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Apple Mac Studio (2025)

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The Apple Mac Studio (2025) is Apple's compact professional desktop — announced March 5, 2025 and on sale from March 12, 2025 — and it is the only Mac Studio generation offered with two chips from different families: the M4 Max and the M3 Ultra. Apple built both into the same silver aluminum enclosure it has used since 2022, which creates the single biggest problem when valuing one of these: a 2022 M1 Max Mac Studio, a 2023 M2 Ultra, and a 2025 M3 Ultra are visually identical, sit at the same 7.7-inch square footprint, and all run the same current version of macOS. Nothing on the outside tells them apart. What separates them is the Model Identifier, and on a machine where memory and storage are permanently fixed at the factory, your exact configuration is the whole story. Gadget Salvation has been buying used Apple Macs directly from their owners since 2008. Confirm your identifier below, select your configuration with the tool above, and you will see an instant cash offer.

Confirm you have the 2025 Mac Studio

Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen and choose About This Mac. You will see the chip name and the model. For the definitive answer, click More Info and look for the Model Identifier — a code like Mac16,9. That code is the only completely reliable way to date a Mac Studio.

✅ Mac Studio (2025) — M4 Max

  • Model Identifier: Mac16,9
  • Part number begins MU963 (shown as MU963xx/A, where xx is your region)
  • About This Mac reports Apple M4 Max
  • Front ports: two plain USB-C ports plus an SDXC card slot
  • Weighs 6.1 lb (2.74 kg)
  • Memory is 36GB, 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB

✅ Mac Studio (2025) — M3 Ultra

  • Model Identifier: Mac15,14
  • Part number begins MU973 (shown as MU973xx/A)
  • About This Mac reports Apple M3 Ultra
  • Front ports: two Thunderbolt 5 ports plus an SDXC card slot
  • Weighs 8.0 lb (3.64 kg) — nearly two pounds heavier than the M4 Max
  • Memory is 96GB, 256GB, or 512GB

❌ This is an earlier Mac Studio

  • Mac14,13 — Mac Studio (2023), M2 Max, part number MQH73xx/A
  • Mac14,14 — Mac Studio (2023), M2 Ultra, part number MQH63xx/A
  • Mac13,1 — Mac Studio (2022), M1 Max, part number MJMV2xx/A
  • Mac13,2 — Mac Studio (2022), M1 Ultra, part number MJMW3xx/A
  • All of these share the exact same enclosure, finish, and dimensions as the 2025 model, and all still run the current macOS — so the operating system version will not date your machine either

❌ This is a different Mac entirely

  • Mac mini — a much smaller 5-inch square block, roughly 2 lb. If yours fits in one hand, it is a Mac mini, not a Mac Studio
  • Mac Pro — a full tower or rack unit with PCIe slots and handles
  • iMac — has a built-in display

Two physical tests if you cannot boot the machine. First, look at the two USB-C-shaped ports on the front. Apple has used the same rule on every Mac Studio generation: the Max chip gets plain USB-C front ports, and the Ultra chip gets Thunderbolt front ports, marked with a small lightning bolt. That tells you Max or Ultra but not the year, because the 2022 and 2023 Ultra models have Thunderbolt 4 front ports while the 2025 Ultra has Thunderbolt 5. Second, pick it up — an Ultra is noticeably heavier than a Max because Apple fits it with a copper heatsink instead of aluminum. For the year, you need the Model Identifier or the serial number, and if the machine will not start you can find both printed on the underside of the enclosure or on the original box. Our guide to finding an Apple model number and our general model-finding guide walk through every location, and our article on what a used Apple Mac is worth covers the About This Mac screen in detail. You are also welcome to send us a photo of the label on the bottom.

Chip configurations

The chip pairing here is unusual and worth understanding: the M3 Ultra is newer than the M4 Max despite the lower number. Apple builds it by joining two M3 Max dies with its UltraFusion interconnect, and at launch it was the highest-performing chip Apple had ever shipped. Neither chip is faster at everything — the M4 Max has newer, higher-clocked cores, while the M3 Ultra wins decisively on anything that scales across many cores or needs enormous memory bandwidth.

Apple M4 Max — base

  • 14-core CPU: 10 performance cores + 4 efficiency cores
  • 32-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing
  • 16-core Neural Engine
  • 410GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Media engine: one video decode engine, two video encode engines, two ProRes encode and decode engines, AV1 decode

Apple M4 Max — upgraded

  • 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
  • 546GB/s memory bandwidth — a third more than the base chip
  • This is the gating option for memory. Only the 16-core / 40-core M4 Max could be configured with 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB. A 14-core machine is locked at 36GB forever

Apple M3 Ultra — base

  • 28-core CPU: 20 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores
  • 60-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing
  • 32-core Neural Engine — double the M4 Max
  • 819GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Media engine: two video decode engines, four video encode engines, four ProRes encode and decode engines, AV1 decode — twice the M4 Max's encode capability

Apple M3 Ultra — upgraded

  • 32-core CPU: 24 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores
  • 80-core GPU — the largest GPU Apple had ever put in a chip at launch
  • 32-core Neural Engine, 819GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Required for 512GB of memory. The 28-core M3 Ultra topped out at 256GB

Memory and storage — fixed forever, and that is the point

Unified memory cannot be upgraded — ever

Apple's unified memory is fabricated as part of the chip package itself. There are no memory slots, no modules, and nothing to remove or add. Whatever your Mac Studio was configured with when it left the factory is what it has today and what it will have for the rest of its life. No previous owner could have changed it, and no buyer can either.

  • M4 Max: 36GB base, or 48GB / 64GB / 128GB with the 16-core, 40-core chip
  • M3 Ultra: 96GB base, or 256GB, or 512GB with the 32-core, 80-core chip

Report exactly what About This Mac tells you. On this machine the memory figure is one of the largest single factors in your offer.

Why high-memory units are unusually valuable right now

Something changed in the market that works in your favor. Amid rising memory prices during 2026, Apple withdrew the high-capacity memory options from the Mac Studio configurator and raised its prices. A buyer who needs 256GB or 512GB of unified memory in a Mac Studio can no longer order one new at any price.

Because unified memory can never be added after the fact, the pre-owned market is now the only source for these configurations. If you own a 256GB or 512GB M3 Ultra, or a 128GB M4 Max, you are holding something genuinely scarce, and that scarcity is reflected in what we can offer. It is worth quoting yours rather than assuming a three-year-old desktop has depreciated the way an ordinary PC would.

Storage is also sealed

The SSD is not user-serviceable and not upgradable. Apple pairs the storage modules to the machine's Secure Enclave, so even physically identical parts cannot simply be swapped in.

  • M4 Max: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB
  • M3 Ultra: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB, or 16TB

The 16TB option was exclusive to the M3 Ultra and was among the most expensive configure-to-order choices Apple has ever sold. If you have one, say so — it makes a substantial difference.

Check your capacity, don't guess it

Because nothing here can be upgraded, there is no ambiguity to resolve — but there is plenty of room to misremember. Open the Apple menu → About This Mac and read the memory figure directly. For storage, open Apple menu → System Settings → General → Storage and read the total capacity rather than the free space. Quoting 512GB when the machine holds 4TB costs you real money.

Ports & connectivity

The rear panel is identical on both chips. The front is not — and that difference is your quickest Max-versus-Ultra test.

Back — identical on both chips
  • 4× Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) (up to 120Gb/s, also supporting USB 4 at 120Gb/s, USB 3 at 10Gb/s, and DisplayPort 2.1)
  • 2× USB-A (USB 3, up to 5Gb/s — for older accessories)
  • 1× HDMI 2.1 (up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz, with variable refresh rate, HDR, and multichannel audio)
  • 1× 10Gb Ethernet (Nbase-T, also runs at 1Gb, 2.5Gb, and 5Gb)
  • 1× 3.5mm headphone jack (with advanced support for high-impedance headphones)
Front — differs by chip
  • M4 Max: 2× USB-C ports at up to 10Gb/s
  • M3 Ultra: 2× Thunderbolt 5 ports at up to 120Gb/s
  • Both: 1× SDXC card slot (UHS-II)
  • Twelve times the front-port bandwidth is a real workflow difference for anyone moving large media files, and it is part of why the Ultra commands a premium

Features this machine does not have, so you do not need to look for them: no Wi-Fi 7 — it is Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, which is one of the few areas where the 2025 Mac Studio did not advance; no discrete or upgradable graphics card; no PCIe expansion slots; no user-accessible memory or storage; no built-in display; no Touch ID on the machine itself; and no keyboard, mouse, or display in the box. The only accessory Apple included is a power cord, so a missing keyboard or mouse is normal and does not affect your offer.

Thunderbolt 5 DisplayPort 2.1 10Gb Ethernet HDMI 2.1 SDXC UHS-II Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 No Wi-Fi 7

Display support & audio

Displays — M4 Max

Drives up to five displays simultaneously:

  • Up to four 6K displays at 60Hz over Thunderbolt, plus one 4K display at 144Hz over HDMI
  • Or up to two 6K displays at 60Hz over Thunderbolt, plus one 8K display at 60Hz or a 4K display at up to 240Hz over HDMI

Displays — M3 Ultra

Drives up to eight displays simultaneously:

  • Eight displays at up to 6K and 60Hz, or 4K at up to 144Hz
  • Or four displays at up to 8K and 60Hz, or 4K at up to 240Hz
  • Eight-display capability is a meaningful professional differentiator and part of the Ultra's value

Audio

A single built-in speaker — this is a professional desktop, not a media machine, and the internal speaker is there for system sounds rather than listening. The 3.5mm headphone jack includes advanced support for high-impedance headphones, which studio users care about, and the HDMI port carries multichannel audio output.

Size, weight & power

  • 3.7 in (9.5 cm) tall, 7.7 in (19.7 cm) wide and deep
  • 6.1 lb (2.74 kg) with M4 Max; 8.0 lb (3.64 kg) with M3 Ultra
  • Silver finish only — Apple never offered another color
  • 100–240V AC, maximum continuous power draw 480W
  • Enclosure and thermal chassis use 100% recycled aluminum; ENERGY STAR certified
  • Dimensions are unchanged from the 2022 and 2023 models, which is exactly why the identifier matters

Frequently asked questions

01 How do I find out exactly which Mac Studio I own?
Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen and choose About This Mac. That screen shows the chip — M4 Max or M3 Ultra — along with your memory and serial number. Click More Info, then scroll to find the Model Identifier. Mac16,9 is the 2025 M4 Max and Mac15,14 is the 2025 M3 Ultra. That single code is the definitive answer and it is all we need.

While you are there, note two more figures. Your memory appears on the same screen, and your total storage capacity is under Apple menu → System Settings → General → Storage — read the total, not the free space. Both are permanently fixed on this machine, so getting them right matters more than on a PC where components can be swapped.

If the Mac Studio will not start up, you can still identify it. The serial number and part number are printed on the underside of the aluminum enclosure, and they are on the original box if you kept it. Send us the serial number, or a photo of the bottom label, and we will look it up. Our guide to finding an Apple model number shows exactly where to look.
02 Which Macs get mistaken for a 2025 Mac Studio, and how do I rule them out?
This is the hardest Mac in Apple's range to date by eye, because Apple has not changed the enclosure once since 2022. Every test below is therefore a software or label check rather than a visual one.

Mac Studio (2023), M2 Max or M2 Ultra. Identical aluminum body, identical silver, identical 7.7-inch square footprint, identical port layout, and it still runs the same current macOS — so even the operating system will not separate them. The identifier settles it: Mac14,13 for the M2 Max and Mac14,14 for the M2 Ultra, against Mac16,9 and Mac15,14 for the 2025 models. The chip name in About This Mac works just as well.

Mac Studio (2022), M1 Max or M1 Ultra. Same story again — Mac13,1 and Mac13,2.

M4 Max versus M3 Ultra within 2025. The most consequential mix-up, since these two are worth very different amounts. Look at the front ports: plain USB-C means M4 Max, Thunderbolt means M3 Ultra. Careful, though — the 2022 and 2023 Ultra models also have Thunderbolt front ports, so this test tells you Max or Ultra but not the year. And pick the machine up: 6.1 lb is an M4 Max, 8.0 lb is an M3 Ultra, a difference you can feel immediately because Apple uses a heavier copper heatsink in the Ultra.

Mac mini. Easy to confuse in photographs because both are square aluminum blocks, but a Mac mini is a 5-inch square weighing about 2 lb, against the Mac Studio's 7.7-inch square at 6 to 8 lb. If you can comfortably hold it in one hand, it is a Mac mini and belongs on our Mac mini page.

Mac Pro. A full tower or rack-mount unit with handles and PCIe slots. If yours is a tower, it belongs on our Mac Pro page.
03 Will you still buy mine if it is scratched, faulty, or will not start?
Yes. We buy Mac Studios in every condition. Because these live on a desk rather than in a bag, the problems we see are different from laptop problems: scuffs and ring marks on the aluminum, a bent or damaged port, intermittent fan noise, a dead Ethernet or HDMI port, an SDXC slot that no longer reads cards, or a machine that simply will not power on. Select the condition options above that honestly match yours and the offer you see is the offer we honor.

One thing to be clear about: since nothing in a Mac Studio can be upgraded, there is no "upgraded configuration" to report and no components a previous owner could have added. That cuts both ways — it means you cannot improve the machine, but it also means the memory and storage you have are exactly what a buyer gets, which is why we ask you to read them off the screen rather than estimate.

The one thing that genuinely blocks a resale is Activation Lock. If the Mac is still signed in to someone's Apple Account with Find My enabled, it cannot be set up by anyone else and its value drops dramatically. Please sign out before shipping — full steps are in the last question below. If you have lost access to the Apple Account that owns it, tell us up front rather than shipping it locked, and we will let you know what is possible.
04 What drives the trade-in value of a 2025 Mac Studio up or down?
Chip first, then memory, then storage — and on this machine those three are the entire story, because none of them can be changed. An M3 Ultra with the 32-core CPU and 80-core GPU sits at the top, followed by the base 28-core M3 Ultra, then the 16-core M4 Max, then the 14-core M4 Max. Within the same chip, memory moves the number more than anything else: a 128GB M4 Max is a very different machine from a 36GB one, and a 256GB or 512GB M3 Ultra is in a class of its own. Storage follows, with the M3 Ultra's 16TB option being the single most valuable configure-to-order choice in the range. After those: cosmetic condition of the aluminum, whether every port works, and whether you still have the power cord.

There is a specific reason to act rather than wait on this model. Apple raised Mac Studio prices and withdrew the high-capacity memory options during 2026 as memory costs climbed, which means a professional who needs 256GB or 512GB of unified memory cannot buy one new anymore. Since unified memory is built into the chip and can never be added, used machines are the only remaining supply — an unusual position for a desktop that is over a year old.

Many people don't realize there is a cash option for a Mac like this at all. Most owners assume the choices are Apple's own trade-in program, which is convenient but pays in store credit rather than money, or a private listing where you ship an eight-pound desktop to a stranger and absorb the risk yourself. Our own analysis of which used Apple Macs retain the most value found that selling through an established third-party buyback platform typically nets 20% to 40% more than Apple's trade-in credit. Gadget Salvation has been a cash-for-electronics buyback service since 2008: you answer a few questions, you get an instant offer, we email you a free prepaid and insured shipping label, and we pay in real money — not credit, not gift cards — within about two business days of the machine reaching us. No listing to write, no buyer to meet, no fee taken out of your total. You can also browse every Mac we buy to check anything else you have around.
05 How do I sign out of Find My, erase my data, and get paid?
Back up first. Copy anything you want to keep — project files, photo and video libraries, documents — to an external drive or to iCloud, or run a full Time Machine backup. The internal SSD is sealed and cannot be removed, so once it is erased there is no recovering anything from it.

Then turn off Activation Lock. This is the most important step on any Apple device and the one most often missed. Open Apple menu → System Settings, click your name at the top, and sign out of your Apple Account — this disables Find My and releases Activation Lock. While you are there, sign out of Messages and unpair any Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, or trackpad you plan to keep. A Mac that arrives still locked to an Apple Account cannot be set up by its next owner, so this single step protects most of your offer.

Then erase it. The clean way on Apple silicon is Apple menu → System Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Erase All Content and Settings. That wipes your data, removes your account, and returns the machine to the setup assistant, exactly as Apple intends. You do not need to open the enclosure or attempt to remove the SSD — it is not serviceable, and our technicians run certified data sanitization on every machine that arrives regardless. Details are on our data erasure protocols page. If the Mac Studio will not boot far enough to erase, send it as-is and let us know.

Packing: this is a small but dense object — up to eight pounds in a seven-inch box — so it needs firm padding on all six faces and a box it cannot shift inside. Include the power cord if you still have it; you do not need to send a keyboard, mouse, or display, since Apple never included them. Our shipping instructions cover this, and the prepaid label we send you is fully insured.

Once it arrives and passes functional testing, payment is approved within roughly two business days. Choose PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, or CashApp, or a paper check mailed to your address.