M2 Max vs M2 Ultra: Is the $2000 upgrade worth it?

⚖️ The video compares the M2 Max and M2 Ultra Mac Studio and evaluates whether the extra $2000 for the Ultra is worth it.

📊 Real-world benchmarks were conducted to determine the performance differences between the two models.

🔌 The M2 Ultra offers Thunderbolt ports and the ability to connect eight displays, while the M2 Max only has standard USB type-c ports and supports up to five displays.

💽 The M2 Ultra has faster SSD speeds and comes with a standard one terabyte storage compared to the M2 Max's 512 gigabytes.

🔋 The M2 Ultra has a copper cooler inside, making it heavier than the M2 Max, and fan noise and temperatures are discussed in the video.

💻 The M2 Ultra has 64 gigs of RAM, while the two thousand dollar model of the M2 Max has 32 gigs that can be upgraded.

💻 The M2 Max and M2 Ultra Mac Studio have different processors, with the Ultra having double the cores.

📊 Contrary to expectations, the Ultra does not provide double the CPU performance compared to the Max.

🌐 Both systems show similar performance in web-based applications and browsing tasks.

🎨 There is no significant difference in smoothness or exporting speed when using high-resolution web pages in design applications.

🎮 The M2 Ultra has double the number of cores for graphics, but both systems can be upgraded for better performance.

🔑 The M2 Ultra has slightly better scaling than the M1 Ultra in CPU performance, but not a significant improvement.

🎮 In gaming benchmarks, there is about a 48% difference between the M2 Ultra and the M1 Ultra in 3DMark's Wildlife Extreme.

💻 In Cinemax R23, there is a significant difference of almost 92% in performance between the M2 Ultra and the M1 Ultra when all CPU cores are pushed to their limits.

👉 The M2 Max runs cooler with lower wattage and is completely silent.

💻 The M2 Ultra outperforms the M2 Max in coding and handling multiple tracks and plugins.

🖥️ The M2 Ultra excels in 3D rendering, delivering faster rendering times compared to the M2 Max.

💡 The M2 Ultra processor is twice as fast as the M2 Max in various tests, making it significantly more powerful.

⚡ For most people, the M2 Max's performance is already sufficient, unless they need to export a large number of photos daily.

🎥 The M2 Ultra excels in video editing, with faster stabilization and significantly faster export times for projects.

📽️ Both M2 Max and M2 Ultra Mac Studio can process 4K prores raw encoding into prores with a negligible difference in speed.

🎥 Both machines can handle red AK raw playback perfectly, but M2 Ultra is slightly faster in exporting.

💻 M2 Max and M2 Ultra perform excellently in denoising 4K Blackmagic raw in DaVinci Resolve, with the M2 Ultra having a slight overhead.

💰 Spending an extra $2000 on the M2 Ultra Mac Studio may not be worth it as the performance is already incredibly fast and the scaling in some areas is not perfect.

⏩ For specific tasks like Photoshop, Lightroom, and fast exports for standard footage, the M2 Ultra may be worth the investment.

💻 Compared to Windows and video-based systems, Macs, including the M2 Ultra, are already behind, making the higher price hard to justify.