With the current M-series Mac lineup, Apple is taking absolutely no prisoners. In this dog-eat-dog, survival-of-the-fittest release cycle, featuring the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips, Apple is demonstrating that it prioritizes perpetual progress. Apple has one chip left in the M3 series, the M3 Ultra, and if history is any indication, it’s poised to become an incredible powerhouse.
On paper, the MacBook Pro M3 Max is inferior to the high-end M2 Ultra Mac Studio, but in practice its performance in real-world scenarios is very close. The performance and efficiency gains of the M3 Max lead to a potentially revolutionary chip with the highly anticipated M3 Ultra.
The performance of the M3 Ultra crammed into the small Mac Studio could be a supernova-level event for Mac users. Let’s take a look at what the M3 Ultra Mac Studio will be and how it will shake up the entire Mac lineup.
Professional machines have been changed forever
For years, business users and enthusiasts alike have had to make compromises when choosing a Mac. Some would forgo the heavy Mac Pro and settle for the lower performance of a Mac mini or MacBook Pro to have a compact design. Price was also an issue, as high-end equipment always carried a substantial premium.
The M3 Max in the MacBook Pro gives us an idea of what to expect in an M3 Utra chip.
Thiago Trevisan
With Apple silicon, we’ve seen this gap close quickly. The performance of small machines is better than ever and the price is no longer as stratospheric as it once was. This is because of the MacBook Pro and Mac Studio M series.
Remember when laptops were seriously hampered by battery life, heat, and reduced system performance due to the form factor? Apple silicon has erased that, and the M3 Max is a shining example.
Expand this laptop into a larger case like the Mac Studio, and there’s enough room for even Mac Pro-level hardware. This was demonstrated by the performance parity between the latest M2 Ultra Mac Studio and the Mac Pro.
M3 Ultra Mac Studio: potential performance
To get an idea of what we can expect from the M3 Ultra, we can look at the M2 Ultra Mac Studio and the new M3 Max MacBook Pro. Based on the specs, the M2 Ultra has a clear advantage, especially when it comes to CPU and GPU core counts.
| Chip | CPU cores | GPU cores |
|---|---|---|
| M2 Ultra | 24 hearts (16 performance, 8 efficiency) |
60 hearts (expandable to 76 cores) |
| M3 Max | 16 hearts (12 performances, 4 efficiency) |
40 hearts |
In practice, the MacBook Pro’s M3 Max chip scores eye-popping numbers that show there’s more than meets the eye under the hood. In igamesnews’s M3 Max MacBook Pro review, the M3 Max chip outperforms the 24-core M2 Ultra processor in Geekbench 6 tests. The M3 chips are at a much higher level.
With real-life performances, the story continues. Here’s a simple test with a sequence of the R3D Raw codec, a 20 minute video exported to ProRes HQ 422 in Final Cut Pro. R3D Raw relies more on GPU power than other codecs, and the results are revealing. (Results are in seconds. Shorter times and shorter bars are preferable.)
Exporting 6K Red Raw Files in Final Cut Pro
The newer Apple chips dominate the now-old AMD Radeon Vega II GPU, which was a high-end option in 2019. The MacBook Pro with M3 Max is virtually tied with the Mac Studio M2 Ultra.
Software is also rapidly being optimized to take advantage of Apple Silicon Macs, which helps further explain how previous generation hardware is being left behind.
There are, however, certainly areas where the Mac Studio with M2 Ultra will still excel. With its powerful 76-core GPU, some 3D use cases will still be superior to the M3 Max.
For example, in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 4K on top, the M2 Ultra averages 76 frames per second. The MacBook Pro with M3 Max gets significantly less at 54fps, showing the delta that still exists between them.
If we assume that performance will continue to peak, the M3 Ultra in a Mac Studio will be an absolute powerhouse. An M3 Ultra with more GPU cores will definitely blow the M2 Ultra out of the water, completing the dominance that the M3 chips are starting to assert.
Apple has paid some attention to gaming with Macs, recently showing how M3 Max has hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading. Pair these technological advancements with the raw power that an M3 Ultra will hold, and the picture becomes clear of its dominance over the existing M2 Ultra.
M3 Ultra Mac Studio: What to expect
While there is no confirmation or even a set date for when the supposed M3 Ultra will arrive, based on the M2 Ultra Mac Studio version, it will likely be in the spring or at WWDC in June. We will see the M3 Ultra offered in the Mac Studio and Mac Pro.
This will make the Mac Studio one of the most powerful machines for its size we’ve ever seen. And the Mac Pro will remain an option for those who need PCIe slots.
The Mac Studio introduced a new concept to the Mac lineup: workstation performance in a compact form.
Thiago Trevisan
What does this mean for buyers who have already invested in the Apple silicon ecosystem? These recent release cycles appear to be more aggressive than is typical for Apple. The M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max were released 10 months after the delivery of the M2 Pro and Max. If the M3 Ultra is released in June, it will come a year after the M2 Ultra. The cycle between the M1 and M2 series was approximately two years.
If the new MacBook Pros were just a refresh or minor color change, then it would be easy to not give the new releases a second thought. But the M3 Max offers a significant performance improvement over the M2 Max, up to 43% in multi-core Geekbench 6. It’s also an indicator that the M2 Ultra could be quickly outclassed by the upcoming M3 Ultra, leaving the former-dominant option further behind the curve than normal.
Apple’s aggressive upgrade curve can make customers unsure of what to do. This is different from Intel Mac cycles since Apple was dependent on Intel’s release schedule. Apple silicon streamlines this process in favor of rapid progress. Add in slow Mac sales over the past few months, and Apple has incentive to release interesting products quickly to attract new buyers.
The M2 Ultra remains a powerful chip. Existing owners don’t have to worry about the latest developments. While upgrade cycles have certainly become shorter with Apple silicon, high-end performance is still more than capable for years to come.
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