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Apple Mac Studio Update at WWDC: M2 Ultra Option Debuts

The company's compact desktop for creatives gets its first upgrade since it launched. and now you can configure it with a high-end M2 Ultra.

Lori Grunin Senior Editor / Advice

I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.

Expertise Photography, PCs and laptops, gaming and gaming accessories

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Lori Grunin

June 5, 2023 10:29 a.m. PT

For the first update since the Mac Studio launched in March 2022, Apple introduced a high-end M2 Ultra chip at its WWDC developer conference. The update also includes the launch of the M2 Ultra in addition to a new, base M2 Max configuration. It ships next week, starting at $1,999.

Apple/Screenshot by CNET

Apple Mac Studio (2023)

The base $1,999 model of the Mac Studio includes an M2 Max chip.

$1,999 at Best Buy $1,999 at Apple $1,999 at B&H Photo-Video

You can read about the announcement play-by-play in our live blog of the event.

More from WWDC 2023

The M2 Ultra is a pair of M2 Maxes tied together, with a 24-core CPU, 76-core GPU, and enables support for 192GB unified memory.

The system also gets HDMI 2.1 (like the MacBook Pro 16), which means higher refresh rates -- up to 240Hz -- and the generational chip upgrade means support for more, higher-resolution monitors simultaneously, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

The refresh otherwise leaves the system unchanged. I'm curious how much heat the M2 Ultra generates and whether any cooling changes were required for it; the Studio has been a really quiet system, and if it required more heat dissipation, it could make a difference in noise level.

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