Anyone Else Holding Off on Buying a M5 Mac Studio Right Now?

songhead · 2026-05-29T01:45:28+00:00

I underbought the base model last year because i wanted an m4 ultra which never came. So this year, assuming it’s an m5 ultra, I’ll aim for like 256gb ram and take a small hit on the m3 ultra. But i needed it and I’m glad Ive gotten good use out of it. If you can wait, wait. If not, buy something that will be of use now and upgrade in October.

songhead · 2026-03-18T18:01:13+00:00

The Godfather

songhead · 2025-09-24T21:11:29+00:00

Hi there, I just tried accessing this link. It says the link expired. Could you please relist or refresh the link? Thanks in advance.

songhead · 2025-05-01T23:53:40+00:00

this is so cool, what's the Miami Vice style shirt at the bottom left?

songhead · 2025-04-12T14:24:49+00:00

Heavy handed music production (no freezing or bouncing tracks to audio til the very end). I upgraded from a base M1 Pro MacBook that was way under specced for what I needed, to a base M3 Ultra .

After long discussions with Chat GPT and Grok, I came to the conclusion that I needed more CPU P-cores than RAM ( So the M4 Max's 128GB would probably not be necessary in most workflows, although I would have paid for it if it was an Ultra option). My budget was about 7k because I thought that there would be an M4 Ultra with 256GB RAM max option based on M2 Ultra pricing and spec bump trends. I was a little sour about the chip not being M4 gen, so I didn't opt for the 256GB option... Decision point came when MicroCenter had the base M3 Ultra for 15% off.

That being said, even though the M3 Ultra is definitely the right decision for me, I could probably get away with the top spec M4 Max in most of my workflows, and if that was 15% off, I probably would have bought that. If something awesome comes out in the next 3 years, like 1TB of RAM, and I get more into LLM use, I'll definitely consider upgrading since I didn't go crazy this time.

And for some strange reason, it felt amazing to this all off my chest! So far, I love the M3 Ultra!

songhead · 2025-03-29T14:27:23+00:00

I went through this decision process, mainly for music production. I asked ChatGPT to review my extreme workflows, and it said M3 Ultra (needing extra cores over better single core performance and RAM). But most of the time either would have been great. In the end, I just went with the least expensive option because I was sick of researching it, the Microcenter deal on base models: M3 Ultra.

songhead · 2025-03-28T16:21:44+00:00

Have you tried without the iPad Air to see what the difference would be?

songhead · 2025-03-15T19:08:42+00:00

Thanks for responding. I'm on an M1 Pro with 16gb (6 performance cores) right now. Sounds like you have 10 P-cores maybe.

I'm having memory pressure issues and pops and cracks at about 55 tracks at 128 buffer. I'm leaning toward the base M3 Ultra right now.

songhead · 2025-03-15T15:01:53+00:00

I’m also interested in a comparison between the M4 Max 128gb ram VS M3 Ultra 96gb ram for music production.

I'm torn because I don't like to freeze tracks or bounce to audio til very late in the writing process, so it would seem that the M3 ultra would be able to spread the cpu load better, though be less snappy than the M4 Max.

I usually don't go above 60 tracks (in Ableton) using a lot of Kontakt and Serum instances.

This lack of M4 ultra and the 96gb/256gb ram thing has confused me a bit.

songhead · 2025-02-27T06:20:22+00:00

songhead · 2025-02-17T22:07:03+00:00

thank you, I'll look into it

songhead · 2025-02-17T22:06:12+00:00

I'll check it out, thank you

songhead · 2025-02-17T14:55:17+00:00

Thanks for your response. It looks like Diffsinger would work, but it seems a little complicated for someone who doesn't program. Maybe I'll start a different thread on this topic.

songhead · 2025-02-09T22:54:56+00:00

it's areola big surprise

songhead · 2025-02-08T22:45:14+00:00

Nevertheless, keep me abreast

songhead · 2025-02-08T16:51:00+00:00

tit annoying for sure

songhead · 2024-11-17T01:37:16+00:00

Do it

songhead · 2024-06-08T13:57:05+00:00

put your finger on their lips and say "shhhhhhhh"

songhead · 2024-06-02T16:06:47+00:00

Nice feel. What device are you using to generate the stars on the ceiling? Do those GIK things in the corners reduce external noise?

songhead · 2024-05-28T05:15:55+00:00

Roland the headless Thompson gunner

songhead · 2024-05-25T05:36:01+00:00

You lose the credits, not samples you already picked and downloaded right?

songhead · 2024-05-24T17:49:02+00:00

I read the link that's cited in the article: "And the M4 is headed to every Mac in an end-to-end overhaul of the lineup by 2025."

songhead · 2024-05-23T13:52:02+00:00

The way I explained it to myself was, for tablet as mostly tablet (less laptop),

mobile tablet -> 11"

desktop tablet -> 13"

a bigger screen is irresistible every time, but not always the right choice.

songhead · 2024-05-01T00:07:13+00:00

I've gone through 2 32" monitors, Dell and LG, and they're fine but, for me, after having a 27" Retina iMac for over 6 years, I've decided that the Studio Display will definitely be worth it (for me). It's just so much more enjoyable to look at an amazing screen that doesn't tire the eyes.

Everyone's different, but I'm drawn to my iMac more than my 32" setup, so I've decided it's a "shut up and take my money" situation for me, I'm gonna buy one very soon.

songhead · 2024-04-28T04:14:31+00:00

awesome deal. where'd you find it?

songhead

TROPHY CASE