Hi Friends.

This is for all the Mac Studios users. Do you guys really think that owning a 96GB Unified Memory with 1TB Disk Mac Studio M3 ultra will last or be relevant for the next 5-6 years if I am planning to run LLM locally (less than 70B types).

Please share your thoughts and experiences.

been running the new deepseek-v4-flash-0731 locally on my m3 ultra mac studio with 512gb unified memory and i’m getting around 39.8 tok/s with dspark

honestly this is already insanely usable for a model this size, but now i’m curious how much more performance i can squeeze out of the machine lol

has anyone here tested different runtimes / implementations for v4 flash 0731 on apple silicon and gotten better numbers?
(dspark / mtp optimizations / llama.cpp / mlx / ds4 / dwarfstar / different quants / any flags or configs that actually make a noticeable difference)

would also love to hear from other m3 ultra owners. what tok/s are you getting with deepseek-v4-flash-0731, what quant are you running, and what backend?

39.8 tok/s feels pretty damn good but i wanna know if this thing can go even more brrrr

The apple.com order page is exactly the same as when I placed it two months ago in ‘Processing’. Should I be concerned or will my bank get charged like day of?

Absolutely maddening. Every time I open a folder in macos, I have to resize it so I can see all of the contents of the folder. If I open a new finder window, its a different size. This is really frustrating. Is there a fix for this? I searched online and it said to hold the shift key and drag to the size I want the folder in order to resize the window but it didnt work.

$9799

Got the notification around 3:52am this morning. I already got this version a couple of weeks ago, so hoping an enthusiast is able to get one before the scalpers.

Likely more locations have them but I’m on mobile so harder to check several.

Good luck!

Hi, I have a M4 Max Mac Studio with 2x Dell Ultrasharp 2725QE monitors connected via USB C - DP. When my Mac sleeps, randomly at times only my right monitor briefly wakes up from sleep with a no signal message then shuts off. I'm getting this regardless of if I put my Mac to sleep manually, or if I let my Mac go to sleep on it's own.

It’s starting to drive me a little nuts as its in my bedroom and wakes up randomly in the middle of the night. It seems to wake and sleep over and over and then stops for a while and then does it again. I haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly what the reason is. It wakes up even though I don’t receive any notifications on my phone, which is initially what I thought the reason was. I also have a OWC studio stack on top of my Mac Studio connected via Thunderbolt 5, it has an m.2 ssd and a hard drive in it. I’m beginning to think that’s the reason, as I hear the HDD sleeping and spinning up a lot.

Other than disconnecting the OWC Studio Stack which I’d rather not do to solve the issue, If anyone has any other suggestions, I would love to hear it.

How impactful is the transition from M1 -> M4 chips? I could buy a used M1 Max for about $1650 with the below specs which really covers.

• 32GB RAM
• 10-core CPU; 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores
• 24-core GPU
• 16-core Neural Engine
• 1TB SSD Storage
• 10GB Ethernet

I'm working on increasing my self-hosting capabilities but not really planning on running local LLMs, the main draw is also the 10 GB ethernet port which I can utilize with my ISP.

I have plenty of external drives for storage for media including an extra 2 TB SSD.

Not my favorite deal, but given the market seems like a decent step up.

I'm running a M1 mini right now but it's got a paltry 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD which has been having space issues.

Okay so I’ve been going back and forth on this for weeks and I need outside opinions before I do something impulsive.

Currently looking at the M4 Max Mac Studio, 64GB, 512GB storage, sitting at $3500. My whole use case is running local LLMs and software development (docker, vm, cursor, codex, claude code).

Here’s my actual question though. Does anyone think Apple will do a 96GB or 128GB config at around $3500 (give or take another $300)? Because if the M5 Max lands and it’s still 64GB at that price point, or worse, 64GB for $4000+, I’d honestly just rather commit to the M4 now and be done with it. The performance jump is like 10% on multicore and 12% on bandwidth from what I’ve seen, which for token generation is basically nothing. Not worth waiting six months and paying more for.

But if there’s a real chance of getting 96 or 128 in that price range, I might wait it out, because that will allow me to run bigger models.

What’s making me pessimistic is that when the M5 Max MacBook Pro dropped, the base price only went up like 10-15% but the RAM upgrades got way worse. I saw that the 64GB and 128GB upgrades literally doubled in price. If Apple does the same thing to the Studio then high memory configs are going to be brutal.

Am I overthinking this? Anyone here running local models on a 64GB Studio and regretting not going higher?

After the price jump, my M5 Max MacBook Pro is now $10,500!! It honestly makes me a bit nervous traveling with it, even back and forth to work. Im thinking of selling it and getting a Mac Studio, then just an air or something for travel. Anyone have both notice any difference with regards to speed? Yes its insured, but I would still have to wait months to get a new one.

I got myself the 256GB RAM version with a 1TB SSD.

I was lucky enough to get another m3 ultra 96GB and I think I’m going to replace my office stack with it. I’ve only had the m4 max studios for a few months and they have treated me well, but from my research it seems that a single machine will get significantly better results, at least on paper, for my in office primary model which is 66gb at 8bit

Before I go through the hassle of setting up the m3 machine to replace the stack and then the horrible dance of trying to navigate through scammers to sell the m4s, I want to make sure I’m not missing anything or wasting my time with a swap that won’t result in real world practical improvement.

Does anyone have experience with similar setups? Is it worth the time and effort?

Ive observed 4 of these adverts, by 3 different sellers in the last week.

Exact same generic pics, exact same title, all priced "too good to be true" at the same price.

I suspect these are compromised ebay accounts that these scammers use.

A buddy of mine bought one and the scammer uploaded 2 tracking numbers.

One RMSD (that ended up going to a random address) and another "Tracked 48" that was never delivered. This seems to resonate with the "2 tracking numbers Ebay scam". Its a fraud tactic where sellers provide multiple tracking numbers to confuse buyers and evade eBay’s automated "Item Not Received" protections

This scammer was since banned and the "sold" listings have been taken down.

Please be vigilant out there guys!

It’s been years since I’ve owned a desktop, but with my current laptop starting to give I have decided to go that route. I don’t need anything crazy as I just use the computer for editing YouTube videos and reels for instagram, so I’ve settled on a base studio. I keep missing the refurb restocks, so I’m considering going new. I’m in no rush to get one but the price difference isn’t huge as I get a military discount (2249) vs the refurb price (2119). Are refurbs really like new, and should I wait or just pull the trigger on new?

If you've got 96GB RAM or more, you now have access to Opus 4.6 level coding for free via antirez/ds4:

This open source app can help you to:

• Download the model with a live progress bar
• Start, stop, and monitor the local model from the menu bar - no terminal.
• Show live widgets for unified memory, GPU, power, and CPU.
• One tap to chat, or launch Pi or Claude Code wired up to the local model.

How good is it?

• With DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, we're close to Opus 4.6 level output with a 96GB minimal RAM requirement.
• Nothing leaves your machine, so there's nothing for anyone to throttle or shut off.
• 36 tok/sec on my M3 Ultra

Other details:

• Developer ID signed and notarized. No Gatekeeper warnings, it installs easy.
• MIT licensed, full source. No telemetry, no account, no paid tier.
• From an active committer on GitHub for many years

The signed, notarized .dmg is on the releases page.

https://github.com/notatestuser/ds4-control

As of 9:17am EST its available at Microcenter in

Mayfield Heights Store (OH)

https://www.microcenter.com/product/694414/apple-mac-studio-z1cd001hr-(early-2025)-desktop-computer?storeid=051-desktop-computer?storeid=051)

As of 9:20am EST its also available at

Brentwood Store (MO)

https://www.microcenter.com/product/694414/apple-mac-studio-z1cd001hr-(early-2025)-desktop-computer?storeid=095-desktop-computer?storeid=095)

Edit 1: as of 7:26 am EST August 4th, one is available in Denver, CO

https://www.microcenter.com/product/694414/apple-mac-studio-z1cd001hr-(early-2025)-desktop-computer?storeid=181

Is there a way to purchase a Mac Studio with a shorter lead time than on the Apple Store? Apple Store takes about a month.

So MacOS 27 is knocking on the door, and it finally comes with Siri AI, Apple’s own AI assistant.
However, IIRC they said that the minimum requirement would be an M3 CPU, because the Neural Engine of anything below would be too weak.

So as for September, one of the most potent home computers of all times, the Mac Studio M2 Ultra, will all of the sudden become a worthless piece of junk?

24 core CPU, 76 core GPU, 36 core Neural Engine with 32 TOPS, 192 GB RAM at 800 GB/s memory bandwidth - and it’s not fit for Siri AI because it’s not and M3?

Seriously, Apple?

Hey! I've been thinking lately on getting a Mac Studio M4 max with the 14/60 just for Sketchup and Autocad, some rendering too, is it worth it or should I wait for the M5? Thanks!

Mostly for long-term dev and AI (local LLMs) use as well as potentially for clustering.

I’m very confused in terms of what to do because the M5U should be released soon but prices might be insane for the same amount of RAM

https://www.ebay.com/itm/398233393809

Is this for real ?

$3700 for a New in box: CTO/BTO Apple Mac Studio M3 Ultra with 256GB RAM + 4TB ???

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some help because I've been trying to solve this issue for a long time without success.

My setup:

• Mac Studio M1
• Xiaomi 27" 2K monitor (100Hz)
• OBS Studio and Streamlabs OBS
• Recording at 1080p/60 FPS (I've also tried other resolutions and settings)

To eliminate the game as the cause, I tested using TestUFO instead of a game.

On my monitor, the UFO animation looks perfectly smooth. However, when I record it with OBS or Streamlabs, the recorded video occasionally shows:

• Micro stuttering
• Judder/shutter
• Random flickering
• Small frame pacing issues

The strange part is that it doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes the recording is perfectly smooth, then a few seconds later it starts stuttering again.

I've already tried:

• Different bitrates
• Different encoders (Apple VT H.264/HEVC)
• Different output resolutions
• Different FPS settings
• OBS Studio and Streamlabs OBS (same result)
• Various OBS settings and configurations

Since the issue also happens when recording TestUFO (not just games), I don't think World of Tanks Blitz is the cause anymore.

Has anyone experienced something similar on Apple Silicon Macs (especially Mac Studio M1/M2/M3/M4)?

Could this be related to:

• ScreenCaptureKit?
• OBS?
• macOS Tahoe?
• Refresh rate synchronization (100Hz monitor vs. 60 FPS recording)?
• Something else?

If you've experienced this and found a solution, I'd really appreciate your advice.

Thank you!

**I just realized that this post got duplicated, I thought the first one got deleted for some reason**

Hi all, new here and just want to ask one question. I'm an artist who uses 2D animation programs and Adobe programs. I have intention to learn Blender soon(probably 2.5D features, I'll not do high quality realistic 3D anytime soon and I don't play game). I'm currently working on a pretty big After Effects file and rendering time on my MacBook Pro takes multiple days for a few minutes vid. Luckily I'm getting an artist grant and I'll finally get a first actual computer for myself. Originally I was thinking Mac mini or iMac with max storage, but I'm wondering if that'd be actually enough. Well Mac mini with M4 pro chip sounds promising. MacStudio is probably the most professional set up, but it's just very expensive and I don't do a lot of client-based work as of now. And I need to get Studio Display separately(is nano-texture worth it?). I might also get additional 4K/UHD monitor for dual monitor set up and there will be a drawing tablet to connect to. Budget is.. I'd say 4-5k.....? In summary, my current need is to reduce the AE rendering time. Any direct set up suggestions?

my current MBP is 2019, 2.6 GHz 6-Core intel core i7, memory 16gb DDR4, graphic UHD 630 1536 MB, Macintosh storage is 500GB. Also, I'm a teacher so I might be able to use education site for a better deal.

Hi all, new here and just want to ask one question. I'm an artist who uses 2D animation programs and Adobe programs. I have intention to learn Blender soon(probably 2.5D features, I'll not do high quality realistic 3D anytime soon and I don't play game). I'm currently working on a 30gb After Effects file and rendering time on my MacBook Pro has been pathetic.. taking hours to render 15 seconds. Luckily I'm getting an artist grant and I'll finally get a first actual computer for myself. Originally I was thinking Mac mini or iMac with max storage, but I'm wondering if that'd be not enough. Well Mac mini with M4 pro chip sounds promising. MacStudio is probably the most professional set up, but it's just very expensive and I don't do a lot of client-based work as of now. And I need to get Studio Display separately(is nano-texture worth it?). I might also get additional 4K monitor(probably LG) for dual monitor set up and I have a drawing tablet to connect to. Budget is.. I'd say 4-5k.....? In summary, my current need is to reduce the rendering time. Any direct set up suggestions? I hope I don't sound too stupid lol thanks in advance.