Apple M1 Ultra/Max Mac Studio vs Intel Mac Pro: Which Wins?

Barring accidents, those who search on Google about Mac Studio vs Mac Pro or are just entering this page are mostly extreme pro users. Cuz extreme pro users like video editors, programmers, music producers, AR designers, 3D modelers needs a large volume of compute power and flexibility. And that's the major reason why they pay close attention to the most high-end yet prohibitive Mac laptops and flock to Apple official website to order top-level Mac Studio or Mac Pro without pain even though they cost them an arm and a leg.

Notwithstanding your budget is ample, you still have to choose one from two, M1 Studio or Intel Mac Pro. Which one is better in general? You can reach your own conclusion after reading the side-by-side comparison.

Part 1. Apple M1 Ultra/Max Mac Studio vs Intel Mac Pro: Design

The difference between Mac Studio and Mac Pro in design varies greatly. As you can see from the below picture, 2019 Intel-based Mac Pro is a full tower computer with carrying handles and feet, while the Mac Studio is said being Mac mini-Mac Pro hybrid powerhouse. It's more compact and space-saving, conductive to saving space.

The heat dissipation vastly differs from each other to the naked eye. Until now, we're still not sure if the Mac Studio can perfectly handle the heat dissipation considering the high-end computing power, as well as smaller-sized body.

Who wins in this round: even

Part 2. 2022 M1 Mac Studio vs 2019 Intel Mac Pro: Performance

As is known to all, the 2022 Mac Studio has two options for processor M1 Max (10-core CPU, 24-core GPU) or M1 Ultra (20-core CPU, 48-core GPU). Well, no 2nd choice, the 2019 Mac Pro features Intel Xeon processor (configurable from 8-core to 28-core) and AMD Radeon Pro GPU. To be more specific, here separately compares two versions of Mac Studio with Intel Mac Pro. Below the data explains everything:

Performance: Mac Studio powered by M1 Max

Performance: Mac Studio powered by M1 Ultra

On top of that, benchmark results for Mac Studio (M1 Ultra) and Mac Pro (28-core Intel Xeon processor) speaks more to the performance gap between them. Check Apple M1 Ultra vs M1 Max/Pro performance

Based on the Geekbench performance testing scores, M1 Ultra chip used in Mac Studio 2022 gets enhanced up to 56% in single-core performance compared with Mac Pro Intel 28-core processor. And in terms of multi-core performance, M1 Ultra gets boosted up to 21% in contrast to Intel 28-core CPU used in Mac Pro (late 2019). Check geekbench webpage if you wanna know detailed info concerning M1 Ultra benchmark scores.

Who wins in this round: Mac Studio

Part 3. M1 Mac Studio vs Intel Mac Pro: Ports

Apple fans gravitate to 2022 Mac Studio also because of the electrifying connections. See the below clear ports comparison and you'll know the difference instantly.

Ports on Mac Studio:

Ports on Mac Pro:

The connections of 2022 M1 Mac Studio outperforms 2019 Mac Pro, with Thunderbolt ports upgraded from 3 to 4 version and the number also doubles. In addition, Mac Studio has added HDMI port which lacks in Mac Pro.

Besides, the additional connections in Mac Studio also vastly dwarf Mac Pro. Two thunderbolt 4 ports (up to 40Gb/s) plus 1 SDXC card slot are inserted on the front of M1 Ultra Mac Studio while Mac Pro only gets thunderbolt 3 ports, 2 on the top and 2 on the front. Mac Pro has an advantage over Mac Studio in quantity but not the way in performance.

Who wins in this round: Mac Studio

Part 4. Apple M1 Mac Studio vs Intel Mac Pro: Price

Apple's 2022 Mac Studio starts at a very-affordable-for-extreme-pros price of $1999 and accelerates up to roughly $8000 if you wanna configurate Mac Studio to the available highest level (with a 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, 128GB RAM, and 8TB flash storage). Comparatively, Mac Pro is prohibitive, the cheapest one priced at $6000 and it can skyrocket to a jaw-dropping $52,000 with the highest configurations currently available.

To put it simply, now you can just spend 1/3 of the Mac Pro price to bring the entry-level Mac Studio home and 3/20 of the fully-equipped Mac Pro price to bring the top-end Mac Studio home to enjoy the extreme Mac experience. So which one has higher cost performance? I bet you've already had your own answer.

Who wins in this round: Mac Studio

Bottom Line

The late 2019 Intel Mac Pro, grounded on the above comparison on performance, ports and price, is at a distinct disadvantage. Yet that doesn't mean that the M1 Max or M1 Ultra chip makes Mac Studio better than Mac Pro in every scenario. Mac Studio isn't user-configurable while Mac Pro does the opposite, offering you with more options to upgrade your Mac Pro. You can configure Mac Pro (Late 2019) CPU processor from 8-core to 28-core, RAM up to 768GB (Mac Studio can't), and combine two Radeon Pro GPUs with 64GB each. Plus, as for the availability, M1 Mac Studio is still in preorder condition, and it's unclear if you can successfully order your desired Mac Studio version. In contrast, Intel Mac Pro is more accessible.

According to Moore's law, the newly released tech product certainly becomes more powerful than the old one. And M1 Mac Studio is stronger than old 2019 Intel Mac Pro, of course. That being said, Mac Studio is still far from perfection, right? You can now pre-order Mac Studio or wait for the next Mac Pro, since Apple has already promised a new Mac Pro -- as a teaser for a different event. Or, compare Mac Studio more with Mac Mini, M1 MacBook Pro to see if it's your current best option.