lemon of a Mac, I decided to spend twice as much money on a Mac Studio.
Yeah, you read that right. The reason is I’ve ALWAYS wanted a Mac Studio. Either I couldn’t afford one, or I couldn’t justify it. This is normal for most people. However, I decided to take the plunge. So here’s what I do daily:
- Software Development
- AI/LLM Stuff. (downloading models, testing them, etc)
- More software development
- Video recording/editing/rendering (lots of it)
- Writing
- Silly hobby side projects
This was true a year ago as well. So I thought to myself, “What if I just spend a pile of money on a nice Mac Studio?” and the hope was to have it run smoothly and not need an upgrade for a few years. So I took the plunge.
The Mac Studio I Ordered.
I gave it some careful thought. It took me two weeks to decide what to order. In short, I “maxed out” everything I could, except the GPU and hard drive.
- Apple M2 Ultra with 24‑core CPU (MAX)
- 60‑core GPU (ALMOST MAX)
- 32‑core Neural Engine (MAX)
- 128GB unified memory (MAX)
- 2TB SSD storage (NOT MAX, but I can add more later)
- Front: Two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one SDXC card slot
- Back: Four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, one HDMI port, one 10Gb Ethernet port, one 3.5 mm headphone jack
Total Cost: $5,199.00 Yikes!
But shortly after I ordered this, they announced the M3 Ultra, and a similarly outfitted machine is well over 6k. So I’m fine with it.
What I didn’t Max Out and Why
I chose the 60-core GPU instead of the 72-core. Why? I couldn’t justify the extra cost, and I have a 4090 machine for the huge AI tasks if needed. I haven’t regretted this decision.
I also didn’t max out the HD space because it would have added a couple of thousand dollars. Apple is still ridiculous on hard drive premiums. I bought a 4TB external drive for my apps. Again, I don’t regret this.
So I’ll shut up now. Here’s what I think after a year of using it.
The Verdict:
Ok, I use this thing every day. I’ve built six or more courses with it, along with countless YouTube videos and other content. What do I think?
I love it. This purchase was absolutely worth it.
What I like:
- It’s lightning fast: Whether rendering 4k videos or day to day to work, it’s screaming fast. I don’t find myself waiting for much.
- Incredibly stable: I haven’t had any issues with hardware or software. If there have been glitches, they’ve been tiny and not memorable. It just works!
- Great AI machine: I can run models from small to large on here with ease. Because of the architecture, I can run larger models on this than my 4090, although slowly.
- It’s silent nearly always: Unless I’m taxing it with something big, you can’t hear this, which is great for recording things.
What I Don’t Like:
- It’s expensive: Yeah, it’s a lot of money. But it’s worth it.
- Limited upgrade options: You can’t upgrade the hard drive or memory later. That puts an end cap on the lifespan.
I’m glad I bought it. It’s expensive. I could have built two, maybe three standard PCS for this price. However, I love the fact that I can just forget about the machine and focus on the work. “It just works” is a cheesy cliche, and it’s been true for me the last year.
Hit me up if you have any questions!
– Jeremy
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