It packs plenty of ports, including two USB-C ports and an SD card slot on the front. On the back, you'll find four Thunderbolt USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI, a headphone jack, a 10-gigabit Ethernet port, and a port for power. Currently plugged into the Mac Studio is an external display, two Bluetooth receivers (one for my keyboard and one for my mouse), an Apple Watch charger, and a USB-C cable charging my iPad Pro. I still have three USB-C ports and an HDMI port left, no dongles required! For those who prefer working off of multiple screens, the M2 Max supports up to five external displays (four 6K displays and one 4K display at 60Hz) and the M2 Ultra supports up to eight 4K displays, six 6K displays, or three 8K displays—all at 60Hz.

If you're a stickler for sound quality, I recommend purchasing a pair of speakers. The built-in speaker system on the Mac Studio is fine, but I didn't really enjoy using it to play music. It lacks the oomph I’m looking for, though this isn't a huge deal-breaker, as I typically wear headphones.

The Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra makes me wonder whether Apple cannibalized the Mac Pro, but it's important to remember that there's a sliver of people who will need the modularity of the priciest Mac computer (along with its seven PCI Express expansion slots and even more ports). I was expecting more, but if anything it makes the Mac Studio look amazing.

You can rest assured the Mac Studio will provide you with plenty of power with its far more desk-friendly design. Power users should opt for the Ultra only if they're working with high-level graphics, visual effects, or any other types of highly intensive content. Otherwise you can save some money and stick to the just-as-capable M2 Max. If you want to save even more cash, you also can't go wrong with a discounted M1 Max or M1 Ultra-powered Mac Studio from 2022 through a third-party retailer.