Mac Studio Ultra or new Macbook with M3max for vm's and misc ?

[Dahkoht]

Greets,

I'm a sys engineer who does tons of remote work and runs multiple VM's at times for varying test/software uses. Usually just one VM at a time with the host machine also though.

Anyway am passing one of my windows rigs down to my son and want to get back in to the Apple world as I used to do mix of it with windows world. (have a dedicated gaming rig )

Have a couple questions for you Apple hardware experts,

Both for parallels (and probably other ones also will be tested ) , would an M2 Studio Ultra with all the cores be faster than a new Macbook Pro Max considering the increase in core count ? I know all about VM's on the windows world both VMware andHyper-V etc , but wasn't sure how well the Apple side uses increased core count on that side

While a laptop would be nice , it's not needed as 95% of the work will be remote work from home , so that's not really an issue. And while an expert on the windows side of hardware I definitely am no on the Apple side so would appreciate opinions

(also side off the wall question ,i've seen the configs of the new M3's with unmatched size memory 48gb , etc , and was curious if the unified memory of the Apple silicon system rules out any performance hits of not have completely matched DDR ram size wise ? )

Thanks in advance

 

[Rnd-chars]

If you don’t need the portability of a laptop, you can certainly get more bang for your buck going with a Studio (when comparing comparable 16” configs to Studio configs I can often “save” $1000). If budget isn’t an issue, I’d likely go for a maxed out M3 Max for the faster single threaded performance, better GPU and possibly NPU (this depends on how well software is able to leverage the Ultra’s dual NPUs.)

It depends a lot on what you’re doing within those VMs. For reference, I have a 64 GB M1 Max laptop and can comfortably run multiple VMs (two macOS and one Win11) for dev purposes. Depending on your workload, either config may well be more than what you need.

 

[mystery hill]

You won’t be able to use your existing x86 VMs on Apple Silicon Macs.

 

[Dahkoht]

You won’t be able to use your existing x86 VMs on Apple Silicon Macs.

Sorry should have clarified that's not a concern , will be building them from scratch using Arm version of Windows 11 (and likely other ones too )

 

[Dahkoht]

If you don’t need the portability of a laptop, you can certainly get more bang for your buck going with a Studio (when comparing comparable 16” configs to Studio configs I can often “save” $1000). If budget isn’t an issue, I’d likely go for a maxed out M3 Max for the faster single threaded performance, better GPU and possibly NPU (this depends on how well software is able to leverage the Ultra’s dual NPUs.)

It depends a lot on what you’re doing within those VMs. For reference, I have a 64 GB M1 Max laptop and can comfortably run multiple VMs (two macOS and one Win11) for dev purposes. Depending on your workload, either config may well be more than what you need.

Thanks , yeah I wasn't sure on core count if the many more of the Studio vs the single threaded better of the M3 would matter more.

And also wasn't sure of overall better or matching performance assuming the Studio would handle spiking more than the Macbook before throttling any ? And again that might not be a worry.

Won't be any heavy graphics work (on the side I'll likely fool around with misc games/applications just to compare running WoW on windows vs mac and other just purely for fun )

The actual work part won't utilize the graphics part much other that external monitor(s) have one or two LG 38" 3840x1600 monitors that can go to 144 (although a smooth 60 for work is fine obviously )

Again thanks all you Apple hardware experts , have been in and out of the Apple world over the years (the old 17" macbook pro still my all time fav laptop , used to even do server swing migrations in fusion on it "P) , as I'm fairly an expert in the x86 hardware side both workstation/server/gaming wise but on the Apple side while have kept up with the Silicon hardare overall not in any way an expert

 

[emmab2006]

I Would be very cautious of buying any M3 Based Mac right now, with apple comparing it all to the M1 , not M2, it is very suspicious for them to do this, M2 Mac Studio Max I have a feeling is not that much slower than the M3 Max... also the GPU architecture and core changes is very strange.. 30 and 40.. why..

 

[Rnd-chars]

And also wasn't sure of overall better or matching performance assuming the Studio would handle spiking more than the Macbook before throttling any ? And again that might not be a worry.

The Studio certainly has better thermal management so you’ll likely get better sustained performance there if you expect long (>5min) 100% load across all your cores, but i can’t think of any SysAdmin tasks that would require it 😅

For short, bursty spikes or ones that peg just most of the cores, I’d expect the M3 Max to perform better thanks to its faster single core perf.

However, I’d still wager either would be more than enough for your needs. You might even consider Apple’s refurbished store for the Studio — they only have an Ultra with 64GB and 1TB for $3399 right now, but they get new stock frequently. They’re essentially good as new, you can add AppleCare, and they have a good return policy if it doesn’t meet your need.

 

[JaredJenkinsDesign]

I Would be very cautious of buying any M3 Based Mac right now, with apple comparing it all to the M1 , not M2, it is very suspicious for them to do this, M2 Mac Studio Max I have a feeling is not that much slower than the M3 Max... also the GPU architecture and core changes is very strange.. 30 and 40.. why..

Yup I agree. I remember some rumors stating how the performance boosts might not be as big as anticipated and that M1 comparison is a bit suspicious indeed. Definitely need to see some real world performance reviews.

 

[Plutonius]

M1 comparison is a bit suspicious indeed.

I believe that they didn't compare it to the M2 is because they are still trying to sell M2 Macs.

It inflates the performance gains in comparing the M3 to M1 Macs but it also does not stress that the M2 Macs are now slow. It's also doubtful that current M2 Mac owners will upgrade and I believe that Apple is trying to upsell to current M1 Mac owners.

 

[Mac Hammer Fan]

I believe the M3 Pro and Max GPU will not be significant better than the M2 Pro and Max because the number of cores had nearly not increased. I'll wait for the benchmarks and the real world reviews though.

 

[Homy]

M2 Mac Studio Max I have a feeling is not that much slower than the M3 Max.

Actually 16-core M3 Max is almost as fast as 24-core M2 Ultra in Geekbench multi-core and about 43% faster than 12-core M2 Max.

 

[tothemoonsands]

Actually 16-core M3 Max is almost as fast as 24-core M2 Ultra in Geekbench multi-core and about 43% faster than 12-core M2 Max.

With this in mind:

M2 Ultra Studio for $3400 refurb
Or..
M3 Ultra Studio best case $4000 worst case $4200+

 

[Homy]

With this in mind:

M2 Ultra Studio for $3400 refurb
Or..
M3 Ultra Studio best case $4000 worst case $4200+

Whatever that suits your wallet.

 

[tothemoonsands]

Whatever that suits your wallet.

I guess I am looking for more of an optimal value proposition / most bang for your buck. In no rush, so as of now leaning toward the M3 Ultra, but then again $600+ savings is not insignificant.