All posts tagged: Mac Studio

Affordable Third-Party Mac Studio Storage Upgrades Coming in 2025

Affordable Third-Party Mac Studio Storage Upgrades Coming in 2025

Published by skeptic

French company Polysoft has successfully reverse-engineered Apple’s proprietary storage modules for the Mac Studio and plans to offer more affordable upgrade options starting in January 2025, following a successful Kickstarter campaign. The company’s “Studio Drive” modules will be available in 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB capacities, with pricing starting at €399 ($420) for 2TB, €799 ($843) for 4TB, and €1,099 ($1,158) for 8TB – roughly half of what Apple charges for comparable storage upgrades at the time of purchase. Unlike traditional SSDs used in PCs, Apple’s storage modules require specialized engineering because the actual storage controller is built into the M1 and M2 chips rather than being part of the removable module. To develop compatible modules, Polysoft conducted extensive reverse engineering, sacrificing an original Apple module for detailed analysis. The company removed all its small components one by one using a laser station, inventoried them and measured their characteristics, then scanned every layer with a flatbed scanner. From this work, the company then made its own schematics and designed different boards, using the same Kioxia and …

Apple’s M4 Mac Studio: What We Know So Far

Apple’s M4 Mac Studio: What We Know So Far

Published by skeptic

Apple is planning to refresh the entire Mac lineup with updated M4 chips starting in late 2024 and continuing into 2025, and that will include a new M4 chip for Apple’s mid-tier desktop machine, the Mac Studio. M4 Chip Rumors Apple has a lineup of M4 chips in development, including the standard M4, the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and a higher-end version that’s codenamed “Hidra.” This higher-end chip could be an “Ultra” version that’s equivalent to the M2 Ultra, or it might even be something even more powerful. With the ‌M2‌ lineup, the ‌M2‌ Ultra is a chip that is in fact two ‌M2‌ Max chips linked together. There is no M3 Ultra at this time, but the architecture of the M3 Max chip has led to speculation that future Ultra chips might be standalone chips rather than constructed from two Max dies. The M3 Max seems to lack the UltraFusion interconnect that allowed the ‌M2‌ Max chips to function as an Ultra. Because that’s missing, it’s likely the Ultra chip would have dedicated …

Macs to Get AI-Focused M4 Chips Starting in Late 2024

Macs to Get AI-Focused M4 Chips Starting in Late 2024

Published by skeptic

Apple will begin updating its Mac lineup with M4 chips in late 2024, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman. The M4 chip will be focused on improving performance for artificial intelligence capabilities. Last year, Apple introduced the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips all at once in October, so it’s possible we could see the M4 lineup come during the same time frame. Gurman says that the entire Mac lineup is slated to get the M4 across late 2024 and early 2025. The iMac, low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, high-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini machines will be updated with M4 chips first, followed by the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models in spring 2025, the Mac Studio in mid-2025, and the Mac Pro later in 2025. Apple is said to be nearing production of the M4 processor, and it is expected to come in at least three main varieties. Chips are codenamed Donan for the low-end, Brava for the mid-tier, and Hidra for the top-end. The Donan chip will be used …

Apple Working on Next-Gen Mac Studio and Mac Pro

Apple Working on Next-Gen Mac Studio and Mac Pro

Published by skeptic

Apple is working on a new Mac Studio that is likely to launch in the second half of 2024, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman believes. Gurman mentioned the details in this weekend’s edition of the “Power On” newsletter. He explained that the new ‌Mac Studio‌ is likely to be offered with the as-yet-unannounced fourth variant of the M3 chip. This will, like previous generations, double the components of the “Max” version, meaning that it will feature up to 32 CPU cores and 80 GPU cores. Taiwanese research firm TrendForce believes that Apple will launch a new ‌Mac Studio‌ featuring the M3 Ultra chip at WWDC in June, just as it did with the M2 Max and ‌M2‌ Ultra ‌Mac Studio‌ last year. Prior to the launch of these models in 2023, Gurman reported that Apple was already working on two follow-up machines. Gurman also believes, contrary to suggestions earlier in the week, that Apple is likely to refresh the Mac Pro with this new high-end chip. He does not believe that Apple is likely to again abandon …

M3 Ultra Mac Studio Rumored to Launch in Mid-2024, But No Sign of New Mac Pro

M3 Ultra Mac Studio Rumored to Launch in Mid-2024, But No Sign of New Mac Pro

Published by skeptic

A new Mac Studio model with the M3 Ultra chip—which could be more powerful than expected—will launch in mid-2024, according to a new report. The report comes from Taiwanese research firm TrendForce citing ICsmart. The current ‌Mac Studio‌, which contains M2 Max and ‌M2‌ Ultra chip options, was introduced at WWDC in June 2023. With TrendForce forecasting another mid-year update for the ‌Mac Studio‌, a repeat appearance at WWDC seems likely this year. The Mac Pro is the only other Mac model that contains an “Ultra” Apple silicon chip, so its absence from today’s report discussing the M3 Ultra is noticeable. While, logically, the ‌Mac Pro‌ should receive an update to add the M3 Ultra chip alongside the ‌Mac Studio‌, just like it received the ‌M2‌ Ultra chip last year, there have been no rumors to suggest this will be the case again this year as of yet. Interestingly, TrendForce claims that the M3 Ultra chip will be fabricated with TSMC’s N3E node, just like the A18 chip that is expected to debut in the …