ApplePoor

If Apple concedes the Mac Pro business to others, then where is the need for perhaps the Mac Studio?

The current M1 Studio version totally lacks the ability to swap components. As initially configured it will always be.

The port configuration on my ordered M1 Studio Ultra (128GB Ram and 8TB SSD) has six Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports. one 10Gbs ethernet port, a HDMI port, a SD card slot and an audio out port. It is slated to arrive at the local Apple Store  on 11 October.

The port configuration of my 2013 Mac Pro (128GB Ram and 2TB SSD) six core Intel processor and 500 series video cards has 4 USB-A ports, six Thunderbolt 2 ports, two 1Gbs ethernet ports, a HDMI port and microphone in and earphone/speakers out audio ports. I was able to upgrade both the RAM and SSD to where it is now. In theory, if parts could still be sourced, the video cards and CPU could still be up graded as well. It is running the current Monterey operating system (although this is the last MacOS upgrade for it). That is nearly a nine year run since I got it new in late 2013.

I sincerely doubt that this new Mac Studio will have the ability to run the latest MacOS in nine years even it is still operational.

Our two 2019 16" Intel MBPros were built in December of 2019 and were still being sold way into the summer of 2021. They have to have parts for seven years for the units sold in California. The mechanics should be good until 2026. The MacOS could drop support much sooner. However, my 2018 Intel Mac mini (64GB Ram and 2TB SSD) is still being sold now in August of 2022. Possibly this fall there may be  M2 versions as the top mini model. But support in the Mac OS would need to continue through the extended warranties in effect for units sold this year. Also anyone paying top dollar for the Intel MacPro will require this support as well.

The mini is a relatively simple fix as the M1 mini exists now. A M2 chip with 24GB of ram and perhaps more SSD choices above the 2TB current limit would all fit into the current M1 mini chassis.

I believe Apple can not wait to get rid of the last two Intel computers. 

The bigger issue for maturing hardware is the possibility that MacOS may require "hardware" not found in my 2019 16" Intel laptop. A lot of the end of life equipment lack the video capability for the newer operating systems.

Having a 2021 14" MBPro Max and a 2019 16" Intel MBPro allows me to really appreciate how quiet the new generation is. The 16" runs the fans at full tilt even on startup and lots of the time even with very light loads.  I have yet to hear the fans in the 14".

So the 16" is my legacy system (despite no USB-A ports) for some older equipment that I have to phase out gradually. 

Drivers are an issue now.

As the "A" series have powered all the iPhones and are the basis of the "M" series, I doubt the "A" series will go away soon. The operating systems seem to be the element to differentiate the various product lines. Perhaps the ultimate plan is to just have one series of chip for all products and tune the operating systems to only use specific features desired on each product line.

Will wait until the fall to see if Apple makes any more "improvements" to their new monitor. Frankly, I will not use the "FaceTime" feature at all and would love to clip the wires to the speaker/microphones (big Brother is listening all the time, don't you know?) and block the camera system.

Also, I will wait on the second generation "M" processors before any more purchases of Apple computers. I have the MBAir M1 with 16GB of ram and a 1TB SDD and a 14" M1 Max Mac Book Pro upgraded to 64GB of memory, maximum processors and a 4TB SSD. Single core at startup is actually faster on the MBAir. The M1 series all have nearly identical single core ratings. So for many older programs, there is no improvement in performance with the 14" MBPro. Luminar Neo could use all of the "Max" cores. 

I would like to order the Mac Studio second generation for the reasons above. It would replace my aging 2013 MacPro that has 128GB of Ram and a 2TB SSD.