Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) vs iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)

Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022)¹iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)²

Quick look

Quick look: Mac Studio M1 Max against iMac M1
Figure	Mac Studio M1 Max¹	iMac M1²
Price	£1,999³launch price	£1,249⁴launch price
Chip	M1 Maxchip	M1chip
CPU	10-coreCPU	8-coreCPU
GPU	24-coreGPU	7-coreGPU
Memory	32GBunified memory, base	8GBunified memory, base
Storage	512GBstorage, base	256GBstorage, base
Display	Not available⁵No built-in display	24-inchdisplay
Released	18 March 2022³ReleasedIn select Apple Stores; orderable online from 8 March 2022.	May 2021⁶Release date, month onlyOrderable online from 30 April 2021.
Security updates	Not available⁷Security updates	Not available⁷Security updates

Price: The Mac Studio M1 Max is £1,999 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the iMac M1 is £1,249 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
Kind of Mac: The Mac Studio M1 Max is a desktop; the iMac M1 is an all-in-one. The iMac M1 has a built-in 24-inch display and a camera, whereas the Mac Studio M1 Max has neither.

True to scale

Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) · 197 × 95 mm frontiMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) · 547 × 461 mm front

A desktop and an all-in-one are different shapes, so they stand side by side rather than superposed: the front face of one and the front face of the other, from Apple’s published dimensions, at one scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.

Specifications

Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.

Body

Body: Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
Specification	Mac Studio M1 Max¹	iMac M1²
Dimensions	95 x 197 x 197 mm	461 x 547 x 147 mm
Weight	2.7 kg	4.46 kg
Colours	Silver	Blue, Green, Pink, Silver⁸
Ports	Four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports (up to 5Gb/s), HDMI port, 10Gb Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone jack; on front (M1 Max): two USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s), SDXC card slot (UHS-II)	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, 3.5mm headphone jack
Thunderbolt ports⁹	4	2
Thunderbolt version	Thunderbolt 4	Thunderbolt 3
USB-A ports	2	No USB-A ports.¹⁰
HDMI	HDMI port	No HDMI port.¹¹
SD card slot	Yes	No SD card slot.¹¹
Headphone jack	Yes	Yes
Keyboard	Not available¹²	Magic Keyboard
Touch ID	Not available¹³	No Touch ID.¹⁰

Display

Display: Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
Specification	Mac Studio M1 Max¹	iMac M1²
Display size	Not available⁵	24 in
Resolution	Not available⁵	4480 x 2520
Pixel density	Not available⁵	218 ppi
Display type	Not available⁵	4.5K Retina display
Brightness	Not available⁵	500 nits
Wide colour (P3)	Not available⁵	Yes
Nano-texture option	Not available⁵	No nano-texture display option.¹¹

Chip and memory

Chip and memory: Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
Specification	Mac Studio M1 Max¹	iMac M1²
Chip	Apple M1 Max chip	Apple M1 chip
Apple silicon	Yes	Yes
CPU cores	10	8
Performance cores	8	4
Efficiency cores	2	4
GPU cores	24	7
Neural Engine cores	16	16
Chip options	M1 Max with 10-core CPU and 24-core GPU, or M1 Max with 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU¹⁴	M1 with 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU or 8-core GPU
Memory (base)	32GB	8GB
Memory (maximum)	64GB¹⁴	16GB
Memory options	32GB or 64GB¹⁴	8GB or 16GB
Memory upgradeable by user	Not available¹⁵	No, as Apple documents¹⁶
Memory bandwidth	400 GB/s	Not available¹⁷
Storage (base)	512GB	256GB
Storage (maximum)	8TB¹⁴	2TB
Storage options	512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB¹⁴	256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB
Media engine	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginetwo video encode enginestwo ProRes encode and decode engines	Not available¹⁷

Battery and power

Battery and power: Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
Specification	Mac Studio M1 Max¹	iMac M1²
Included power adapter	Not available¹⁸	143 W
Maximum continuous power	370 W	Not available¹⁷

Connectivity

Connectivity: Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
Specification	Mac Studio M1 Max¹	iMac M1²
Wi-Fi	802.11ax Wi-Fi 6	802.11ax Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth	5.0	5.0
Ethernet	10Gb Ethernet (Nbase-T Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb and 10Gb Ethernet using RJ-45 connector)	Gigabit Ethernet configurable¹⁹
External displays (base)	5	1

Camera and audio

Camera and audio: Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
Specification	Mac Studio M1 Max¹	iMac M1²
Camera	Not available²⁰	1080p FaceTime HD camera
Speakers	Built-in speaker²¹	High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers
Microphones	Not available¹⁵	Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming

Platform

Platform: Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
Specification	Mac Studio M1 Max¹	iMac M1²
Newest macOS	macOS 27 Golden Gate²²	macOS 27 Golden Gate²²
Model identifier	Mac13,1²³	iMac21,2²⁴
Model year	2022	2021

Benchmarks

Benchmarks: Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
Specification	Mac Studio M1 Max¹	iMac M1²
Geekbench 7 (CPU, single-core)	2,229²⁵	2,168²⁵
Geekbench 7 (CPU, multi-core)	14,319²⁵	8,365²⁵

Sources

Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2022) - Tech Specs · Default for Mac Studio M1 Max · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) - Technical Specifications · Default for iMac M1 · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils all-new Mac Studio and Studio Display · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Apple Newsroom (UK) — iMac features all-new design in vibrant colours, M1 chip, and 4.5K Retina display · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Doesn’t apply: no built-in display
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Apple Newsroom (UK) — iMac features all-new design in vibrant colours, M1 chip, and 4.5K Retina display · Apple’s figure · read 3 Oct 2026
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Security updates: no end date published. Checked: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026
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Different Thunderbolt generations. Mac Studio M1 Max: Thunderbolt 4. iMac M1: Thunderbolt 3.
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iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021): No USB-A ports. No Touch ID. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) - Technical Specifications. Read 15 Sep 2026
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iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) - Technical Specifications. Read 9 Oct 2026
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Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard
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Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard, and Touch ID is a keyboard feature
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Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2022) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026
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Not published by Apple. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2022) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils all-new Mac Studio and Studio Display; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model. Read 9 Oct 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Install memory in an iMac · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026
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Not published by Apple. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) - Technical Specifications; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — iMac features all-new design in vibrant colours, M1 chip, and 4.5K Retina display. Read 9 Oct 2026
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Doesn’t apply: internal power supply, no power adapter in the box
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Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) - Technical Specifications · Apple’s figure · read 11 Oct 2026
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Doesn’t apply: no built-in camera
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Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2022) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 9 Oct 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers · Apple’s figure · read 22 Sep 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model · Apple’s figure · read 10 Oct 2026
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Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) · third-party figure · read 11 Oct 2026
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Not published by Apple

Mac Studio M1 Max. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Geekbench 7 Metal: the Mac chart row for this Mac does not state its GPU core count, so no Metal score is shown (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2022) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils all-new Mac Studio and Studio Display; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model, read 9 Oct 2026.

iMac M1. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Geekbench 7 Metal: the Mac chart row for this Mac does not state its GPU core count, so no Metal score is shown (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) - Technical Specifications; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — iMac features all-new design in vibrant colours, M1 chip, and 4.5K Retina display, read 9 Oct 2026.

If you own one of them

Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my Mac Studio M1 Max (2022)? · Should I upgrade my iMac M1 (24-inch, 2021)?

The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.