Good afternoon all,

So I'm looking to move up from a M1 Max Mac Studio to a higher-spec'd system, the M1 Max Studio then going to my oldest son for his first system. I'll apologize if this is the wrong forum, but since it kinda goes between Mac types, I wasn't sure where else to put it.

I had been hoping that Apple was going to refresh the Studio at WWDC this year with either the M3 or M4, but since that didn't happen, I'm now contemplating going with either the M3 Max (16" MBP) or M2 Ultra Mac Studio, both as new or Apple refurbished (for the little additional savings).

My use-case is Parallels with Windows 11 on ARM running, and various engineering applications that so-far, have mostly been running ok on the M1 Max Studio, though I've been seeing memory pressure getting into the red, which is part of why I want to spec up. I had Parallels set to use 4 cores while 6 were left for macOS.

During non-work hours, I'll sometimes do some side-consulting work in Parallels while also playing a game here or there (WoW, Stellaris, etc.) as stuff executes/renders on Windows, but I think for this purpose, I'd imagine both the M3 Max and the M2 Ultra should be more than sufficient.

I just wanted to get a general opinion here, since I've been bouncing back-and-forth and having analysis paralysis. The MBP would likely be in clamshell the majority of the time, though it would enable me to more easily move between standing desk and other areas if I wanted to, but I wouldn't call this a critical need. The only other concern is that while I think the 16" MBP will generally be quiet, I've heard its fans going and they're not bothersome, but obviously noticeable. The Studios obviously are almost always quiet, at least in my experience.

Thanks!