Rumored Mac Studio trade-in points to possible refresh during WWDC

AppleInsider · May 28, 2023 12:29PM

A new Mac Studio and MacBook Pro and Air models may be on the way at WWDC, with trade-ins for current-gen versions expected to start on June 5.

Mac Studio

While largely a software-focused event, and one thought to have a great focus on the Apple VR and AR headset, WWDC is often the venue for the introduction of new Macs and related technologies. With rumors of new Mac models on the way, it is said that Apple will help consumers purchase them by expanding the range of models it takes as a trade-in.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in a Sunday tweet, Apple will be starting to take in trade-ins of the Mac Studio, the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, and the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro from June 5th. That date is also the kick-off of WWDC itself.

Gurman adds to "read into that as you will, I'm expecting new Macs at WWDC."

Apple will start accepting trade-ins of the Mac Studio, 13-inch M2 MacBook Air and 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro on June 5th, the same day as WWDC. Read into that as you will. I'm expecting new Macs at WWDC. https://t.co/Y7SL6sOA4o
-- Mark Gurman (@markgurman)
May 27, 2023

Current rumors has Apple preparing a 15-inch MacBook Air and an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro, while desktop candidates include the Mac Studio, a refreshed 24-inch iMac, and the New Mac Pro.

Read on AppleInsider

mobird · May 28, 2023 1:27PM

If there is a M3 Studio, I am all in!
Space Gray would be a nice addition as well.

timmillea · May 28, 2023 1:33PM

The Mac Studio is a design monstrosity and should never have been produced by Apple. I agree that it was probably an interim product before the Apple Silicon Mac Pro could be released. Even so, it was a terrible mistake, tarnishing the design credentials of a design-focussed brand.

A 15" MacBook Air, if true, would be a further dilution of the brand. The MBA is a small and light laptop that fits in an envelope.

Since Sir Jony Ive left, Apple appears to have lost its way.

There is a momentum from previous successes but any more crap from Apple will start to impact.

rob53 · May 28, 2023 2:06PM

timmillea said:

The Mac Studio is a design monstrosity and should never have been produced by Apple. I agree that it was probably an interim product before the Apple Silicon Mac Pro could be released. Even so, it was a terrible mistake, tarnishing the design credentials of a design-focussed brand.

A 15" MacBook Air, if true, would be a further dilution of the brand. The MBA is a small and light laptop that fits in an envelope.

Since Sir Jony Ive left, Apple appears to have lost its way.

There is a momentum from previous successes but any more crap from Apple will start to impact.

I disagree. If Apple does take trade-ins I’ll be watching the refurbished website for a modeling level Studio. I know the new M2 mini’s are real nice but a Studio Max or Ultra at a reasonable price should last for 10 years.

keithw · May 28, 2023 2:27PM

If the new Mac Studio can reach the GB 6.0.3 Metal benchmark of my current iMac Pro with an eGPU, 192,834, then I'm all in.

M68000 · May 28, 2023 2:34PM

timmillea said:

The Mac Studio is a design monstrosity and should never have been produced by Apple. I agree that it was probably an interim product before the Apple Silicon Mac Pro could be released. Even so, it was a terrible mistake, tarnishing the design credentials of a design-focussed brand.

A 15" MacBook Air, if true, would be a further dilution of the brand. The MBA is a small and light laptop that fits in an envelope.

Since Sir Jony Ive left, Apple appears to have lost its way.

There is a momentum from previous successes but any more crap from Apple will start to impact.

Why don’t you like it? What makes it a monstrosity?

jkereszturi · May 28, 2023 2:53PM

timmillea said:

The Mac Studio is a design monstrosity and should never have been produced by Apple….

Have to say I really disagree. I like the size & shape, super fast for my purposes and can run a couple vm’s with no pauses, hiccups, ever.

dewme · May 28, 2023 3:08PM

I may be in the minority, but I believe the Mac Studio is arguably a better long term solution than the higher end iMac 27” and iMac Pro. Of course this doesn’t apply across the board because the 27” iMac was a relative bargain and the iMac Pro and higher end iMacs had discrete graphics. But nothing pained me more than seeing the iMac’s wonderful monitor go to waste because the computer guts were no longer up to snuff.

That said, the Mac Studio is in my mind the ultimate Mac mini with much better thermals and processor flexibility. That’s not a negative take on the Studio because the Mac mini is still an outstanding computer. But comparing the Studio to the Pro or considering it as a temporary stand-in for the Pro is rather silly in my opinion. The Studio is much closer to the mini than what will ultimately be the Apple Silicon Mac Pro. It fills a gap between the mini and Pro, which more people will come to appreciate once they see the price tag on the next Pro.

michelb76 · May 28, 2023 3:09PM

timmillea said:

The Mac Studio is a design monstrosity and should never have been produced by Apple. I agree that it was probably an interim product before the Apple Silicon Mac Pro could be released. Even so, it was a terrible mistake, tarnishing the design credentials of a design-focussed brand.

A 15" MacBook Air, if true, would be a further dilution of the brand. The MBA is a small and light laptop that fits in an envelope.

Since Sir Jony Ive left, Apple appears to have lost its way.

There is a momentum from previous successes but any more crap from Apple will start to impact.

Ah, a nice evergreen post lmao. thanks for the chuckle.

michelb76 · May 28, 2023 3:10PM

Really curious how much you get for a Mac Studio trade-in.

zimmermann · May 28, 2023 4:10PM

timmillea said:

The Mac Studio is a design monstrosity and should never have been produced by Apple. I agree that it was probably an interim product before the Apple Silicon Mac Pro could be released. Even so, it was a terrible mistake, tarnishing the design credentials of a design-focussed brand.

A 15" MacBook Air, if true, would be a further dilution of the brand. The MBA is a small and light laptop that fits in an envelope.

Since Sir Jony Ive left, Apple appears to have lost its way.

There is a momentum from previous successes but any more crap from Apple will start to impact.

I agree that it’s ugly. With a little ribbon horizontally half way it would look like two Mac mini’s stacked on top. Much nicer. Jony would sign for it.

AniMill · May 28, 2023 5:29PM

“Monstrosity?” Actually it’s a Minstrosity. The design is so minimalist as to be invisible. There are many little design touches they could have added (glowing Apple, Space Grey, the circular base with color changing LEDs like the HomePod’s top…), but it’s a great little beast to use. That said, I’ve had terrible problems running After Effects - specifically the Rotobrush tools - that have nearly caused me to eBay it off, because my 14” MBP M1 MAX runs AE better.

An M2/3 ULTRA would be nice, but I’d rather see a mini-LED backlit Apple Display instead. VR/AR is a nonstarter for me - vertigo and nausea - but I’d sure like to see someone make a better product to move the range forward.

nubus · May 28, 2023 5:55PM

The design of Studio is indeed uninspired and bland. It has the connectors the mini should have but besides that... nothing. It is a non-design. We don't need Ive back - butterfly keyboards, the Trash Can Pro that couldn't be upgraded, and a mouse that can't be used while charging... but we need more than Studio.

Why the trade-in? Could it be the Mac Pro at WWDC? Will it continue "upgrade = replace entire computer" or will memory, graphics or the motherboard once again be upgradeable? And will we get the option of nano textured ceramic ultra pro wheels at less than $4k

- 1 long week to WWDC.

canukstorm · May 28, 2023 7:14PM

nubus said:

The design of Studio is indeed uninspired and bland. It has the connectors the mini should have but besides that... nothing. It is a non-design. We don't need Ive back - butterfly keyboards, the Trash Can Pro that couldn't be upgraded, and a mouse that can't be used while charging... but we need more than Studio.

Why the trade-in? Could it be the Mac Pro at WWDC? Will it continue "upgrade = replace entire computer" or will memory, graphics or the motherboard once again be upgradeable? And will we get the option of nano textured ceramic ultra pro wheels at less than $4k - 1 long week to WWDC.

"Why the trade-in? Could it be the Mac Pro at WWDC?"

That would be my guess

waveparticle · May 28, 2023 7:24PM

Will Apple have an answer to the nVidia juggernaut?

danox · May 28, 2023 8:04PM

dewme said:

I may be in the minority, but I believe the Mac Studio is arguably a better long term solution than the higher end iMac 27” and iMac Pro. Of course this doesn’t apply across the board because the 27” iMac was a relative bargain and the iMac Pro and higher end iMacs had discrete graphics. But nothing pained me more than seeing the iMac’s wonderful monitor go to waste because the computer guts were no longer up to snuff.

That said, the Mac Studio is in my mind the ultimate Mac mini with much better thermals and processor flexibility. That’s not a negative take on the Studio because the Mac mini is still an outstanding computer. But comparing the Studio to the Pro or considering it as a temporary stand-in for the Pro is rather silly in my opinion. The Studio is much closer to the mini than what will ultimately be the Apple Silicon Mac Pro. It fills a gap between the mini and Pro, which more people will come to appreciate once they see the price tag on the next Pro.

Max Headroom meet the Leader…..

A new 27 inch or 32 inch iMac with updated Apple Silicon chips probably would out sell, squash Max Headroom.

marc g · May 28, 2023 8:20PM

timmillea said:

The Mac Studio is a design monstrosity and should never have been produced by Apple. I agree that it was probably an interim product before the Apple Silicon Mac Pro could be released. Even so, it was a terrible mistake, tarnishing the design credentials of a design-focussed brand.

A 15" MacBook Air, if true, would be a further dilution of the brand. The MBA is a small and light laptop that fits in an envelope.

Since Sir Jony Ive left, Apple appears to have lost its way.

There is a momentum from previous successes but any more crap from Apple will start to impact.

Respectfully, I completely disagree. I’ve found it to be a very functional machine with just about enough I/O. It does make me think of two Mac Minis stacked on top of each other, and I have no problem with that. It made a fantastic sequel to my 2020 iMac, which was a good machine, but it’s so noisy, and left in the dust by my M1 MacBook Air. The studio is as much faster than my MacBook Air as the MacBook Air was faster than the 2020 iMac. Also, quite frankly, my Mac Studio is hidden in the holder under my desk so I don’t even see it and it doesn’t take up precious desk space which is certainly at a premium. I’ll be curious to see what they offer as trade in pricing.

tht · May 28, 2023 8:28PM

waveparticle said:

Will Apple have an answer to the nVidia juggernaut?

Obviously no. They are not in the business of providing dGPUs for gaming, workstation, or server markets. They aren't in the business of maximizing GPU performance at all costs, only constrained by residential and office electric circuits. The server GPU requirements? Sheesh, those server boxes with 4 GPUs must need 220V 30A circuits going into them. That's what I use to run my dryer, oven or my car.

The Mac Studio, and Mac Pro if it ever is released, are mid-end media production machines, for Youtubers, or smaller media production uses. They are going to have a minimalistic power consumption for a GPU, like 120 W in the Studio and maybe 250 W in a Mac Pro. If they match the performance of 250 to 350 W dGPUs, it's a big win for what they are trying to do. Sell a small or quiet and cool machine to prosumer content creation users. I think that is their goal, and it's not to enter new markets with these boxes, unless creation tools for the XR goggles gives them a new Mac market.

Mid-range dGPUs from AMD and Nvidia basically start at 250 W, and the high end ones are at 350 to 450 W. My 15yo wants a new dGPU. I am thinking I will turn it into a ducting project for him too.

tht · May 28, 2023 8:41PM

AniMill said:

“Monstrosity?” Actually it’s a Minstrosity. The design is so minimalist as to be invisible. There are many little design touches they could have added (glowing Apple, Space Grey, the circular base with color changing LEDs like the HomePod’s top…), but it’s a great little beast to use. That said, I’ve had terrible problems running After Effects - specifically the Rotobrush tools - that have nearly caused me to eBay it off, because my 14” MBP M1 MAX runs AE better.

Gave you a like for minstrosity. That gave me a laugh.

AniMill said:

An M2/3 ULTRA would be nice, but I’d rather see a mini-LED backlit Apple Display instead. VR/AR is a nonstarter for me - vertigo and nausea - but I’d sure like to see someone make a better product to move the range forward.

No reason not to want both or all! A Mac Studio with M2 Max/Ultra, a Mac Pro with 1 to 5 M2 Ultras or 1 to 3 M2 Extremes, and a 32" 6K miniLED display with 50000 LEDs (12500 FALD zones). A 27" 5K miniLED with say 40000 LEDs and 90 Hz for say $3000 may actually sell more units than Mac Studios.

And me too. I will likely not be able to participate in the VR, XR stuff because of nausea. If it doesn't make me want to puke, that would be a huge win for their goggles.

9secondkox2 · May 28, 2023 9:33PM

The only real scenario I can see for this is a sad one:

a lackluster m2 ultra max pro announcement with Mac Studio trade ins to soften the blow of those letdown by a stopgap product (as well as the m- ultra bottleneck letdown).

An optimistic take would be a new Mac Studio with m2 ultra while we wait for an innovative, m3 era Mac Pro.

But it’s likely the former even though I sincerely hope not.

hmlongco · May 28, 2023 10:13PM

Agree with a parent post. The Studio is designed to blend into the background so you can concentrate on your work.

If it had dozens of design "touches" that scream "Aren't I cool! Hey! Look at me!", then it's completely and totally failed in that requirement.

Rumored Mac Studio trade-in points to possible refresh during WWDC

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