Creative professionals need a powerful graphics processor, high-resolution display, and plenty of RAM. ZDNET rounded up the best desktops for stunning graphic design imagery.
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Pros & Cons
Pros
Compact, power-efficient design
Powerful M1 Max/Ultra processors
Good connectivity
Cons
Doesn’t include monitor
No internal expansion
No user upgrades
Pros
Compact, power-efficient design
Powerful M1 Max/Ultra processors
Good connectivity
Cons
Doesn’t include monitor
No internal expansion
No user upgrades
More Details
Tech specs: Processor: M1 Ultra; Memory 64GB | Storage: 1TB SSD | Ports: 6x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI, 2x USB-A (3.1), 1x 10Gb Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone socket, 1x SDXC card slot | Dimensions: 95x197x197mm | Weight: 3.6kg
Apple’s 27-inch iMac has long been a fixture on the desks of designers and other creative users, but Apple surprised everyone in March when it discontinued the 27-inch model and replaced it with the new Mac Studio desktop system (the rumor mill was expecting a laptop).
The Mac Studio is more like the «headless» Mac Mini, sporting a compact, low-profile design that is sold without a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. But, rather than the entry-level M1 processor used in the current Mac Mini, the somewhat larger Mac Studio steps up a gear, offering power-hungry creative users the choice of top-of-the-range M1 Max or M1 Ultra processors.
Prices start at $1999 for a model with the M1 Max, which includes 10 processor cores, 24 GPU cores, and 16-core Neural Engine, along with 32GB memory and 512GB solid-state storage. The M1 Max provides impressive performance for 2D and 3D graphics. For high-end video-editing work, you can step up to the M1 Ultra — which is quite literally two M1 Max chips bolted together. This provides 20 CPU cores, 48 GPU cores, and a 32-core Neural Engine.
Apple claims that it can handle 18 streams of 8K video simultaneously. That sort of performance certainly outstrips the older iMac it replaces, making the Mac Studio a good upgrade for many Mac users — albeit an expensive one, as you’ll need to budget for an additional monitor, too. The Mac Studio also lacks the internal expansion slots of the Intel-based Mac Pro — which is still on the market right now.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Compact
Relatively affordable
Decent memory and storage
Cons
Not user upgradeable
Pros
Compact
Relatively affordable
Decent memory and storage
Cons
Not user upgradeable
More Details
Tech specs: Processor: Apple M1 Silicon | GPU: 8-Core integrated; 8GB memory, 256GB solid-state drive | Ports: 1x Ethernet, 1x HDMI, 2x USB-A, 2x Thunderbolt 4 | Dimensions: 7.7 square inches
The Mac Mini has always been Apple’s «low-cost» Mac for home users. The late 2020 release of a new Mac Mini based on Apple’s M1 SoC gives the compact desktop system a considerable graphics boost that might attract the attention of creative users working from home.
Apple claims that the 8-core integrated GPU of the M1 processor provides a six-fold increase in graphics performance when compared to previous Mac Mini models, and our tests revealed very respectable performance for such a modestly priced system. Unusually for Apple, the M1 Mac Mini even came with a price cut, now starting at $699 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of solid-state storage.
