Just when we mean theM3 was in the groundand Apple had rapidly go every single Mac framework over to the fresh and new M4 processor , in rolls the high - endMac Studio , equipped with the out of the question - to - predict , never - before - seen M3 Ultra processor .
That ’s right – in March 2025 , a full 16 months after the M3 Pro and M3 Max buffalo chip arrived on the scene , Apple introduced a new microchip in the older , nearly withdraw fellowship . And it means that the new Mac Studio comes at the same time in M3 and M4 varieties – with the M3 example being the gamy - end conformation
M3 closeout sale
Here ’s the story as we know it : Apple and its chipmaker , TSMC , were rightly proud when the M3 and A17 Pro chips arrived in 2023 as the first chips made by a new , state - of - the - art 3 nm lying physical process . But as it turn out , TSMC was already working on a more effective and economical second - propagation 3 nm process , create that first generation a routine of an architectural dead remainder . Therefore , everyone expected Apple and TSMC to rapidly work from the M3 to the M4 , which is base on the second - generation procedure and more effective all around . That ’s why Apple has spent the last few month updating almost every Mac from M3 to M4 .
Petter Ahrnstedt
Except … there ’s still theM3 iPad Airand theA17 Pro iPad mini , both of which use dilute - rate edition of that older process . Nobody outside Apple and TSMC seems to know whether there are still portions of the old process take to the woods somewhere or if there ’s a big bin of M3 and A17 parts that Apple know will be enough to suffer any demand for equipment with the older poker chip architecture .
When Apple revealed the M3 iPad Air, it was a sign of life for the M3 chip generation.
That was all weird enough , but the promulgation of the M3 Ultra is something else . It ’s anewchip , not some relic of the past . It ’s a whole generation out of stride with Apple ’s current scheme , thawed out and unload on an unsuspecting populace like some sort of siliconAustin Powers .
Or at least that ’s what you might believe if all you see is the big number 3 next to the capital M. But when you seem closer at the M3 Ultra , you originate to realize that all is not as it seems .
M3 or M3.5?
The M1 Ultra and M2 Ultra crisp were basically just two M1 Max and M2 Max processors , respectively , flummox together with Apple ’s UltraFusion engineering . Their specs were just stunt woman of the small-scale chip shot : twice the C.P.U. essence , twice the GPU nub , twice the neural engines , and twice the maximum RAM .
But that ’s not the case with the M3 Ultra , which is probably why it accept Apple so much longer to free it than its sibling chips . ( The M2 Ultra espouse the M2 Pro and Max after just a few months , so 16 month is quite a wait . )
The M3 Ultra chip is very much modeled on the M3 Max and offers twice as many CPU and GPU cores , Neural Engine CORE , and the like . But look closer : The M3 Ultra offers a upper limit of 512 GB of RAM , four timesthe maximum 128 GB of the M3 Max . And the M3 Ultra abide the faster Thunderbolt 5 spec , not the older Thunderbolt 4 of the balance of the family .
When Apple revealed the M3 iPad Air, it was a sign of life for the M3 chip generation.
That mean the M3 Ultra is an in - between chip , mostly based on the honest-to-god M3 genesis , but with a few gamey - ending addition that push it up toward the M4 in terminus of capability . In my conversations with Apple voice , I ’ve make the picture that these change , include the rising slope to Thunderbolt 5 , had an impingement on the release day of the month of the chip .
So why call it an M3 and not an M4 ? I retrieve Apple has some moderately strict interior rules that ascertain chip appointment , and they probably start with the intention of the C.P.U. cores . One look at the single - sum performance of the M3 Ultra and you ’ll see it performs more or less like any other M3 microchip . Of course , you wouldneverbuy an M3 Ultra and apply just a individual mainframe essence – the whole point is that you ’ve catch 20 or 24 of them , and 60 or 80 GPU core , too .
Foundry
An M3 Ultra Mac Studio offers the processing power found in Nvidia arrays.
Speaking of maxing things out , the M3 Ultra is design to do that . Because it ’s mostly from the former - propagation chip computer architecture , each part is slower – but if you adulterate up all those CPU and GPU core group and take advantage of an tremendous heap of RAM and the in high spirits bandwidth of Thunderbolt 5 , the M3 Ultra Mac Studio will run band around an M4 Max Mac Studio . It ’s a faster chip – when it ’s used to its fullest .
That ’s why the M3 Ultra Mac Studio really is a product design for a comparatively small consultation . Even most professional users will find it hard to make the M4 Max chip feel slow , but for certain program – picture , rendition , science , and AI – the outrageousness of the M3 Ultra ’s spec sheet will make it worth its very eminent price rag .
As Ben Thompsonpointed out this workweek , an M3 Ultra Mac Studio with 512 GB of RAM could launch the four - bit quantise version of the state - of - the - art DeepSeek R1 modelon machine . Even at a price tag end of tens of G of dollars , the mellow - end M3 Ultra Mac Studio might be a steal liken to expensive Nvidia arrays – if you find yourself in pauperization of running an enormous AI exemplar locally . Almost nobody want that … but if you ’re an AI researcher , you sure might .
Some open questions
Still , the M3 Ultra ’s arrival is weird enough to make it feel like we ’re all neglect part of the bigger picture . If there ’s no other shoe to drop , why did the M2 Ultra - based Mac Pro not get its own M3 Ultra microprocessor chip bump ?
Sure , it might mean the Mac Pro is just a laggard , and it ’s break to show up in June with the same chip inside . Or it might mean that Apple does n’t give care about the Mac Pro and it’spining for the fjord .
But consider this : Apple has suggested that there wo n’t needfully be an Ultra splintering in every M - series chip generation . Okay , but … what if there ’s something else ? A few years ago , there were hearsay of an even higher - end chip destined for the Mac Pro , but it was reportedly canceled . I wonder if maybe the future of the Mac Pro is hiding in unmixed stack , and the M3 Ultra is what it is because Apple ’s conk out to utilize its high - end bit purpose bandwidth in the M4 or M5 generation for something a small orotund , designed just for the Mac Pro .
( A bit that immense would almost for sure require to be inside the Mac Pro , because I doubt the Mac Studio enclosure and its cooling scheme would be capable of handle a cow dung that enceinte and spicy . )
I do n’t hump if a fancy ultra - high - final stage flake for the Mac Pro is in the cards , in this generation or any other . But if the M3 Ultra Mac Studio already has some challenging logical implication for running enormous AI models topically , guess what might be enabled by an even larger chip with even more onboard memory . It would be a feature article coiffure worthy of the name Mac Pro .
