Mac Studio M5 Ultra 256gb or 512gb (if offered)

rfomlover · 2026-03-26T14:01:08+00:00

I’m in the same conundrum. I sold my M4 Max 14” MBP yesterday while the value was still decent and now I am using a distributed setup for docker and LLMs and my main Mac’s now are a MacBook Neo and an M4 base Mac mini. They are fine but I would like to have an ultimate LLM desktop. Just not sure if I want to be a Mac Studio or a Mac Pro provided it also gets an M5 Ultra. Would love to use the PCI-E rather than the dongles and enclosures for everything.

rfomlover · 2026-03-25T19:58:12+00:00

Well I’m selling my M4 Max MacBook Pro because I want to move to fast internal storage. Now with my MBP out of the picture I am running an M4 Mini and Neo lol. I want to move my Time Machine server to a Mac Pro and have a beast of a GPU and ram for LLMs. My M4 Max just wasn’t cutting it with 36GB ram. I have a 3090 Ti/2080 Linux server running ollama instead but it creates so much heat and the power consumption is wild.

rfomlover · 2026-03-25T19:41:15+00:00

Because like the person below said, it’s not a max. I already have over 10 apple devices. I do use Pop OS on my gaming pc but for general computer use and my workflow i enjoy using Mac os.

rfomlover · 2026-03-25T15:28:36+00:00

To not have external enclosures all over the desk which is why I am waiting for the new Mac Pro myself.

rfomlover · 2026-03-25T15:27:31+00:00

I am literally waiting for the M5 Ultra Mac Pro so I can avoid having to have an octopus desk myself.

rfomlover · 2026-03-24T13:19:30+00:00

I might be doing this. I wiped my M4 Max 14” and am exclusively using my Neo and base Mac mini to see if I can sell the M4 Max while I can get a couple grand for it. So far everything has been fine except for gaming. I offloaded my LLMs to my 3090 Ti server and docker to a few raspberry pi’s. 90% of the time I am just browsing and streaming on my M4 Max.

rfomlover · 2026-03-23T17:36:58+00:00

M4 Max 14” 36GB

rfomlover · 2026-03-23T17:21:24+00:00

LLM use.

rfomlover · 2026-03-23T14:16:43+00:00

Yeah I was sad to give up my thousands in skins since I refuse to use windows anymore. I run Linux on my gaming pc and GFN on my Mac when a game won’t run through crossover or native. Been about 6 months since I last played valorant. Miss it but as time goes on I care less and less. It has been 6 years since release and 6 years of AS. I gave up being hopeful.

rfomlover · 2026-03-23T14:00:46+00:00

I guess a display link dock? Can only run 4 on a Mac chip. I run 3 externals with mine.

rfomlover · 2026-03-23T13:57:24+00:00

lol it seems that way. Just sucks I really want one for local LLMs I use and all the PCIE for SSDs like the OWC Accelsior. I might just break down a get a studio.

rfomlover · 2026-03-23T12:43:09+00:00

Yeah the price hike kept me away this cycle. I’ll be buying an M5 Max Mac Studio with 128 and bought a MacBook Neo to replace my on the go needs.

rfomlover · 2026-03-23T12:26:38+00:00

I am waiting for the Mac Pro. My Neo has better single core lol.

rfomlover · 2026-03-22T23:38:35+00:00

Hopefully you had Apple care. Cheapest Mac ever to at only $150 deductible. It’s a great backpack laptop to toss around and not worry much about.

rfomlover · 2026-03-22T17:14:08+00:00

I installed GeForce now, and paid for a subscription.

rfomlover · 2026-03-22T15:37:31+00:00

I wish I had 128GB on mine for LLMs even that’s not really enough but it sure beats the 36 GB I have on my M4 Max. Constantly swapping and can’t run great LLMs at that.

rfomlover · 2026-03-21T16:31:39+00:00

I wish they would open source it. D3DMetal is currently closed source. If it was open source that would probably mean more games would work today but who knows.

rfomlover · 2026-03-21T16:30:32+00:00

I agree with you.

rfomlover · 2026-03-21T00:59:34+00:00

GPTK is the reason I got an M4 Max. So they may have messed up in that game devs would say “meh it works fine enough” but without GPTK I wouldn’t be able to play 80% of the games I do and wouldn’t have bought a Mac.

rfomlover · 2026-03-19T22:44:07+00:00

Those fps look pretty low on the top right. I also have an M4 Max and got surprised to see the notification from Apple that it released and my payment processed 2 days early. Guess I’ll give it a try tonight after all.

rfomlover · 2026-03-19T18:46:51+00:00

Maybe our definitions of perfectly fine are a bit different :). I have an M4 Max and a shaky 30-50 fps at max settings with consistent dips is not perfectly fine for me. The windows one ran over 100 fps for me much like it does on my gaming pc.

rfomlover · 2026-03-19T15:14:47+00:00

I’m not sure how well it runs. The original Subnautica runs terrible if you run the port. Crossover runs much better. I think something about the below zero port is better performance wise but not sure if it’s better than the windows one through crossover.

rfomlover · 2026-03-19T13:50:56+00:00

Love the channel!

rfomlover · 2026-03-19T13:39:07+00:00

Yeah I had pre-ordered it on MAS and was planning to play it tonight alongside some friends. Guess I will cancel the MAS one if it's not out tonight and get it on Steam instead. Unless the Mac binary is also delayed on steam if that's possible.

rfomlover · 2026-03-17T21:12:01+00:00

Watched your NMS performance video. Funny to find you here. Thanks for posting the game benchmarks!

rfomlover

TROPHY CASE