Will the Mac Studio be a short-lived product?

Hardware Reviews
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Interesting post on 9to5Mac:
https://9to5mac.com/2022/08/07/mac-mini-m2-pro-release-no-redesign/
Especially this quote resonates with me:

About the different M2 chips, Gurman thinks the Mac Studio could be a short-lived product since he doesn’t seem “purpose of having both a Mac Studio and Mac Pro,” since they can’t be very similar and appeal to the same niche of users.

I think Gurman may be right here. Unless the Studio Ultra will turn out to be the new Mac Pro. And that will only happen when apple says goodbye to a (somewhat) modular approach.

In any case, I’ve been on the verge of buying a Mac Studio several times. But it’s actually not the computer I want. Or need. In some aspects it’s overspec’d. And like many others, all I need is ‘just’ a Mac Mini with more than 16GB RAM. Besides, I prefer the MM form-factor.

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Interesting rumor. I guess one question is what does a mid-range desktop form factor get you?

  • Fits more compactly on a desk than an expandable tower
  • Has more ports than a Mini
  • Can hold larger SoCs than a Mini
  • Doesn’t need to be engineered for SoCs beyond Ultra

The Mac Pro could provide the ports and the hug SoCs, but I think you’d need a pro/plus mini to support the Max and offer more ports. That’s essentially the Studio, and if they move the Ultra up to the Mac Pro, they could make the Studio a bit smaller and also reduce overlap. Fun to speculate.

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I assume that the Mac Pro will be at a different pricing level, leaving plenty of space for the Mac Studio in the middle range.

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