M2 Mac Studio vs M2 Mac Pro: Which One?

We may earn compensation from reviewed products. Learn about our editorial policies.

Apple really surprised me at WWDC this year. I was not expecting to see an updated Mac Studio; for me, that machine was always a stop-gap for Apple before the Mac Pro was ready.

How wrong I was. We now have an updated Mac Studio with M2 Max and M2 Ultra chip options and a ‘new’ Mac Pro featuring the M2 Ultra.

This raises one fascinating question – the answer to which will be used to satisfy curiosity rather than a buying requirement for most of us. Regardless, there will be a number of people out there who are genuinely considering whether or not to plump for the M2 Mac Studio or the M2 Mac Pro. They are, after all, pretty much the same computer with strikingly different price points.

For that reason, I’m not going to dive into any kind of performance comparison in this buying guide, because that is largely irrelevant. Instead, let’s consider for whom each Mac is designed.

Pricing and spec differences

The least you can spend on a Mac Studio is £2,099/$1,999. For that, you get an M2 Max chip, 32GB of unified memory, and a 512GB SSD. The least you can spend on a Mac Pro is £7,199/$6,999. For that, you get an M2 Ultra chip (there’s no M2 Max option for the Mac Pro), 64GB of unified memory, and a 1TB SSD.

Fully loaded, these two machines come with the same headline spec – a 24-core M2 Ultra chip, 192GB of unified memory, and an 8TB SSD. For that little lot, you’ll pay £8,899/$8,799 for the Mac Studio, and £11,999/$11,799 for the Mac Pro.

That’s right – a fully decked-out M2 Ultra Mac Studio isn’t that much more expensive than a base model Mac Pro. The latter can be made even more expensive, too, thanks to the addition of the wheels, which will set you back a still-daft £400/$400.

So, while these Macs are, spec-for-spec, the same computer in M2 Ultra form, they’re really not, are they?

The BIG difference

Scooting down the comparison chart between the M2 Mac Studio and M2 Mac Pro, there’s barely anything separating them. They can both drive up to three 8K displays and although there aren’t any meaningful benchmarks to which I can refer at the time of writing, they’ll probably perform identically, too.

The biggest differences come in two areas – built-in ports and expandability.

The M2 Mac Studio possesses four Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-A ports. Opt for the M2 Max version, and you’ll gain two extra Thunderbolt 4 ports, taking the total to six. The Mac Pro comes with eight Thunderbolt 4 ports and three USB-A ports as standard. It also has two HDMI ports over the Mac Studio’s one.

The biggest differentiator, though, is the fact that the voluminous and now practically empty internal compartment of the Mac Pro has room for up to seven PCI Express expansion slots. This enables owners to boost the system’s capabilities with storage and networking cards, or audio and video I/O.

However, the weirdest point of comparison on the spec sheet is the SD card slot, which is present on the Mac Studio but absent on the Mac Pro. What gives, Apple?

Who is the M2 Mac Studio for?

If you’re even remotely considering buying one of these machines, you’ll be fully aware of why you’d opt for the Mac Studio over the M2 Mac mini. You’re probably also aware that you’re in a minority of users who needs more horsepower than the M2 Pro chip can deliver – and additional connectivity.

For all my talk of the Mac Studio dying a relatively quick death once the Apple Silicon-powered Mac Pro arrives, I’m actually very happy I was so far wide of the mark. It’s such a brilliant move by Apple to offer a massively cost-effect beast of a Mac for businesses and creatives who need that horsepower. Early reports of the surge in performance between the new M2 Max and Ultra chips over their M1 predecessors only serve to confirm this.

If you’ve never heard of PCI Express expansion, or can’t think of a single thing you’d need to add to a Mac Studio, this is the computer for you.

Who is the M2 Mac Pro for?

Apple’s decision not to change the design of the refreshed Mac Pro is, I’d guess, down to the usual Tim Cook-inspired desire to squeeze every ounce of profit from an existing chassis design and manufacturing process.

The result is a Mac which reveals a comical amount of wasted space once you open the lid, zero compatibility with third-party graphics cards, and the absence of an SD card slot. It seems to have been a case of, “take all the Intel stuff out, throw in an M2 Ultra, make it compatible with PCI Express, and ship the damn thing”. Fair enough, although I guess we’ll probably see a completely redesigned Mac Pro in a year or two if you’ve got time to hold on.

But, who are ‘you’, exactly? Well, once again, just like I don’t need to inform Mac Studio users who they are, the same goes for the Mac Pro crowd. You know if you need this thing, and that decision will be driven entirely by the need for expansion or the ability to rack mount it.

Or put wheels on it, obvs.

Final thought

There’s one big difference with this buying guide compared to most that I write for the Mac: very few people will buy either of these machines just because they fancy it.

Sure, you might get a few well-heeled individuals buying the Mac Studio just because they want the most powerful Mac installed at home, but that’s probably Apple’s smallest market segment for that computer. As for the Mac Pro, well, no one buys that computer unless they absolutely need it.

This makes the decision between the M2 Mac Studio and M2 Mac Pro one that must be driven by production and productivity requirements. This all sounds a bit boring – but at least Apple is giving us an increasing number of options at this end of the scale.

Before you go

Join my Substack newsletter for tips on becoming a profitable, happy online creator!