Apple Mac Studio M2 Max vs M2 Ultra - Ultimate Comparison!

[@pablomarin1746]

Best review and test for editors and Studio houses so far. Big thanks I’m ordering M2 ultra today

[@morgonaut]

@pablomarin1746 - I'm glad my video helped you. Best thanks would be if you share my videos on forums/socials so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content and still for free. And/or if you are really grateful for my help you can click under my video on the THANKS button, that will again help me keep producing for you useful content for free. Or you can even "buy me a beer" here: donate.stripe.com/14k29O62BbHG2QM288

[@RockyColaFizz]

Thank you for this video. It’s super informative. And I know,this took a loooong time to put together.

[@morgonaut]

@RockyColaFizz - thanks, this video took exactly 5 weeks of my time to produce :(

[@morgonaut]

@RockyColaFizz - I value your kind comment a lot, so please share my video with your friends or social media so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me produce for you more quality content like this...

[@parkofile1173]

The "HDR" Content is SPECTACULAR!!!!!!!!!! Thank You.

[@morgonaut]

@parkofile1173 - thank you, but all my videos in past 3-4 years are in HDR already 😇

[@morgonaut]

@parkofile1173 - share my videos so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content.

[@JesseMoffett]

Love your channel, so glad to see you again!

[@morgonaut]

@JesseMoffett - darling what you mean by "again"? I produce video all the time, I never stopped. Looks like you missed tons of my videos on my both youtube channels

[@breezlee59]

As always great content that rocks but now I want to see you shredding on the Strats and Les Pauls and giving comparisons. 😀🎸👍

[@morgonaut]

@breezlee59 - thanks for your nice comment. But don't forget if I would make videos about my guitars on this channel youtube would not like it and punish this Mac channel :( So I would need to make another YT channel for that and that would mean I would have zero views for ages. BTW I don't have a Les Paul, I have Gibson SG and gold top Gretsch in Les Paul shape some kind of

[@vivekjadhav2210]

Nice video i like your music production test

[@morgonaut]

@vivekjadhav8986 - I'm glad you like my style. Best thanks would be if you share my videos so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content.

[@vivekjadhav2210]

@@morgonautmam please I canfuz between Macbook Pro 14 inch and 16 inch macbook pro for music production please make video on that

[@alesko5]

I’ve been looking for a video that combines real world use cases with benchmarks. You nailed it! Love this. Thanks so much!! +sub 😊

[@morgonaut]

@alesko5 - I'm glad you like my production. Best thanks would be if you share my videos on forums/socials so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content and still for free.

[@TwoCakesYoda]

Excellent comparison. Thank you. Subscribed.

[@morgonaut]

@TwoCakesYoda - I'm glad you value my work. Share my videos on forums/socials so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content and still for free.

[@jasonk9770]

Amazing work. I work mostly in 4k from Sony FS7's (Premiere) and 2D motion graphics in After Effects. Looks like the Max might suite my needs. Thanks for the thorough analysis!

[@morgonaut]

@jasonk9770 - if you use Premiere then don't waste money on any new computer because this unoptimized crap will run like trash on even fastest super computer in Universe. If you would use Resolve then of course I would recommend the Mac Studio

[@series25a]

what are your full specs on M2 Max?

[@morgonaut]

@series25a - you didn't watch carefully my video :( It's even in EVERY SLIDE! OMG

[@series25a]

@@morgonaut hehe sorry i'm gonna have to rewatch. :D

[@dougdina]

Great video. Much of it was over my head so I’ll need to watch it a few times. It seems that your usage is the same as mine; video editing. I’m learning and deciding whether to upgrade. Curious, have you tried Magic Mask in Fusion on the Max and the Ultra? It’s oddly very slow in Fusion but quite fast on the Color Page.

[@morgonaut]

@dougdina - sure I use it all the time, but it's slow even on M2 Ultra

[@كاميراالعندليب]

Can the Mac Studio M2 Max handle well with well-known editing programs such as Adobe Premiere, Final Cut, and Da Vinci, smoothly and easily for video clip production and wedding production, because I work in the field of wedding photography and I have a photography camera such as the Sony A7S3 and Canon Mark IV 5D Please, I want a frank answer. Thank you

[@morgonaut]

@user-wc9gx6wt6h - wrong question! Max can do it well, problem is user! I run 8K multicam Canon RAW production on AS and Resolve with super smoothness, but it took me a while to optimize my workflow

[@banbuna1]

Excellent video comparison with impressive data presentation. Need your consultation: I'm a photographer and edits a lot of RAW images in Lightroom and Photoshop Today I have an iMac 2016 with 16 giga ram memory and a 2 tera SSD drive, the editing on the computer is relatively very slow. Deciding between Mac Studio M2 Max Chip 12-Core CPU, 38-Core GPU, 64GB Unified Memory, 2TB SSD Storage and between Mac Studio M2 Ultra Chip 24-Core CPU, 60-Core GPU, 64GB Unified Memory, 2TB SSD Storage what is your opinion? Thanks.

[@morgonaut]

@banbuna1 - if I should help you the best way then it's for longer debate than single youtube comment = I recommend you to schedule Zoom video meeting with using link in video description and discuss it personally

[@5GRobo]

Please do the logic test with the lowest buffer size as well since that's more relevant. Thanks❤

[@tekis0]

No necessarily. When I'm mixing, I run the buffer as high as possible; only when I'm recording would I run the buffer as low as possible. There's another (lengthy) video by "Sound Fixations" with low buffer recording on Logic. He's also running Kontakt on every track. He got over 800 tracks!

[@5GRobo]

@@tekis0 I was speaking for myself.

[@bobsardjono]

thanks for the comparison Morgonaut, nice video.. 👌🏻 if you have time, could you please compare them in any graphic/compositing app like autodesk's Flame or Motion, AE, Fusion and so on..thanks and keep up the good work.. 👍🏻

[@morgonaut]

@bobsardjono - I don't have licenses for those, I use Fusion in Resolve

[@matthazard]

Awesome video, great work :) I realize it isn't economically feasible to have 10 SKUs to test, but It would be interesting to see a comparison of two machines with the same amount of ram and SSD size. So the Max and Ultra comparison would be clearer. It seems like the Ultra's gains skew more since it has so much more memory. And when it does use swap it has a much faster SSD. The Max with 64GB and 1TB might have much better results in some of the more intensive tests?

[@morgonaut]

@matthazard - I prepare comparison between base models of M1 and M2. But already now from my video and detailed numbers it's absolutely possible to make a picture how any configuration would perform. And yes, I'm not a millionaire to buy all Macs available just to produce so intense content and for free

[@rodneydangerfield7153]

Thanks, Teresa, for the very helpful video!

[@morgonaut]

@rodneydangerfield7153 - Happy to help Rodney 😇 Best thanks would be if you share my videos on forums/socials so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content and still for free.

[@paola9550]

I will buy a M2 Ultra for heavy photoshop work but I need to know if I need to upgrade to 128 GB or what are your upgrades recommendations if any? Thank you and have a wonderful day :)

[@morgonaut]

@paola9550 - it only depends on you, I can't know how huge projects you plan to work on, how many and how demanding other apps you want to be running etc.. Without detailed info it's not possible to suggest anything. I recommend you to book a video meeting with me and we can elaborate it in detail personally - link is in video description. I could give you meeting even today if you will write me email

[@tomnicist]

I get 326 seconds In Blender bench with your project file with my "old style" Hackintosh with a 7950x cpu, 16 cores + HT vs 24 cores... holy cow... that's a real smashing result for an x86_64 based Hackintosh!!!

[@morgonaut]

@tomnicist - This YT channel is my MACINTOSH related youtube channel. If you want hackintosh stuff then you should comment on my HACKINTOSH youtube channel -> www.youtube.com/@MorgonautHackintosh But thanks for your comment, it's always better to have results from more people for wide comparison

[@Tvj_films8452]

the end of hackintosh is very near when morgonaut does reviews of actual mac stuff.

[@morgonaut]

@Tvj_films8452 - your comment hurts me a lot! You commented on wrong channel. This YT channel is my MACINTOSH related youtube channel. If you want hackintosh stuff then you should comment on my HACKINTOSH youtube channel -> www.youtube.com/@MorgonautHackintosh I'm a Mac user for more than 3 decades, I was always producing content primarily about MAC!!!!!!!!!!

[@morgonaut]

@Tvj_films8452 - try to think why this YT channel is called "Morgonaut " and my 2nd YT channel is called "Morgonaut Hack!ntosh"! 👿

[@TrevorNew]

Great video, super clear, thanks!

[@morgonaut]

@TrevorNew - I'm glad my you liked my video. Best thanks would be if you share my videos on forums/socials so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content and still for free. And/or if you are really grateful for my help you can click under my video on the THANKS button, that will again help me keep producing for you useful content for free. Or you can even "buy me a beer" here: donate.stripe.com/14k29O62BbHG2QM288

[@LaGuilTV]

Great Review!

[@morgonaut]

@LaGuilTV - I'm glad you like my style. Please share my videos so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content like this

[@vivekjadhav2210]

Please make video on Macbook Pro 14 inch vs Macbook Pro 16 inch for music production

[@TheVFXbyArt]

TY for this!!!

[@morgonaut]

@TheVFXbyArt - I'm glad my video helped you. Best thanks would be if you share my videos on forums/socials so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content and still for free.

[@TalonNismo]

Great content. Full of useful information. Thank you.

[@morgonaut]

@TalonNismo - thank for your nice comment. Yes, I do my best to bring people unique valuable informations. Best thanks would be if you share my videos on forums/socials so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content and still for free.

[@TalonNismo]

I will recommend your channel. Also subscribed. Your video really did help me narrow down the studio model I will need. Thank you again.

[@morgonaut]

@TalonNismo - I'm glad I could help you. Hopefully one day someone grateful will start helping to me back by clicking on the THANKS button under my videos or donation link in all video descriptions

[@ericbrucci9044]

bonjour, très bonne video, je sais maintenant quel Mac , je vais prendre : certainement un Mac studio ultra avec 4 to de disque dur et 128 gigas de mémoire , merci et bonjour de Marseille de France.....

[@morgonaut]

@ericbrucci9044 - toutes mes salutations à Marseille 🇫🇷

[@smgumbycat]

Nice video.

[@morgonaut]

@smgumbycat - thank you, I do my best to provide original point of view and informations nobody yet provided. Share my video so it can help to more people and that would help to me back produce for you more content like this

[@lclira]

What about running virtual machines? What would be the delta between Max & Ultra?

[@morgonaut]

@lclira - on my M1 Max I run several Ventura VMs, several Linux ones and even Mac Os 9.22 :)

[@generic_official]

should be 76 cores, not 72 cores 😮

[@morgonaut]

@generic_official - yes you're right. It took me 5 weeks to do all the tests and collect all these numbers so it can happen I made single mistake

[@tekis0]

@@morgonautYou are forgiven, Morgonaut!😅

[@morgonaut]

@tekis0 - how generous of you 😇

[@goobfilmcast4239]

I wish I had to debate between a Mac Studio Max or Ultra.....my dilemma is between an M2 Mini or Mini Pro....leaning Pro 😄. Great vid !

[@morgonaut]

@goobfilmcast4239 - one day you will get what you want, don't worry. But it's better to get Mac Studio Max instead of the Mini Pro

[@tekis0]

If you can afford even the lowest tier Mac Studio (refub, used), then try to get the Studio. I work in professional audio. I used to have a Mac Mini Server, and I really loved it. But I've watched some comparisons of the high-tier Mac Mini's vs the Studio's, and the Studio's were better, even with SIMILAR chips! I couldn't believe it. I have patiently waited a few months to save up for the Studio. My only reservation is the new OS. Having tried Ventura, I MUCH prefer Monterey.

[@morgonaut]

@tekis0 - I always tech my clients from audio industry to stay on Monterey and not upgrade to Ventura

[@MichelWesterhoff]

Great video

[@morgonaut]

@MichelWesterhoff - thanks, I know, it took me 5 weeks of testing all possible workflows and computers to produce this. Share my videos on forums/socials so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content and still for free.

[@martynmarriott2700]

I wonder how these results would be if the m2 ultra was the binned chip with 60 cores and 64GB of unified memory. Your M2 ultra is a beast with a 76 core gpu and 192gb or unifiend memory. If the m2 max mac studio had more unified memory, would some of these results change?

[@morgonaut]

@martynmarriott2700 - you can easily count it yourself when I gave you results for 76-core GPU and you know the binned has 60 = do your math

[@martynmarriott2700]

What about the amount of unified memory? @@morgonaut

[@morgonaut]

@martynmarriott2700 - you know the answer - it depends on your workload, so if you need X amount of memory then you should get X amount of memory plus something in top of it

[@GearZenChannel]

Both destroy the 5,1 that I replaced!

[@olivermaier-landshut3047]

I trust your opinion still I very sucessfully built my Hackintosh back in 2016 that still runs very good today…🎉🎉🎉

[@morgonaut]

@olivermaier-landshut3047 - you commented on wrong channel. This YT channel is my MACINTOSH related youtube channel. If you want hackintosh stuff then you should comment on my HACKINTOSH youtube channel -> www.youtube.com/@MorgonautHackintosh

[@entertainmentonly8087]

M2 Ultra Vs Hackintosh ?😊😊😊

[@morgonaut]

@entertainmentonly8087 - you commented on wrong channel. This YT channel is my MACINTOSH related youtube channel. If you want hackintosh stuff then you should comment on my HACKINTOSH youtube channel -> www.youtube.com/@MorgonautHackintosh

[@goobfilmcast4239]

Frankly, unless you need to run Boot Camp or have a very specific need for a GPU type or other legacy PCIe hardware, Intel is a dead end. Personally, I love(d) older Macs but since the intro of Apple Silicon, my formerly deep nostalgia for "vintage" Macs has evaporated. Apple's future has never looked brighter.

[@morgonaut]

@goobfilmcast4239 - " Intel is a dead end" - not true. Intel Mac Pro 2019 will rise in price in next years mainly because of the ability of PCIe cards and up to 1.5TB of memory. It will take ages for Apple Silicon to offer this. My 2019 Mac Pro is more powerful already now in specific workloads over the M2 Ultra, I'm working on video on it

[@entertainmentonly8087]

@@morgonaut no update for Last 6 months in Hackintosh YT. So I ask You. thank you nice video

[@morgonaut]

@entertainmentonly8087 - that's not true, I released a short in that period. But why should I waste my time, money, effort and knowledge on continue giving to people AMAZING solutions as I did in the past many years and ALL FOR FREE???? Tell me single reason! Hackintosh community is extremely toxic environment full of selfish angry morons and haters who are UNGRATEFUL. ANd I really don't want to waste my resources on that anymore! Look 4 years ago I gave to them my NEW WAY and what did I get in return? Hate and they stole my idea and now so many people is making money on it and they still bad mouthing me everywhere. That's not what I would call a gratitude! But I still continue fully my help and support to grateful people who are interested in hackintosh, PC, server and Mac solutions. I never stopped! And I focus on my MAC YT channel because people here are much more grateful and friendly.

[@guysmiley7289]

For the logic audio test - Lower buffer size is more challenging for a computer. More is easier.

[@morgonaut]

@guysmiley7289 - OMG I always wonder why people try teach eagle to fly! I'm a musician for more than 4 decades. Nobody smart will use millions of plugins for real time recording but for mixing and for that everybody smart will use higher buffer size! And read comment before posting, this was already discussed here several times!

[@rodneydangerfield7153]

Will wait for the M3 Ultra with more efficient 3nm technology!

[@morgonaut]

@rodneydangerfield7153 - you can wait forever with this mindset

[@ifelovemusic]

bad idea, the efficency cores dont work as well as the performance cores. THis might only make sense if you re thinking about a macbook and you move around alot

[@tylerhemmings]

I’d just go with the max tbh. 2k price difference is not worth it.

[@morgonaut]

@TylerHemmings - as I showed in this video for some it is worth it

[@Bo_Hazem]

That's like $2,000 vs $5,000 (at least) for 72GPU. Anyway, even base M2 Ultra seems struggling here, maybe I should skip to M3 Ultra. Thanks a lot!

[@filipr6070]

Thanks for the video, but the difference between a M2 Max 38 c GPU and the M2 Ultra 60 c GPU will be not as big. 😏

[@morgonaut]

@filiproose6070 - not as big? It's almost half :) And also half the encode/decode engines and half the memory

[@filipr6070]

@morgonaut Yes but the difference between 30c and 72c is much more than 38c vs 60 c 😉

[@morgonaut]

@filiproose6070 - looks like you're trying to justify your purchase decision 😇

[@FOBob-sr1fd]

Glad I spent the money for the base M2 Ultra. It really sped up my email and web browsing. 😂😂😂

[@morgonaut]

@FOBob-sr1fd - fine joke, but, well, for just emails and web you don't need Ultra. And if you need Ultra for let's say video production then the base just 64GB of memory is very limiting in many workloads and will decrease performance significantly even to a territory where Max will be better and cheaper 😂 But I'm glad you are happy with your decision 😇

[@FOBob-sr1fd]

@@morgonaut Actually I’m an X-Plane user and was looking for faster frame rates. So…… you are correct. I got maybe 1-2 FPS improvement moving from the M1 Studio Max to M2 Studio Ultra. Your tests basically predicted this. However Laminar is updating their software all the time and I’m pretty sure a future edition of X-Plane will be able to take advantage of the extra pipes. 😉

[@morgonaut]

@FOBob-sr1fd - unfortunately I'm always right and most people don't like it I'm glad you value that

[@FOBob-sr1fd]

@@morgonaut I am trying Affinity Photo and it’s pretty snappy so at least that’s good. 👍

[@7-bs]

Why is my m2 ultra 60 Core GPU, 128gb of memory unable to play back a simple 5 min DCI4K from the sony FX3 with a colorgrade and a single effeft

[@morgonaut]

@7-bs - you would need to provide more info, nobody can judge without any details. File format, codec, size, storage, app etc....

[@7-bs]

could you please use make a video or let me know here about your resolve settings cause im having to set my playback resolution at 1080p for a 25 second video with a heAVY COLORGRADE and minimal noise reduction @@morgonaut

[@morgonaut]

@7-bs - I believe for you would be best if you will book on my website video/remote meeting with me and I will inspect your computer personally and set your Resolve the optimal way. Link is in video description

[@ekphotography]

@@7-bs I smell BS...

[@JayzBeerz]

The Mac Mini M3 will be a better option in a few months.

[@morgonaut]

@JayzBeerz - there is always gonna be something around the corner, you are the one who will wait forever??

[@samtronicsvideo7232]

No need to switch camera views. Distracting and you loose eye contact.

[@morgonaut]

@samtronicsvideo7232 - will you also dictate to me what should I wear or how should speak? You're welcome!

[@samtronicsvideo7232]

Hi again…. Your clothes and voice are just fine…. But coming from a long time video professional, I do question why you need the extra side view camera angle,…. As i said, in my opinion, totally not necessary, does not enhance your performance, and is somewhat distracting, and eye contact is broken….. regards….@@morgonaut

[@morgonaut]

@samtronicsvideo7232 - don't you think it's my business how I do my videos??? Not needed does not mean not welcome,, not good, not useful! Why don't you better do your own videos and show us and then wait for "amazing" comments like yours?

[@samtronicsvideo7232]

OK that’s fine…. Sorry you can’t accept what should be helpful constructive criticism to make you videos even more pleasing to watch….. carry on doing what you are doing…..@@morgonaut

[@morgonaut]

@samtronicsvideo7232 - it's insane you don't care about informative value of my video at all but you dare to stupidly care about me using two cameras instead of just one! Insane! Stop watching my videos and taking benefit from it and for free!

[@carlzheng2683]

Ill still pick the M2 Max $2000. No one waits in front of the computer to render and export their files. I'll take the $2170 i saved (with tax) put that in a $% APR HYSA get the $80 buck from interest for the year. I'll also save -30% from the depreciation for holding the Ultra compare to the Max.

[@morgonaut]

@carlzheng2683 - you wrote "No one waits in front of the computer to render and export their files" - that's absolute BS. Speak for yourself and not for all people on the Globe! I wait in front of my computer for my renders which are reasonably fast. Maybe you don't wait on crappy computer

[@samtronicsvideo7232]

Switching camera views is very distracting and not needed… think about it…. What is the real reason for switching camera views? You need to learn some of these key points from the professionals….. Others will agree….

[@morgonaut]

@samtronicsvideo7232 - why don't you waste your own money, time and effort to produce your own helpful videos for people and all of that for free instead of posting stupid schooling comments? Do it and then wait for "amazing" comments from people like you. Imagine how much time, money and effort I wasted to bring you so valuable informations in this video and for free. And instead of your thanks all I get is stupid comment??

[@Techable-com]

Awesome and informative video!

[@morgonaut]

@Techable-com - Thank you, but all my videos are so precise and informative. Share my videos on forums/socials so it can help to more people and that will in return help to me to produce for you more quality content and still for free. And/or if you are really grateful for my help you can click under my video on the THANKS button, that will again help me keep producing for you useful content for free