Professional storage and networking accessory company Sonnet Technologies today announced a pair of solutions for Mac Studio users who are looking to rack mount their machines alongside other components.
The RackMac Studio is a 3U rackmount enclosure measuring 9.5 inches deep that can support a pair of Mac Studio units while preserving access to the front ports and offering front access to a USB-A port and the power button for each machine right from the front of the enclosure. Space beneath the Mac Studio units can also be used to house small peripherals like bus-powered external SSDs. It will be priced at $449.99 and will be available starting the week of October 24.
The xMac Studio is a larger enclosure that still measures 3U high but 16.5 inches deep and which can pair a single Mac Studio with Sonnet's Thunderbolt to PCIe card expansion systems. The enclosure is available in three configurations for maximum flexibility: with either an Echo I or Echo III module or without a module in case you want to reuse an existing one. All versions also include a four-port USB-A hub fed from the Mac Studio, as well as a front-mounted power button and space underneath for small peripherals.
The Echo I module includes a single x16 PCIe slot for one full-height, full-length card, a single 40Gbps Thunderbolt port, dual fans, and a 400W power supply, while the Echo III module bumps that up to three PCIe slots (one x16 and two x8) and two Thunderbolt ports. The version without an expansion module will be priced at $549.99, while the Echo I version will be priced at $1,249.99 and the Echo III version will be priced at $1,649.99. The xMac Studio systems will begin shipping the week of September 26.
Wednesday February 19, 2025 8:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the ...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 12:02 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Over the years, Apple has switched from an aluminum frame to a stainless steel frame to a titanium frame for its highest-end iPhones. And now, it has been rumored that Apple will go back to using aluminum for three out of four iPhone 17 models.
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone...
Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker.
In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:38 am PST by Juli Clover
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple updated its iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia pages to give a narrower timeline on when the next updates are set to launch.
All three pages now state that new Apple Intelligence features and languages will launch in early April, an update from the more broader April timeframe that Apple provided before. The next major point updates will be iOS ...
Thursday February 20, 2025 5:06 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Now that Apple has announced its new more affordable iPhone 16e, our thoughts turn to what else we are expecting from the company this spring.
There are three product categories that we are definitely expecting to get upgraded before spring has ended. Keep reading to learn what they are. If we're lucky, Apple might make a surprise announcement about a completely new product category.
M4...
Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
Friday February 14, 2025 6:03 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the HomePod mini in November 2020, followed by the AirTag in May 2021, and both still remain first-generation products.
Fortunately, rumors suggest that both the HomePod mini and the AirTag will finally be updated at some point this year.
Below, we recap rumors about the HomePod mini 2 and AirTag 2.
HomePod mini 2
In January 2025, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple is ...
Has anyone been able to get GPUs working with M1 Macs via Thunderbolt to PCIe bridges?
There are zero 3rd parth GPU drivers for macOS on M-seires. In fact, there is not even an DriverKit API for "Graphics" at all for 3rd party drivers. There is a PCI-e DriverKit API. So there are already more than several cards that work. Apple has provide not even a long term abstraction on how to get 3rd party GPUs working with Apple Silicon. It has been three WWDCs (2020 , 2021 , 2022 ) and nothing.
I would not hold my breath waiting on one. Intel's current purgatory on jacked up , immature GPU drivers is only even more evidence about why Apple probably is in zero hurry to provide one. Just getting the Apple GPU driver family smoothly flushed over a much wider breadth of performance implementations and a large set of 3rd party controlled applications fully updated on optimizations is a huge task.
I have used the xMac 2013 MacPro version of this with PCI expansion and currently using the Mac Mini version of this with my M1 Mini and BlackMagic Decklink Duo 2. They are rock solid. I have been holding off on getting a Studio until Sonnet made a solution for it.
Looks good and is something I would do but the price is hilarious.
How is it hilarious? The price is nothing to the professionals who will be purchasing it. If you're able to afford a Mac Studio, surely you are able to afford this, or at least be able to get the work, to then be able to afford this. Surely this was not made for the hobbyist.
