The new Mac Studio (2023) is one of Apple's most powerful Macs yet. It is the follow-up to last year's model, but features upgrades to the M2 Max and M2 Ultra Apple silicon chips. There's very little chance you'll be upgrading your Mac Studio after you buy it, but you might be wondering if it can be upgraded after purchase. Unfortunately, you don't get that privilege. Since the Mac Studio (2023) is not upgradeable, you'll want to ensure that you choose a configuration that works best for your needs
Why the Mac Studio (2023) can't be upgraded
The Mac Studio (2023) doesn't have any upgradable components onboard. The M2 Max and M2 Ultra silicon, along with the SSD and unified memory, are all fused together on one motherboard. It's not uncommon for this to be the case, either. A lot of modern Windows laptops and some of the best MacBooks have internal components that are soldered down to the motherboard. This makes upgrades impossible for the common folk, though some with more technical skills have found ways to upgrade the Mac Studio through soldering and other non-traditional methods.
So, when buying the Mac Studio (2023), you'll want to pick a configuration that suits your needs. Keep in mind that more unified memory is always better, as tasks like video editing, coding, and photo editing will use up a lot of system memory. The more storage the better, too, as you'll have to worry less about using external SSDs or cloud storage services like Apple iCloud.
To give you a better idea of what you'll have to pay, here are the storage and unified memory options.
Unified memory upgrades on Mac Studio with M2 Max from $2,000 base model with 12-core CPU, 30-core GPU
Unified memory upgrade | Cost |
|---|---|
32GB | Stock |
64GB | +$400 |
96GB (Requires M2 Max with 12-core CPU, 38-core GPU) | +$800 |
Storage upgrades on Mac Studio with M2 Max from $2,000 base model with 12-core CPU, 30-core GPU
Storage Upgrade | Cost |
|---|---|
512GB SSD | Stock |
1TB Storage | +$200 |
2TB Storage | +$600 |
4TB storage | +$1,200 |
8TB storage | +$2,400 |
Unified memory upgrades on Mac Studio with M2 Ultra from $4,000 base model with 24-core CPU and 60-core GPU
Unified memory upgrade | Cost |
|---|---|
64GB | Stock |
128GB | +$800 |
192GB | +$1,600 |
Storage upgrades on Mac Studio with M2 Ultra from $4,000 base model with 24-core CPU and 60-core GPU
Storage Upgrade | Cost |
|---|---|
1TB Storage | Stock |
2TB Storage | +$400 |
4TB storage | +$1,000 |
8TB storage | +$2,200 |
Alas, to answer the original question again, no, you can't upgrade the Mac Studio (2023) after purchase. Everything is soldered down to the motherboard. You'll have to settle for a model that suits your needs and pay Apple for upgrades.
Apple Mac Studio (2023)
The 2023 Mac Studio with either M2 Max or M2 Ultra is Apple's second most powerful computer behind only the Mac Pro. Its smaller size and lower price makes it arguably a better option than the latter.