AppleInsider is supported by its viewers and should earn fee as an Amazon Affiliate and affiliate companion on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships don’t affect our editorial content material.
When you have $2,000 burning a gap in your pocket and desire a Mac, getting a 14-inch MacBook Professional or a Mac Studio is a good thought. This is how the identically-priced workstations evaluate to one another.
On the ever-running computing treadmill, you are virtually pressured to contemplate upgrading your system each few years. You must choose whether or not your current computing platform is sufficient for what you need to do and if you wish to spend cash on a brand new one.
If the reply is sure, then Apple has a wide selection of Apple Silicon gadgets obtainable for buy at varied value factors. That is the case each if you wish to have a transportable computing choice like a MacBook Professional or if you happen to would favor a desktop Mac.
Nevertheless, you is probably not notably wedded to having both a MacBook or a desktop Mac notably, as both will suffice in most workflows that do not require mobility. You might be extra involved about getting as a lot bang to your buck performance-wise.
In a $2,000 shootout, is it higher to get a 14-inch MacBook Professional with the M1 Professional or a Mac Studio with the M1 Max?
The reply to this entails priorities and coping with compromise.
$1,999 14-inch MacBook Professional vs $1,999 Mac Studio – Specs
| Mac Studio with M1 Max | 14-inch MacBook Professional | |
|---|---|---|
| Base value | $1,999 | $1,999 |
| Dimensions (inches) | 7.7 x 7.7 x 3.7 | 0.61 x 12.31 x 8.71 |
| Weight (kilos) | 5.9 | 3.5 |
| Chip | M1 Max 10-Core | M1 Professional 8-Core |
| RAM | 32GB | 16GB |
| GPU | Apple-designed 24-core | Apple-designed 14-core |
| Neural Engine | 16-core | 16-core |
| Media Engine | Video decode engine, 2 x Video encode engines, 2 x ProRes encode and decode engines | Video decode engines, Video encode engines, ProRes encode and decode engines |
| SSD | 512GB | 512GB |
| Rear Ports | 4 x Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2 x USB-C (entrance), 2 x USB-A, 1 x HDMI, 1 x SDXC 1 x 10GB Ethernet, 1 x 3.5mm headphone | 3 x Thunderbolt 4 ports, 1 x HDMI, 1 x SDXC 1 x 3.5mm headphone, 1 x MagSafe 3 |
| Show | None | 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR, 3,024 x 1,964 decision, 254ppi, 1,000,000:1 distinction ratio 1,000 nits sustained brightness, 1,600 nits peak brightness Huge colour (P3) assist True Tone ProMotion |
| Exterior Video | 4 x 6K60Hz over USB-C plus 1 4K60 over HDMI. | 2 x 6K60Hz |
| Audio | Constructed-in speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack, HDMI | Six-speakers with large stereo, Spatial Audio, 3.5mm headphone jack, HDMI, Three-mic array with directional beamforming |
| Keyboard | None | 78/79-key Backlit Magic Keyboard, Power Contact trackpad, Contact ID |
| Webcam | None | 1080p FaceTime HD |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 | Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Battery | None | As much as 17 hours Apple TV app film playback, 67W USB-C Energy Adapter, MagSafe 3 |
$1,999 14-inch MacBook Professional vs $1,999 Mac Studio – Bodily parts
The primary apparent consideration right here is that we’re not evaluating like-for-like {hardware}. It is not two desktop Macs, nor two MacBooks Professional, however one from every field of the product matrix.
Since they’re very totally different type elements, you are going to see many variations in how they’re constructed and their options.
The 14-inch MacBook Professional is skinny, gentle, and extremely transportable.
If we’re speaking bodily development, then it is a simple comparability because the 14-inch MacBook Professional and the Mac Studio are constructed for utterly totally different use-cases.
The MacBook Professional is supposed to be a transportable computing machine that carries round all the pieces that it wants to supply performance, which informs its design. In the meantime, the Mac Studio is meant to be positioned on or close to a desk, must be linked to different {hardware}, and is not anticipated to be moved round.
The 14-inch MacBook Professional is longer and wider at 12.31 inches by 8.71 inches, giving it a much bigger footprint than the 7.7-inch by 7.7-inch Mac Studio. The MacBook Professional can also be thinner at 0.61 inches to the Mac Studio’s 3.7 inches.
The Mac Studio, just like the Mac mini, is designed to be set on a desk and never moved.
Then there’s weight, with the MacBook Professional at 3.5 kilos to the Mac Studio’s 5.9 kilos.
The MacBook Professional is clearly designed for portability, whereas the Mac Studio is made as a comparatively unobtrusive and compact block of computing sources.
$1,999 14-inch MacBook Professional vs $1,999 Mac Studio – Show and video
The 14-inch MacBook Professional has a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR show, with a decision of three,024 by 1,964 pixels and a pixel density of 254ppi. That Mini LED-backlit display screen additionally affords a 1 million to 1 distinction ratio, 1,000 nits of sustained brightness, 1,600 nits pf peak brightness for HDR content material, Huge colour (P3) assist, True Tone, and ProMotion.
The Mac Studio would not have a built-in show in any respect, because the expectation is for the person to have one obtainable to make use of, both one they already personal or purchase new.
The 14-inch MacBook Professional has a show. In the meantime you must join a monitor to the Mac Studio.
This presents an additional value to the Mac Studio person to stand up and operating and a possibility to get the show supreme for his or her specific wants. That sometimes will contain a a lot greater monitor since we’re speaking a couple of desk-bound setup that won’t be carted all over the place.
In case your finances stretches to the $1,599 Apple Studio Show, that is nice if that is what you need. However there’s a complete monitor market on the market, so you could possibly get a pair of 27-inch 4K screens for half the price.
You might not have a monitor, however you do have customization choices with the Mac Studio. You might not have a lot of a alternative of show for the MacBook Professional, but it surely’s an excellent display screen that goes with you.
After all, each the MacBook Professional and Mac Studio can deal with exterior video to various levels.
The MacBook Professional and its M1 Professional can work with as much as two exterior shows of as much as 6K decision at 60Hz. In the meantime, the Mac Studio can deal with as much as 5 shows, together with 4 6K decision 60Hz screens over USB-C and one 4K 60Hz monitor over HDMI.
Although this does imply the Mac Studio can deal with better numbers of shows without delay, every can simply deal with a dual-monitor or triple-monitor association that energy customers might select.
$1,999 14-inch MacBook Professional vs $1,999 Mac Studio – CPU and GPU efficiency
As the bottom configurations for every product household, $2,000 will get you the most cost effective chip obtainable in every vary.
Within the MacBook Professional, that may be the M1 Professional with an 8-core CPU, a 14-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. When you have any further funds obtainable, there are improve choices to maneuver to the 10-core CPU model, a 10-core CPU with 16-core GPU, the M1 Max with a 10-core CPU and 24-core GPU, and the 32-core GPU variant.
You are additionally pairing it with 16GB of Unified Reminiscence, utilized by all parts of the system-on-chip design. Once more, there’s the potential for transferring to 32GB as an improve, and even to 64GB for the M1 Max, however solely you probably have the cash obtainable.
On the Mac Studio facet, the bottom mannequin begins with the M1 Max with a 10-core CPU, a 24-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. Sure, upgrades can be found to get a 32-core GPU, although you could possibly additionally spend twice the finances to get the M1 Extremely with its 20-core CPU, 48-core GPU with a 64-core improve choice, and a 32-core Neural Engine.
For reminiscence, the Mac Studio begins on the 32GB base degree of the M1 Max chip, with a 64GB choice. Anybody with the finances to go for the M1 Extremely may even push the configuration to make use of 128GB of Unified Reminiscence.
The M1 Professional CPU is not that a lot slower than the M1 Max, however the GPU makes a distinction.
One key ingredient for video content material creators is the Media Engine, a characteristic of the M1 Professional and better chips that gives {hardware} acceleration for encoding and decoding video, together with H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW.
The M1 Professional’s model features a video decode engine, video encode engine, and ProRes encode and decode engines. The M1 Max has double the video encode engines and twice the variety of ProRes engines. The high-end Extremely naturally has double what the M1 Max has.
We’ve got mentioned the distinction between the chips up to now, however there’s not as a lot as you may suppose between the M1 Professional and M1 Max particularly.
For Geekbench 5’s single-core and multi-core CPU benchmarks, the 2 chip classes are fairly comparable when it comes to efficiency. That’s to be anticipated, although with ten cores, the Max will at all times do higher than the 8-core Professional.
The rise in GPU cores provides the Max a substantial benefit as a result of it has extra to play with, each in base reminiscence and core counts.
As for the Media Engines, you will really feel the rise for doing intense video tasks on the Mac as a result of the Max has extra to make use of.
One half that could be of concern is that of thermals. Since it’s designed to be skinny, the MacBook Professional shall be extra inclined to warmth points than the Mac Studio.
For the desktop Mac, since Apple has offered the area for a substantial quantity of warmth administration and cooling to be included, which lowers the prospect of thermal interference for intense workloads.
For customers with extra modest duties and desires, each the M1 Professional and M1 Max are highly effective sufficient to get no matter job you want doing accomplished. You are simply going to see some issues go sooner on the Mac Studio.
$1,999 14-inch MacBook Professional vs $1,999 Mac Studio – Storage, Connectivity
You are mainly a 512GB SSD for storage on the base configuration for each gadgets. Regardless of one being a pocket book and the opposite a desktop, each have similar improve choices to 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB SSDs.
Nevertheless, if we’re being strict on the finances, it rapidly turns into a case of buying an acceptable exterior storage machine to reinforce the meager inside capability. This isn’t too tough a process, as many USB-C and Thunderbolt exterior drives are on the market to buy.
The port number of the 14-inch MacBook Professional features a reminiscence card slot and MagSafe 3.
Happening this route does trigger an issue for the MacBook Professional, because it means the person has to cart round another factor. The Mac Studio would not have to cope with portability, so it opens itself as much as extra choices, resembling heavy-duty storage home equipment with RAID and different options.
As regards to connectivity, Apple has labored to enhance the choices obtainable to customers on this technology in comparison with the previous few years.
The 14-inch MacBook Professional has three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, an SDXC card reader, a headphone jack, and MagSafe 3 for charging.
The Mac Studio has much more bodily connectivity choices than the 14-inch MacBook Professional.
On the Mac Studio, Apple consists of 4 Thunderbolt 4 ports on the again, and whereas there are two easily-reachable USB-C ports on the entrance, these too can be Thunderbolt 4 on the M1 Extremely model.
There’s additionally an SDXC slot on the entrance, once more inside attain of the person, whereas the again additionally has two USB-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and 10Gb Ethernet.
Finally, you might have extra connectivity capability on the Mac Studio, because of it having greater than sufficient area on its enclosure to accommodate them. You would add extra ports to the MacBook Professional utilizing a Thunderbolt dock, however once more, it is an issue of getting one other factor to cart round with the pocket book.
On the wi-fi facet, each have assist for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.
$1,999 14-inch MacBook Professional vs $1,999 Mac Studio – Energy and Portability
The place the MacBook Professional soundly thrashes the Mac Studio is that it’s the transportable choice of the 2.
The Mac Studio is not meant to be a highly-portable machine. It is definitely not meant for use whereas on the transfer with out some type of transportable exterior energy provide. Nonetheless, it may exist on a media cart or be transported as a part of a stage present in circumstances the place energy can be offered.
You would use the MacBook Professional as a desktop substitute, but it surely has a built-in 70-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery that requires it for use virtually wherever. That battery nets you as much as 17 hours of film playback for the Apple TV app or 11 hours of wi-fi net entry.
That is greater than sufficient for many individuals to get some work achieved from a coworking area or wherever away from the workplace.
On truly supplying energy, the Mac Studio has a cable that plugs into the again, and that is it.
The MacBook Professional might be recharged utilizing the included 67W USB-C energy adapter through one in all its Thunderbolt ports. When you have a USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable, you’ll be able to make the most of the MagSafe port and hold the Thunderbolt open to different data-based connections.
There is a 97W energy adapter included with the 10-core M1 chip variations, which additionally opens up a fast-charge functionality if you happen to elect to improve.
You have additionally acquired the benefit of utilizing energy supply options in docks and shows. You possibly can successfully join your desk-bound peripherals and energy to the MacBook Professional utilizing a single cable, simplifying the connection course of.
$1,999 14-inch MacBook Professional vs $1,999 Mac Studio – Audio, Digital camera, Different Particulars
On to the peripheries, and the very first thing is audio. As a transportable machine, the MacBook Professional has to convey its sound system with it, which on this case consists of six high-fidelity audio system with force-canceling woofers.
These audio system provide large stereo sound and assist for spatial audio.
The 14-inch MacBook Professional has first rate audio system and a 1080p FaceTime HD digicam.
The Mac Studio has a built-in speaker, however you might be higher off utilizing the audio system included in some screens or instantly connecting audio system to the Mac.
Each models have a 3.5mm headphone jack and may deal with Bluetooth audio too.
On recording audio, the MacBook Professional has a “studio-quality” three-mic array with a excessive signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming. The Mac Studio would not have any built-in choice, that means you’ll have to join your personal microphone.
Over to imaging, and the MacBook Professional does properly once more right here, together with a 1080p FaceTime HD assisted by the M1’s picture sign processor and computational video. The Mac Studio would not have a digicam, so that you’re counting on no matter you join as much as it once more.
$1,999 14-inch MacBook Professional vs $1,999 Mac Studio – Pricing and Upgrades
Each the 14-inch MacBook Professional and Mac Studio begin at $1,999 for his or her base configurations. For those who intend to transcend that, there are a lot of customization choices obtainable for every.
One improve that prices the identical throughout each fashions is storage. In each circumstances, going from the bottom 512GB to 1TB provides $200 to the configuration value.
From 1TB to 2TB is an additional $400 on high of that, transferring from 2TB to 4TB is an extra $600, and it is $1,200 extra to go from 4TB to 8TB.
The title of the Mac Studio is plainly seen on its base, which you will not see more often than not.
If you wish to change the chip on the MacBook Professional, going from the M1 Professional 8-core CPU and 14-core GPU to a 10-core GPU will value you $200, with an additional two GPU cores an additional $100. Migrating to the M1 Max with a 10-core CPU and 24-core GPU provides $200 on high, and it is a additional $200 to get to the 32-core GPU.
The Mac Studio begins on the M1 Max with a 24-core GPU, with it costing the identical $200 to get to a 32-core GPU. After that, you are leaping to the M1 Extremely with the 20-core GPU and 48-Core GPU at an additional $1,200, then it is one other $1,000 for the top-end 64-core GPU M1 Extremely.
For the M1 Professional chips, you begin with 16GB of Unified Reminiscence, with the 32GB improve priced at $400. Ranging from 32GB for the M1 Max, going to 64GB is $400.
For those who shelled out for the M1 Extremely improve within the Mac Studio, you get 64GB, however 128GB is an additional $800.
$1,999 14-inch MacBook Professional vs $1,999 Mac Studio – A query of priorities
There are a number of methods you’ll be able to have a look at the bottom 14-inch MacBook Professional and Mac Studio, and relying in your viewpoint, one shall be higher than the opposite.
If we’re speaking efficiency, the bang-for-your-buck is with the Mac Studio, and that is just because it has a greater M1 chip in it and extra reminiscence. Certainly, if you happen to had been to configure the 14-inch MacBook Professional to have the identical M1 Max chip and reminiscence as the bottom Mac Studio, you are $3,099, or a $1,100 improve.
However even with out matching the specs, you are not getting an enormous discount in efficiency if you happen to go for the MacBook Professional. The chips shall be sufficient for most individuals to do no matter they want. It is just a bit bit sooner on the Mac Studio.
One other means of that specification-to-price distinction is to contemplate that $900 as the price of making the system transportable. That $900 consists of a big battery, an honest monitor that you would need to supply elsewhere for the Mac Studio, and the appreciable benefit of working away from the desk.
Certainly, if we’re taking place the like-for-like specification route, you could possibly get an terrible lot of exterior storage, two high-resolution screens, a keyboard, and a mouse for that very same $900 if you happen to store properly.
The Mac Studio supplies efficiency, however the 14-inch MacBook Professional affords freedom.
You are not going to have a lot purchaser’s regret if you happen to go for one over the opposite. You have to ask your self if you would like a bit extra energy in a Mac Studio that stays put and desires further equipment to work.
The choice is the 14-inch MacBook Professional, with a slight efficiency hit however with the bonus of having the ability to work wherever.
Until you are searching for increased efficiency and elevated reminiscence, the tradeoff could also be price it for anybody wanting the liberty portability affords.
14-inch MacBook Professional vs Mac Studio – Newest reductions
Unique offers can be found on each the Mac Studio and 14-inch MacBook Professional.
The base 14-inch MacBook Professional can also be on sale, with Adorama ringing in on the lowest value at press time. Apple Approved Reseller Adorama is knocking as much as $300 off each 14-inch MacBook Professional config and discounting AppleCare by $60 with coupon code APINSIDER.
To activate the cost-saving activation hyperlink and enter promo code APINSIDER throughout checkout. Need assistance with the code? Step-by-step activation directions might be discovered right here.
To search out the bottom costs on lots of of merchandise, remember to pay a go to to our Apple Value Guides, that are up to date all through the day.
Value comparability guides
0 Comments