[ezfe]

Mac Studio idle is 11 W (max 115 W) compared to RPI 4 idling at 4 W (max 6 W).

It's reasonable to assume that the 115 W on a Mac Studio will never be hit on a workload that could be supported by a RPI...so you're looking at an extra $10-20/yr to operate the Mac Studio.

The biggest issue is just the upfront cost, since of course the Mac Studio is proportionally expensive to its capability.

[fomine3]

Idle power consumption for Apple Silicon Mac is low despite it's workstation, it's outlier. Average Intel desktop consumes similar or a little more power for idle, that is acceptable IMO for flexibility and reuse. Maybe DIY PC consumes a bit more than average Dell desktop even if CPU is same. Average Intel workstation/server consumes much more than them so it's wasteful for almost idle server. So it depends on what is the previous PC.

[ezfe]

Oh for sure, if you pick out a high consumption CPU then it'll be high for sure