Connect with us

Technologies

Apple Mac Studio 2023 Review: Still the Creative Choice for Mac

There aren’t many changes to Apple’s midrange desktop. There didn’t need to be.

8.2

Apple Mac Studio 2023

Like

  • Fast and quiet
  • Relatively compact
  • HDMI 2.1

Don’t like

  • M2 Max model has two less Thunderbolt connections than the M2 Ultra

There isn’t a lot to say about the latest generation of the Mac Studio: From a «put it on your desk and use it» perspective, it feels almost exactly like the model that preceded it, with the expected generation-over-generation tweaks we see routinely in laptops and desktops.

In sum, it delivers up to about 20% better performance over the equivalent last-generation M1 chip because it has more CPU and GPU cores, and because of the updated Wi-Fi (from 6 to 6E) and Bluetooth 5.3, it has more stable and potentially much faster wireless. That, plus upgraded HDMI 2.1 — what Apple refers to as «enhanced» HDMI — are certainly important new features, they just don’t change the experience much.

apple-mac-studio-2023 apple-mac-studio-2023

As much as I like the system — and I really do like it quite a lot — it’s a little hard to make a case for the M2 Max model. If you really need CPU and/or GPU power, you’re better off with an Ultra configuration at a not-cheap $4,399 ($3,999 if you lop a terabyte off the storage of our $3,199 test configuration). If you just want the CPU performance and are OK with a decent-ish GPU, the M2 Pro Mac Mini can be had for $1,000 less. 

Apple Mac Studio 2023

Price as reviewed $3,199, £3,299, AU$5,099
CPU 3.3GHz Apple M2 Max 12 cores (8P/4E), 16-core Neural
Memory 64GB LPDDR5 unified
Graphics Integrated 38 cores
Storage 2TB Apple SSD, SD card slot
Ports 6x USB-C (2x Thunderbolt 4), 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm audio
Networking 10Gbps Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3
Operating system MacOS Ventura 13.4
Dimensions 3.7 x 7.7 x 7.7 in (9.5 x 19.7 x 19.7 cm)
Ship date June 2023

Many creative apps, notably photo editing, still tend to use CPU resources more than GPU, and the M2 Pro has the same Neural cores as the M2 Max. And, while the Max handles some basic high-res video editing, you can get away with the cheaper model for 4K, but will probably want to bump up for higher resolutions.  

Much also depends on what creative applications you’re using as well as how you’re using them. You’ll see a lot more custom MacOS optimization from, say, DaVinci Resolve than Premiere Pro, so throwing money at the Max over the Pro may not help you. And features that might theoretically benefit from more Neural cores (the Ultra has 2x the Max and below), may not perform the processing locally. For instance, the processing for Photoshop’s new Generative Fill takes place remotely, so your system doesn’t really have to do any heavy lifting.

The Pro also has the same encode/decode accelerators as the Max, while the Ultra has twice as many. And the Ultra configuration has two more Thunderbolt ports — its dual Max processor configuration means another Thunderbolt controller — which is important if you plan on using external drives for that. 

wwdc-seq-00-02-57-12-still001.png wwdc-seq-00-02-57-12-still001.png
Watch this: Mac Studio Gets an Upgrade With M2 Max and M2 Ultra Chips

03:14

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a group of buyers for whom the M2 Max combination of solid CPU and GPU performance is just right for the money — it’s just easier and probably sufficient to go cheaper or necessary to go pricier.

The upgraded HDMI means it can handle a 4K monitor at a refresh rates of up to 240Hz. It does enable variable refresh rate for monitors that support it, and as with the MacBook Pro you don’t have much control over it; you enable it in MacOS and it’s out of your hands. 

Aside from gaming, where it’s key for avoiding artifacts caused by the disconnect between game frame rate and display screen update, one of the main reasons for VRR (ProMotion) is to save power on devices like the iPad and iPhone. That’s not a huge issue for a desktop, so unless you’re gaming you’re better off just setting it to a high but fixed rate and leave it. 

apple-mac-studio-2023 apple-mac-studio-2023

The port layout is the same as it’s been since the system launched.

Lori Grunin/CNET

If you do plan on gaming, I’d wait for MacOS 14 Sonoma before committing. Depending on how many game developers take advantage of Apple’s DX11/DX12 emulation so you can run Windows games, and depending on how they perform, you may want to adjust your GPU requirements. At the moment, there aren’t many native Apple silicon games; most are mobile games running on top of Apple’s Rosetta emulator. You can run a virtual Windows machine like Parallels, but I’d probably vote Ultra for that.

Performance

Apple silicon’s performance remains remarkably consistent, in the sense that it’s more or less directly correlated with the number of cores (though that doesn’t mean it’s true for any specific application, because they’re too squidgy when it comes to producing generalizable results). 

The 38-core GPU in the Studio’s M2 Max delivers about 20% better Metal performance over the 32-core GPU in the M1 Max, almost entirely because of the increase in the number of cores. For a frame of reference, the 38-core performance puts it roughly comparable to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, at least in one cross-platform benchmark (3D Mark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited), but there are a variety of metrics that simply aren’t reflected by that test. 

Read moreApple MacBook Air 15-Inch Review: Finally, Big for Less

Using it, though, we can extrapolate that the M2 Ultra’s 76-core version should provide a little less than twice that of the 38-core M2 Max and fall a little short of the RTX 4070 Ti. One interesting pattern that I see is that the more GPU cores there are the less you get out of each individual core within a given generation and about a 5% increase per core from M1 to M2.

As we’ve seen with the M1 generation, multicore CPU performance is almost identical for a given core configuration — in other words, the 12-core M2 Pro’s as fast as the 12-core M2 Max — and about 20% faster than the 10-core M1 Max. Because more cores. Single core speed is up by about 14%. For reference, the CPU performance seems about the same as an Intel Core i7-13700H.

I’ve only had a few days with the system, so I’m still sorting out the various performance nuances. I’m comfortable with the conclusions I’ve drawn thus far — it remains the excellent system it was when it debuted last year — but if necessary may update with more about this particular configuration for creative work and gaming.

Cinebench R23 CPU (multicore)

Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M1 Pro 10/16, 2021) 12,302Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1 Max 12/32, 2021) 12,365Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max 10/32, 2022) 12,389Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M2 Pro 12/19, 2023) 14,803Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro 12/19, 2023) 14,814Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max 12/38, 2023) 14,846
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Cinebench R23 CPU (single core)

Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max 10/32, 2022) 1,535Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M2 Pro 12/19, 2023) 1,646Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro 12/19, 2023) 1,649Apple Mac Mini (M2 8/10, 2023) 1,650Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max 12/38, 2023) 1,749
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited

Apple Mac Mini (M2 8/10, 2023) 6,925Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M1 Pro 10/16, 2021) 10,264Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M2 Pro 12/19, 2023) 12,989Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro 12/19, 2023) 13,048Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1 Max 12/32, 2021) 17,640Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max 10/32, 2022) 20,297Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max 12/38, 2023) 25,317
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Configurations

Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro, 2023) MacOS Ventura 13.2; Apple M2 Pro (12-core CPU,19-core GPU); 16GB LPDDR5 RAM; 1TB SSD
Apple Mac Mini (M2, 2023) MacOS Ventura 13.2; Apple M2 (8 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores); 8GB LPDDR5 RAM; 256GB SSD
Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) MacOS Monterey 12.3; Apple M1 Max (10 CPU cores, 32 GPU cores); 64GB RAM; 2TB SSD
Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023) MacOS Ventura 13.4; Apple M2 Max (12 CPU cores, 38 GPU cores); 64GB RAM; 2TB SSD
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) MacOS Monterey 12.4; Apple M1 Pro (10 CPU cores, 16 GPU cores); 32GB LPDDR5 RAM; 1TB SSD
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) MacOS Monterey 12.4; Apple M1 Max (12 CPU cores, 32 GPU cores); 32GB RAM; 512GB SSD
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023) MacOS Ventura 13.2; Apple M2 Pro (12 CPU cores, 19 GPU cores); 32GB LPDDR5 RAM; 1TB SSD

Technologies

Verum Finance: A Super App for Private Finance Integrated Into a Messenger

Verum Finance: A Super App for Private Finance Integrated Into a Messenger

Verum Finance has announced the launch of a new financial application that allows users to manage their money directly within the secure Verum Messenger ecosystem.

The project has already attracted attention from major media outlets. A dedicated feature was published by Forbes Türkiye, while one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, MEXC, covered the launch. Yahoo Finance had previously reported on the evolution of Verum Messenger into a comprehensive financial ecosystem.

What Verum Finance Offers

Verum Finance transforms a messenger into a complete financial platform. Users can:

• Manage their balance and top up using bank cards or USDT
• Send money instantly to other Verum users
• Issue and use debit cards, including Apple Pay support
• Exchange assets and withdraw funds
• Access all these services without installing separate banking applications

A strong emphasis is placed on privacy. The platform offers registration without a phone number or email address, end-to-end encryption, and full user control over personal data.

Recognition from Forbes Türkiye

In a dedicated article, Forbes Türkiye highlighted Verum Finance as a notable example of modern privacy-driven fintech. The publication emphasized the growing trend of financial services moving from standalone banking applications into unified messaging ecosystems — a model that has proven successful in Asia through platforms such as WeChat and Alipay and is now expanding globally.

Support from the Crypto Community

Alongside the Forbes Türkiye coverage, news about the launch of Verum Finance was also featured by MEXC, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges. This reflects growing interest in the project from both traditional business media and the cryptocurrency community.

A Strategic Vision

“We are building more than a payments application and more than a messenger. Verum is a unified secure ecosystem where communication, finance, and privacy tools work together,” the company stated.

Verum Finance is now available for iPhone and iPad users. The application complements Verum Messenger, which offers anonymous chats, voice and video calls, VPN services, eSIM connectivity, and other tools designed to enhance digital freedom.

Verum Financehttps://finance.verum.im

Verum Messengerhttps://verum.im

Continue Reading

Technologies

Forbes Türkiye Highlights Verum Finance and the Rise of Integrated Financial Ecosystems

Forbes Türkiye Highlights Verum Finance and the Rise of Integrated Financial Ecosystems

Forbes Türkiye has published an article examining the launch of Verum Finance and its approach to integrating financial services directly into a messaging ecosystem.

In the article, Forbes Türkiye notes that the fintech industry is undergoing a transformation as financial services increasingly move beyond traditional banking applications and become part of broader digital ecosystems. Verum Finance is presented as an example of this trend, combining payments, digital cards, money transfers, and balance management within a single environment connected to Verum Messenger

According to the publication, Verum Finance follows a model similar to the “super app” concept that has gained significant traction in Asian markets, where communication and financial services operate together on one platform. Unlike many Western platforms that continue to separate messaging and banking services, Verum Finance is integrated directly into the Verum ecosystem, allowing users to manage financial activities without relying on multiple third-party applications.

The article highlights several core features of the platform, including virtual debit cards, user-to-user transfers, online payments, digital asset operations, Apple Pay integration, and in-app balance management.

Forbes Türkiye also points to the growing importance of embedded finance and changing user expectations. The publication suggests that lengthy account-opening procedures, physical card delivery times, and constant switching between applications are becoming increasingly outdated in a mobile-first world.

Another major focus of the article is privacy and security. Forbes Türkiye describes Verum Finance as part of a broader trend toward “privacy-driven fintech,” where financial services are built on privacy-oriented infrastructure. The publication notes that the platform incorporates features such as phone-number-free registration, end-to-end encryption, user-controlled access management, and privacy-focused tools designed to enhance data protection.

The article concludes that one of the key challenges for companies operating at the intersection of secure communications, digital payments, and embedded finance will be maintaining both usability and security within a single integrated ecosystem.

The coverage by Forbes Türkiye reflects growing media interest in platforms that combine communication and financial services, as the industry continues moving toward more unified digital experiences.

Websitehttps://finance.verum.im 
App Storehttps://apps.apple.com/app/verum-finance/id6774245148  
Verum Messengerhttps://verum.im 

Continue Reading

Technologies

Verum Launched “Verum Finance” App for iPhone and iPad, Expanding Its Digital Ecosystem Into Financial Services

Verum Launched “Verum Finance” App for iPhone and iPad, Expanding Its Digital Ecosystem Into Financial Services

Verum has announced the official launch of Verum Finance, a standalone financial application now available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, marking a further expansion of the company’s growing digital ecosystem.

The new application is designed to centralize core financial functions in a single mobile interface, allowing users to manage balances, send and receive funds, use debit cards, and exchange supported balance types without relying on traditional banking workflows.

According to Verum, the platform enables users to view account activity in real time, top up balances using supported payment methods including Apple Pay, and transfer funds to other users within the Verum ecosystem using a unique Verum ID. The system also supports multi-balance management, including specialized balance categories such as precious metals.

Debit card functionality is integrated directly into the app, allowing users to issue and manage cards linked to their balances, monitor transactions, and top up cards when needed. The company also emphasizes built-in exchange tools that allow users to convert between supported balance types within the application.

Security features include Face ID authentication, passcode protection, Sign in with Apple, and privacy-oriented account controls aimed at maintaining user confidentiality and data protection.

The launch of Verum Finance follows the company’s broader strategy of building an interconnected ecosystem of digital products. Alongside Verum Messenger, which combines secure communication tools, encrypted messaging, voice and video calls, VPN services, eSIM connectivity, AI features, anonymous email, and crypto-related functionality, the new financial app extends Verum’s positioning from communication technology into financial infrastructure.

Industry trends increasingly show demand for “all-in-one” digital environments that reduce dependency on multiple standalone apps. Verum’s approach reflects this shift by integrating communication and financial services within a unified ecosystem.

Verum Finance is now available globally for download on iPhone and iPad via the App Store.

Websitehttps://finance.verum.im 
App Storehttps://apps.apple.com/app/verum-finance/id6774245148 
Verum Messengerhttps://verum.im 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Verum World Media