I don’t understand why I’d buy an M1 based Mac Studio when the M2 based MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are out right now - so clearly there’s going to be an M2 based Mac Studio coming.

The obvious deciding factor would be “Do you need a faster Mac right now or can you afford to wait?”

This post on MacRumors.com helps sort out the differences between the two chips - but everything I read there tells me I should wait before taking an M-based plunge with my main work machine - I currently have a 2019 16" MacBook Pro.

This paragraph jumped out at me as a reason to wait for the M2 based Mac Studio:

Both the ‌M1‌ and the ‌M2‌ have dedicated video encode and decode engines for hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC, but the ‌M2‌'s video engines are also able to accelerate ProRes and ProRes RAW to enable playback of multiple streams of 4K and 8K video. In addition, the ‌M2‌'s media engine includes a higher-bandwidth video decoder, supporting 8K H.264 and HEVC video.

I don’t do a lot of 4K video right now for clients, but when I do - rendering is the biggest bottleneck to creativity and getting my work done efficiently.

I recently heard someone talk about how fast their M1 Max MacBook Pro is at rendering video on a client’s podcast and that’s what’s got me feeling the itch to upgrade.

It’s a bit of a chicken and the egg for me right now. If I upgrade to a Mac Studio, I’ll get more work done which will allow me to make more money and then be able to more easily afford upgrading to a Mac Studio. 😊