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Apple released its most powerful chip ever on March 5, but with an unexpected twist. The new Mac Studio‘s top-end version doesn’t use the company’s newest M4 processor, instead featuring the brand-new M3 Ultra chip.
When asked about this approach, Apple stated that not every chip generation will get an “Ultra” tier.
The power behind the decision
Despite the version number, the M3 Ultra outmuscles the newer M4 Max. The M3 Ultra combines two M3 Max dies using UltraFusion technology, connecting them with over 10,000 high-speed signals to create a single chip with 184 billion transistors.
“M3 Ultra is the pinnacle of our scalable system-on-a-chip architecture,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “There’s no other chip like M3 Ultra.”
The M3 Ultra features a 32-core CPU with 24 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores. By comparison, the M4 Max tops out at 16 cores (12 performance, 4 efficiency). The M3 Ultra also includes an 80-core GPU, while the M4 Max maxes out at 40 cores. Both models feature Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, providing 120Gb/s data transfer speeds – twice as fast as Thunderbolt 4.
Apple claims the M3 Ultra delivers 1.5 times the performance of the M2 Ultra and 1.8 times that of the M1 Ultra.
Perhaps most significant is the M3 Ultra’s memory capacity. It starts with 96GB of unified memory and can be configured up to 512GB – more than any personal computer has offered before.
This massive memory pool enables the Mac Studio to run advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models locally. Users can now operate large language models with over 600 billion parameters directly on their devices.
For AI researchers and developers, this is a major breakthrough. Models like the controversial DeepSeek R1 with 671 billion parameters can now run on a desktop machine, though at a price—a fully equipped system costs $9,499 before storage upgrades.
The base Mac Studio with M4 Max starts at $1,999 with 36GB of memory and 512GB of storage. The M3 Ultra version begins at $3,999 with 96GB memory and 1TB storage. A fully configured M3 Ultra Mac Studio with 512GB RAM and 16TB storage costs $14,099.
The computers are available for preorder now and will ship starting March 12.
Market implications
Apple’s decision to split processor generations suggests a new product strategy that could better differentiate its Mac lineup. It might also indicate cost and development challenges in producing “Ultra” chips for every generation.
For professionals in AI, video, and 3D rendering, the decision comes down to specific needs. The M4 Max offers the newest architecture but fewer cores, while the M3 Ultra delivers raw power with slightly older technology.
Either way, the massive memory capacity pushes desktop computing into new territory, especially for AI development that previously required specialized hardware or cloud services.
