Theintroductionof the Mac Studio was exciting for many ground — one of which was the unveiling of yet another summation to theM1 seriesof Apple ’s System on a Chip ( SoC ) . The M1 Ultra , found in the $ 3,999 Mac Studio , brings an whole new level of performance , adding to the dust that the Intel processors were already leave in . It ’s basically two M1 Max chips fuse together to bring in double everything : 20 - heart and soul CPU and 64 - core GPU , 32 - essence neural engine , four TV encryption locomotive engine , four ProRes encode and decode engines , and up to 128 GB of LPDDR5 unified computer memory with 800GB / s of bandwidth .
But is the M1 Ultra really twice as tight as the M1 Max ? Data can give us an idea of how it compares to the M1 Max and more significantly , how the M1 Ultra affects real - world workflows of pro users . rent ’s see what this dry pint - sized power plant has to offer and understand which model is easily suit for you .
M1 Max vs M1 Ultra: Mac Studio model differences
The Mac Studio M1 Max may search selfsame to the M1 Ultra modelling at first glance , but there are crucial difference to be aware of . For starter , the Ultra is heavier , clocking in at two pounds more than its slender twin due to its muscular copper blower under the punk . This increased cooling mogul is obvious : the Ultra duplicate up on horsepower compare to the Max and generates a slew more heat .
The M1 Ultra and M1 Max versions of the Mac Studio look identical on the exterior .
IDG
The Ultra model also has two Thunderbolt port wine on the front , while the Max manikin has ho-hum USB - C port . If you ’re touch base peripherals that demand the speed of Thunderbolt ( ( up to 40Gb / s ) , which is four times riotous than USB - C. The Ultra Mac Studio can be customized with 64 GPU sum ( the Max model ’s limit is 32 cores ) , for a sizeable $ 1,000 .
In our examination , we compared three model : the M1 Max Mac Studio with a 32 - core GPU and 64 GB of RAM , a base M1 Ultra model with a 48 - core GPU and 64 GB of RAM , and a maxed - out M1 Ultra model with a 64 - core GPU and 128 GB of RAM .
M1 Max vs M1 Ultra: Geekbench 5 CPU benchmarks
Geekbenchhas been used for years as a point of reference for carrying into action on Macs . For central processor performance , the M1 Max and Ultra posts Single - Core scores that are practically superposable ( as with the other M1 chips ) , but the M1 Ultra almost doubles the Max ’s Multi - Core score . For reference , a 2019 Mac Pro with a 28 - core 2.5GHz Intel Xeon W processor develop a paltry 1,034 unmarried - substance grievance but hangs in there with a 26,604 Multi - Core performance .
How does this interpret to real - world use ? With fast single - core operation , this mean that your everyday software will open and respond much quicker . Some apps may even favor single - core power for its execution – much like how 3 - D game generally do better with higher clocked CPUs instead of multi - core offering . Photo editing apps such as Photoshop also gain from single - core performance . The high multi - core power mean you ’ll also be capable to multitask more with apps that can take reward of all of the cores .
M1 Max vs M1 Ultra: Geekbench 5 graphics benchmarks
Video interpreting will often lean on the GPU performance for many force and heavy - duty study . Geekbench 5 offers two benchmarks for graphics in its Compute rooms : one tryout using the Metal API , and the other using OpenCL .
The M1 Max posted a Metal mark of 69676 and an OpenCL score of 60,667 . The M1 Ultra with a 48 - core GPU bests this with scores of 91,949 and 70,464 , respectively . It gets best with an M1 Ultra with a 64 - gist GPU , with respective scores of 106,263 and 91,751 . The GPU improvement is important : Apple offers only ProRes hardware acceleration , and for non - ProRes codecs used in a circle of 3 - five hundred and TV - redaction apps , GPU is the key . For example , when using the R3D Raw codec , GPUs get along into gambol and the built - in ProRes accelerators in the M1 Max and Ultra have no force .
The 2019 Mac Pro with an AMD Radeon Pro W6800X duad graphics card post a 138,000 Metal score , still showing a performance gap versus the M1 series that may be only filled by an eventual Apple silicon Mac Pro .
M1 Max vs M1 Ultra: Cinebench R23 benchmarks
With theCinebench R23benchmark , C.P.U. interpreting is the focal point , and the M1 Max is no slouch with scores of 1538 ( Single Core ) and 12388 ( Multi Core ) . The M1 Ultra puts up an almost selfsame Single - burden score , but once again it almost doubles the Multi - Core sexual conquest . Both processor will give you blister carrying out for single - core usage , but the Ultra will really shine if mainframe render is pivotal to your workflow .
If your workflow is CPU - subordinate , you ’ll detect the deviation between the M1 Max and Ultra with multi - core apps . identify whether your work flow is CPU- or GPU - dependent is key to get the best performance — and call back , in the case of the M1 serial , Apple offers hardware speedup for the ProRes codec .
M1 Max vs M1 Ultra: HandBrake 1.4 benchmarks
When converting a 4 K video filing cabinet to 1080p in HandBrake , the M1 Max took 564 second with the H.265 encoder , and 187 seconds using the H.265 VideoToolBox encoder . The M1 Ultra was able-bodied to beat that score by taking only 395 mo with H.265 , and 120 instant with VideoToolBox . The Ultra provides a significant bump in operation .
The main grounds for this performance gain is – you guessed it – double the telecasting decoders and encoders in the M1 Ultra . This is a great instance of how the cost increase hardware throttle affect performance in the material macrocosm .
M1 Max vs M1 Ultra: Blackmagic Disk Test
forward-looking SSDs are inordinately fast , eliminating a monumental chokepoint in everyday usable performance compared to spin out parkway of yore . The Mac Studio M1 Max add up standard with a 512 GB SSD , while the M1 Ultra 48 - core GPU example doubles that size to 1 TB .
In my testing , I see read speed of 5400MBps and write speeds of 5300 MBps with either SSD . On the Mac Studio M1 Ultra with a 64 - core GPU and a 2 TB SSD , the SSD place a similar read upper of 5429MBps , but the write speed improved to 6486MBps .
If you rely on international storage devices , you ’ll likely find that those devices may not play off the speed of the internal storage , even when using Thunderbolt 4 SSDs .
M1 Max vs M1 Ultra: R3D Raw rendering
Video editor working with codecs other than ProRes may need the GPU to do most of the heavy lifting . Here are some performance equivalence that involve an export in Final Cut Pro of R3D Raw 4 K 120p footage to ProRes 422 military headquarters .
The M1 Ultra with a 64 - core GPU is about 15 percent faster than the same C.P.U. with a 48 - core GPU . However , a 2019 Mac Pro is still over 60 percent faster for this task with an AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo GPU , 28 - core 2.5GHz Intel Xeon W CPU , and 96 GB of RAM .
M1 Max vs M1 Ultra: Do you need double the power?
Apple has included very specific improvements on the M1 Ultra that will highly profit specific work flow – this will be your cardinal decider in choose which modelling is best .
The Mac Studio M1 Ultra can sometimes double the performance of the M1 Max version , depending on your use of goods and services case . The multi - core gains verbalise for themselves – the Ultra is the best of the M1 series . If you ’re heavy into ProRes and video recording codecs such as H.265 , having double the accelerators find out in the Ultra will give you great public presentation gains . If you ’re a photo editor program , the almost identical single - pith functioning of both exemplar will mean you ’re good off with the cheaper variant in term of value . If you do require to do heavier photo work , however , the higher RAM limits of the Ultra can get along in handy . Again , recognize what your work flow demands , and then beak accordingly .
There is one workflow situation where you might be better off not investing anything just yet . professional whose workflows swear heavily on GPU performance will get that the M1 Ultra with either the 48- or 64 - Congress of Racial Equality GPU will offer more brute force than the M1 Max . But those users should wait until Apple reveals its Mac Pro with Apple silicon to see how the company will call the GPU demands made by professionals in the field .
