Apple's new Mac Studio and Studio Display units have finally arrived at customers' doorsteps, just over a week after it was announced during the Peek Performance event.
According to 9To5Mac, a handful of customers in what looks to be Japan have gotten their Mac Studios and Studio Display orders earlier than the rest of the world. They recently went to Twitter to post photos of their new hardware:
These units look to be the first retail versions of the new Apple devices, since those who got their hands on earlier ones were review units. That's why there are already Mac Studio and Studio Display reviews out on the web.
There is no indication, however, that customers in other countries have gotten their hands on their orders. For now, almost everybody else will get theirs this Friday, March 18th, after pre-ordering the things last week.
Apple's announcement of the Studio and Studio Display was met with a bit of excitement in the content creator space. This is mainly due to the hardware capabilities of the systems, which are intended for those who do heavy-duty creative work like photo, video, and audio editing.
The Mac Studio comes with a 20-core CPU, 128GB of RAM, a 64-core GPU, and an insane 8TB of super-fast solid-state storage. Users will also get access to a 10-gigabit Ethernet port, six Thunderbolt ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack-something you normally wouldn't associate the Cupertino tech giant with these days.
Combine this with the Studio Display (capable of 5K resolution), and content creators have a pretty powerful system to do their work without a lot of compromises.
What Critics Are Saying About Apple's New Workstation Hardware
As previously mentioned, review units for the Mac Studio and Studio Display were sent early. As such, reviewers have already taken the new hardware out for a spin, but the reviews for the two couldn't be even more opposite.
Starting off with the Mac Studio, it was quite well-received. TechRadar's review gave the tiny workstation a 4.5 out of 5, praising it for how much power it packs in a super-compact form factor. The only problems they have with it are of typical Apple fare: separately sold mouse and keyboard, extremely high price, and its complete lack of upgradeability.
As for the Studio Display, it was anything but impressive to reviewers. According to The Wall Street Journal, the monitor's $1599 starting price is never worth it considering the other competitors already dominating the market. If you're "all-in" on Macs, sure, you might be able to like it, but it really doesn't stand out as much in terms of its price-performance ratio. Also, the camera was apparently so bad that Apple promised a fix via a software update (via XDA-Developers).
Here is the video review of WSJ's review, where the Studio Display was put to its paces against competitors from Samsung, LG, and Dell.
Spoiler alert: things didn't go well.
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Written by RJ Pierce