It is also interesting that there must be one or two high-placed Apple top 100 leaders who are taking delight in leaking Apple’s secrets, to the detriment of senior leadership’s credibility. Perhaps that is why they do it, reflecting their own ambition?

But for many Apple critics, the biggest problem isn’t Apple, its leadership, its many business challenges, or even Cook. No. The reason they want to force regime change is because Apple, since its inception, has always strived to mean something, to push for positive change. It’s the hopeful antidote to others’ hopeless empty rhetoric. Because at its heart, it has values, values Cook tries to push for, values we must maintain if there is to be any hope at all of surviving this spiritually bereft, morally absent, economically hopeless, nihilistic age.

That’s why I feel the company, despite its own structural imperfections (who else recalls Siri snooping or pressure against in-store unionization?), continues to be worth our time. 

Amazon Prime Day is a great time to pick up gear and upgrades you wouldn’t normally think about. In case you’ve never used a solid-state drive (SSD) before, it’s a class of add-ons that bolster a device’s built-in storage. Not only will your phone, laptop or console be able to hold more data, but more of those files will be quickly accessible, which can vastly improve your speeds. If you have used an SSD before, you know what you’re looking for — the best discounted drives on Amazon. We’ve curated a list below for your Prime Day shopping.

Best Prime Day SSD deals

• Crucial BX500 for $57 (40 percent off): The Crucial BX500 SSD is compatible with any computer that uses a 2.5-inch SATA drive — which is still plenty of them. For very cheap, you can get ahold of 1TB storage space and read speeds up to 540 MB/s, close to the very best possible for a SATA SSD.

• WD_BLACK SN850X for $150 (25 percent off): Our current favorite Gen4 NVMe drive is on sale for Prime Day, making a read speed of over 7,000 MB/s more accessible than ever. In our tests, we found the 1TB SN850X significantly boosted our Windows operating speeds without adding much heat.

• WD Blue SN5000 for $200 (33 percent off): Here’s a great deal on an internal SSD with 4TB capacity and compatibility with the fast-performing NVMe protocol. Western Digital, the same brand behind the WD_BLACK (see above) claims the Blue model can hit read speeds of 5,500 MB/s.

• Lexar 1TB NM790 for $67 (29 percent off): The NM790 is a single-sided SSD that can post sequential read speeds of 7400 MB/s. The one-sided design means it stays cooler for longer, and this 1TB deal includes a heatsink. It’s a great budget alternative to the also single-sided Samsung 990 Pro (see below).

• Sabrent Rocket 2230 for $150 (15 percent off): The Sabrent Rocket 2230 is a thumbnail-sized NVMe card that we found to be perfect for the M.2 slot on a Steam Deck. Thanks to this deal, you can save a lot by buying a lower-end Steam Deck and upgrading it with one of these.

• Samsung Fit Plus for $23 (34 percent off): The Fit Plus is our favorite thumb drive, and it’s not close. Running on USB 3.1 with transfer speeds between 300 and 400 MB/s, it even comes with a keychain hook. The current deal takes 34 percent off an already cheap product.

• Samsung 870 EVO for $76 (24 percent off): The 870 EVO is a great budget choice for general users, who are likely to get a speed boost on any PC activity once it’s installed. At 560 MB/s of maximum reading speed, it’s not for hardcore gamers, but everyday users should see real benefits.

• Samsung 990 Pro for $150 (29 percent off): The whole Samsung Pro line of SSDs is excellent for gamers, with PS5s in particular seeming to run much faster with one installed. The 990 Pro can reach read speeds of up to 1,400 KB/s — and yes, that’s kilobytes, not megabytes.

• Samsung 9100 Pro for $220 (31 percent off): Samsung’s first NVMe SSD dropped earlier this year, and currently, they’re still a bit faster than most people can use. However, if you want to get a jump on the next console generation with 14,800 MB/s sequential reading speed, this deal is your opportunity.

• Kingston Fury Renegade for $420 (33 percent off): Although it sounds like a Jamaican kung fu movie we’d watch the hell out of, the Kingston Fury Renegade is actually a 5th-gen NVMe SSD that can reach hardcore read speeds of up to 14,800 MB/s. It’s expensive, but Prime Day discounts knock off 33 percent.

• Corsair MP600 Pro LPX 2 TB for $160 (20 percent off): Earlier this year, we named the Corsair MP600 Pro LPX as the top SSD for PS5, partly due to its affordability. It’s even more affordable now — and the low price even includes a heatsink.

• Acer FA100 1TB for $51 (15 percent off): The Acer FA100 isn’t the fastest SSD, but it is at least competitive, and may be one of the cheapest ways to harness the considerable power of NVMe 3.0. Only the 1TB version is marked down for Prime Day.

Best Prime Day portable SSD deals

• Samsung T7 for $114 (39 percent off): The T7 spent a long time as our reigning champion portable SSD, and it’s still an amazing deal — being technically outdated means record-low prices on hardware that’s more than fast enough for a Steam Deck or Switch.

• Samsung T9 for $170 (43 percent off): We once named the Samsung T7 as our favorite portable SSD, but the T9 handily outdoes it, nearly doubling data transfer speeds. It’s marked down 43 percent from now until the end of Prime Day on the 11th.

• SanDisk 1TB Extreme for $78 (40 percent off): SanDisk designed the Extreme for portability, and it shows — this is an almost indestructible SSD you can keep in just about any bag or pocket. It’s also reasonably fast, though it only works with USB-C. This 1TB deal knocks off 40 percent of the price.

• SanDisk 2TB Extreme for $120 (43 percent off): The 2TB version of the SanDisk Extreme is on sale for 43 percent off, saving you $90 on 1,050 MB/s of read speed.

• SanDisk 4TB Extreme PRO for $270 (32 percent off): This deal doubles not only the storage space of the 2TB Extreme above, but also its read and write speeds, with each hovering around 2000 MB/s. It’s a very cheap way to get your hands on a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 drive.

• Crucial X9 Pro 1TB for $75 (17 percent off): As a Gen 2 USB drive, the Crucial X9 Pro loses out to some newer competitors on speed — but it’s much cheaper, and far more compatible with everyday personal computers. The 1TB model is on sale at 17 percent off its normal price.

• Crucial X9 Pro 2TB for $120 (33 percent off): The Crucial X9 Pro with 2TB storage space is marked down 33 percent for Prime Day.

• Crucial X10 1TB for $82 (24 percent off): The Crucial X10 is a portable SSD for power users, only working at full strength on devices that support the latest version of USB 3.2. If that’s what your build needs, you’re not likely to see it much cheaper than this.

• Crucial X10 2TB for $135 (18 percent off): A 2TB version of the X10 is almost 20 percent off right now.

• Crucial X10 Pro 2TB for $150 (28 percent off): The Crucial X10 Pro is perfect for a fairly small range of users. If your PC build currently works with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 but isn’t yet handling USB4 or Thunderbolt, you won’t find a faster portable SSD for your needs.

• Kingston XS1000 for $80 (15 percent off): We named the Kingston XS1000 the second-best portable SSD in our current roundup, so it’s great to see it going for 15 percent off today. It’s almost as fast as the Crucial X9 Pro, just not quite as tough.

• ADATA SE920 for $142 (5 percent off): The piddly 5 percent off is disappointing, but there’s nothing disappointing about the ADATA SE920 itself. This is the ideal model for anyone regularly making huge downloads. The SE920’s maximum read speed of 3,800 MB/s would be impressive for a full-size SSD, but it’s fully portable, weighing less than half a pound.

• Garmese 1TB Portable SSD for $64 (20 percent off): This portable SSD uses USB3.2 to achieve read speeds of around 1000 MB/s, which is very impressive for a device not much larger than a flash drive. While it downloads fast, it’s not fantastic for transferring multiple files at a time.

Best Prime Day microSD card deals

• Lexar Professional Silver Plus for $38 (48 percent off): Our tests showed this to be the fastest microSD card on the market, beating out the whole Samsung line. Not only is it fast enough to download and upload 4K files without trying your patience, it’s also waterproof, cheap and squeezes in both USB-A and USB-C ports.

• Lexar E-Series for $31 (15 percent off): While the Silver Plus beats it out, the Lexar E-Series remains more than fast enough for 4K video, and is sufficiently rugged to fit in your adventure camera. This deal includes a five-pack of microSD cards, working out to about six dollars per 64GB of storage.

• Samsung Pro Plus for $17 (35 percent off): The Samsung Pro Plus is a great microSD card for most needs, so if it’s cheaper than the Lexar option, go for it. We’ve found that it’s particularly good in handheld game systems. Just make sure to get the version rated for 180 MB/s, nothing less (it should say on the package).

• SanDisk Ultra 256GB microSDXC for $17 (35 percent off): If you’re still rocking the Switch 1 (thanks, Target) and want a cheap storage expander, this deal on a SanDisk 256GB microSD card is for you. It’s going for $17 right now, far less than most of the games you’re likely to store on it.

• Samsung Evo Select for $22 (27 percent off): This one’s by far the best option if you’re after a cheap microSD card — we’ve seen it on sale for less than $25 more than once. It’s a bit too slow for cameras, but fine for any kind of undemanding passive storage.

Best Prime Day external hard drive deals

• Seagate Portable for $65 (19 percent off): All the Seagate hard drives we’ve used are refreshingly good at combining thin, light hardware with consistent speeds, and the Portable is no exception. At 4TB, this is a great deal on an external HDD with no tradeoffs.

• Seagate Game Drive for $76 (16 percent off): Seagate’s Game Drive is a prime choice for adding extra space to a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Formerly overpriced, it’s now dropped down to $90 for 2 TB, and that’s before Prime Day makes it even cheaper.

• WD My Passport for $140 (24 percent off): The Western Digital My Passport line is ancient by computer hardware standards, but it’s been updated as far as USB 3.0 and 3.1, and remains one of the cheaper options for a 6 TB hard drive. This version includes automatic backup software.

• WD Elements for $130 (26 percent off): The Elements HDD from Western Digital has gotten consistently positive feedback from our staff over the years, and as an older model, it’s now wildly cheap for 6 TB of storage. It’s compatible with both PC and Mac out of the box.

• WD_BLACK P10 Game Drive for $155 (18 percent off): We’re big fans of the WD_BLACK SSD, and the gaming-focused external P10 is a worthy companion. It comes with 6 TB of storage for your PC, PS5, or Xbox gaming library.

• UnionSine 500GB External Hard Drive for $27 (19 percent off): UnionSine’s HDD is fast and USB3 compatible. Despite how thin and light it is, we’ve found it remarkably hard to damage. 500GB may be a bit tight with the size of files these days, but at this price, you could just buy two of them.

The M1 Ultra Mac Studio is three years old, and for the “time is money” crowd, it might be time to update. Here’s how the M1 Ultra Mac Studio compares to the M4 Max Mac Studio in 2025.

It’s about the time of year when back-to-school sales help students get their hardware in line for the academic year ahead. For Mac users who are in classes where there’s a lot of data processing, it’s an opportunity to get new hardware.

This upgrade season isn’t just limited to students, as it’s an opportunity for companies too. Team leads with a bit of a surplus to their budget have an incentive to use it all up, so that the next year’s budget isn’t trimmed down.

With a budget of around $2,000, the Mac Studio is a decent purchase for both student and business needs.

In both cases, a Mac Pro would’ve been the answer 15 years ago, especially when number crunching is so important here. However, in the era of Apple Silicon, the Mac Studio is the better play.

Yes, you can get the latest M4 Max version, but for the same money, you can get an M1 Ultra model instead. The sky-high core counts are tempting, but not necessarily the best idea.

What follows is a comparison of the M4 Max and 2022 M1 Ultra versions of the Mac Studio. We’re considering the core versions of each, sans potentially expensive upgrades.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio – Specifications

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio – Design, weight, size

Apple habitually likes to keep to the same type of design across multiple generations of hardware. After four chip generations, it’s still the case for the Mac Studio.

Originally surfacing as a Mac mini that had taken too many steroids, the Mac Studio was, and still is, a chunky block of computing. Its 7.7-inch by 7.7-inch foot has remained the same, echoing the previous design of the Mac mini.

The height of the aluminum enclosure is also unchanged at 3.7 inches apiece.

Weight-wise, they are both quite heavy, but one is heavier than the other. The M4 Max variant is 6.1 pounds in weight, which is quite a bit considering it’s a large block of aluminum for your desk.

However, the M1 Ultra from 2022 tips the scales at 7.9 pounds. That increase is not from having a physically larger chip, but more from the need for considerably more thermal management, with heatsinks and other components adding weight.

The styling, too, hasn’t really changed at all over the years, with the venting and ports all in the same positions. Around the front is a memory card slot and two USB Type-C connections, with the remainder around the rear with extra venting for air circulation.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio: The rear has a large vent, and practically identical ports

Visually, the two are identical. They weigh differently, and some of those ports have undergone changes, but there’s little external difference to be concerned about here.

At this point, if you were pointing things out to someone, you’d care more about it being a Mac Studio than openly stating its vintage.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio – Processing

While the outside won’t give you any real clues that there are differences between the models, you will see a difference in what they can actually do.

The M4 Max is a SoC with a 14-core CPU, with a 16-core variant also available. The 14-core is made up of ten performance cores and four efficiency cores, accompanied by a 16-core Neural Engine.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio: A Mac Studio on a desktop.

The M1 Ultra is literally a pair of M1 Max chips communicating with each other using an interconnect. That means there are double the resources than the M1 Max, and often higher counts for specs versus the M4 Max.

For the CPU, it’s a 20-core version in the M1 Ultra, using 16 performance cores and four efficiency cores. There are also double the Neural Engine cores at 32 in total.

Memory bandwidth ranges from 412GB/s on the 14-core CPU model of M4 Max to 546GB/s on the 16-core. Over on the M1 Ultra, it’s a phenomenal 800GB/s.

The memory you can configure also varies between the two M4 Max versions, starting at 32GB alone for the 14-core option, while the 16-core has 48GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities.

On the M1 Max, you can choose between 64GB and 128GB.

On the GPU side, the M4 Max has a 32-core version in the 14-core CPU model, rising to 40 in the 16-core model. On the M1 Ultra, it’s either 48 cores or 64 cores, but you don’t get the hardware-accelerated ray tracing found in the newer GPUs.

Each also has the Media Engine, Apple’s hardware-accelerated video encoding system. On the M4 Max, there’s a video decode engine, two encode engines, two separate ProRes encode and decode engines, and AV1 decoding.

The M1 Ultra, having double everything, also goes big with the Media Engine. That means there are two video decode engines, four encode engines, and four ProRes encode and decode engines, though no AV1 decode.

For video, the M1 Ultra could handle up to five displays, including four Pro Display XDR monitors and one 4K screen. The M4 Max can handle up to eight 6K screens or four 8K displays.

Being able to connect so many displays has its uses, such as in building stages for productions with lots of video screens. It’s less useful from a desk-work viewpoint, but it’s nice to know the expansion options are available.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio – Benchmarks

With such high core counts on display, you can expect either model to do well when it comes to actual number crunching. However, there is a difference when it comes to how each model actually lays down that performance.

The M1 Ultra may have more cores in general, as well as higher memory bandwidth, but the M4 has its benefits. Its cores have improved over time, so each core does a lot more work than its predecessors.

With a three-generation gap, those improvements can quickly add up.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio: Geekbench Single-Core scores

Geekbench scores for single-core performance illustrate this handily, with the M1 Ultra managing a result of 2,396. By comparison, the M4 Max gets around 3,900 for the same test.

When it comes to the multi-core benchmark, it’s safe to say that the core improvements have countered the sheer core counts of the Ultra. At 18,392, the M1 Ultra does well with its 20 cores, but the 14-core M4 Max beats it at 23,001.

The 16-core M4 Max does even better at 25,604.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio: Geekbench Multi-Core scores

When it comes to graphics, it’s a bit more balanced. Geekbench listings for the M1 Ultra Mac Studio put its Metal benchmark score in the range of 162,000.

The M4 Max’s 14-core CPU variant is close at 158,710, while the upper-tier chip does better at 187,300.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio: Geekbench Metal scores

Again, it is a case of core count benefits in older models being outpaced by core improvements.

This all said, the performance on offer for the M1 Ultra isn’t to be sniffed at. It may be getting on a bit, but it still does a lot of processing and holds its own against more modern releases.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio – Storage, connectivity, audio

While the two models look pretty similar, the change in processor also means that there are subtle differences when it comes to hooking it up to stuff.

At the front, the Max model has a pair of USB-C ports, while the Ultra packs two Thunderbolt 4 ports instead. Apple has always made the front ports USB-C on the non-Ultra Mac Studio model, so this is less of a generational change and more a continuation of Apple’s specification policies.

Accompanying those front ports is an SDXC card slot rated to UHS-II. If you’re a content creator offloading video from a memory card, you’re going to have the same experience across the board.

Around the back, the M1 Ultra Mac Studio’s port selection includes four Thunderbolt 4 ports, 10-gig Ethernet, HDMI, a pair of USB 3 Type-A ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio: Two Mac Studios, stacked

The M4 Max changes things a little bit, with the four Thunderbolt 4 ports switched for Thunderbolt 5 versions.

To end users, this means a considerable increase of bandwidth from 40Gbps to 80Gbps, and up to 120Gbps in some situations. Of course, you need the hardware that can connect at those speeds to really benefit from it.

When it comes to storage, there’s no real difference between the models at all. In both cases, you get 512GB SSDs at a base level, with upgrades available from 1TB to 2TB, 4TB, and even 8TB.

That is, if you’re willing to stomach Apple’s historically high upgrade charges.

For audio, there is a built-in speaker, and you can use that 3.5mm headphone jack around the rear, but other options are available. For example, using HDMI to pipe audio through a monitor, using AirPlay with a pair of HomePods, or even some AirPods will be better than the internal speaker.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio – Pricing

The entry-level M4 Max Mac Studio starts at $1,999 with the 14-core CPU, 36GB of memory, and 512GB of storage.

Getting the M4 Max with the 16-core CPU is “$300” more, but it also upgrades the memory to 48GB at the same time. Apple considers this ram upgrade to be a $200 extra, so going to the 16-core is really $500 more, memory included.

Going to 64GB is $200 more, while 128GB is a $1,000 upgrade.

The storage upgrades from 512GB to 1TB is $200, with 2TB another $400 on top, 4TB another $600 again, and 8TB an extra $1,200 on top of that.

Apple doesn’t sell the M1 Ultra Mac Studio brand new and directly, so your best move is to look into refurbished models. Apple’s certified refurbished store can list the M1 Ultra model every so often, with the base version sold for $2,879.

This is a lot, but it is an Apple-refurbished unit. A search on eBay comes up with better, but not by that much. Working M1 Ultra models are frequently listed with higher storage capacities than the base model, and cost around $2,000.

Do bear in mind that the M1 Ultra Mac Studio started at $3,999. Like other Apple hardware, it still holds its value over time quite well.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio – Just get the new model

The point of the Ultra models of Mac has always been performance via excessive specifications. In lieu of major updates to the Mac Pro, the mantle for high-specification hijinks was shifted over to the Mac Studio, with its Ultra editions handily taking to the role.

However, the march of technology improvement means going down the route of excess isn’t beneficial in the long run.

M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio: The outside hasn’t changed, but the processing matters

The M1 Ultra does hold its own against some modern chips, certainly, thanks to its core counts and generally higher quantities of everything. But it’s not enough to counter a three-generation leap in performance improvements.

Add in the price premium for the Ultra models, even when looking at second-hand hardware, and it’s hard to recommend going for the M1 Ultra Mac Studio when the M4 Max does so well.

Sure, you could get an M1 Ultra Mac Studio for bragging rights, but the smart money is to ignore the allure of the Ultra and just get the M4 Max.

If performance is important, the newer releases are your best bet, even on a budget.

Where to buy the M4 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Ultra Mac Studio

The standard M4 Max Mac Studio is available for $1,859.07 thanks to an exclusive discount at Apple Premier Partner Expercom (look for the special AppleInsider price above the add to cart button). You can also save on upgraded models, including the M3 Ultra Mac Studio, in our Mac Studio Price Guide.

Clearance deals, meanwhile, are available on M2 Max models, with prices as low as $1,394.07.

And if you prefer the M1 Ultra Mac Studio mentioned in this in-depth comparison, models in new condition are available on eBay, with prices at press time available from $2,299.