Apple Explains Why the New Mac Studio Doesn't Have an M4 Ultra Chip

Apple today updated the Mac Studio with mismatched M4 Max and M3 Ultra chip options. Naturally, this has led people to wonder why Apple opted for an M3 Ultra instead of an M4 Ultra chip, and the answer is fairly interesting.

M4 Max and M3 Ultra
Apple told Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham that not every generation of M-series chips for Macs will include an "Ultra" chip.

"When asked why the high-end Mac Studio was getting an M3 Ultra chip instead of an M4 Ultra, Apple told us that not every chip generation will get an 'Ultra' tier," he wrote.

Perhaps that means we will never get an M4 Ultra chip?

Apple's explanation leads us to wonder which chip the next Mac Pro desktop tower will use. Both the Mac Studio and Mac Pro were updated with the M2 Ultra chip simultaneously in June 2023, and many people in the Apple community felt that the Mac Pro was thereby a bad buy since it costs thousands of dollars more than the Mac Studio despite there being a perceived lack of differentiation between the computers.

When the rumor broke yesterday that the Mac Studio would be updated with M3 Ultra chip, there was hope that Apple would eventually update the Mac Pro with an M4 Ultra chip, for increased differentiation between the computers. Apple's explanation doesn't bode well for that possibility, although it does not explicitly rule it out.

The next Mac Pro could simply end up getting the M3 Ultra chip, and maintain that lack of differentiation over the Mac Studio.

To learn more about the M3 Ultra chip, which is effectively two M3 Max chips combined, read our coverage of Apple's announcement.

Related Roundup: Mac Studio
Buyer's Guide: Mac Studio (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Mac Studio

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Top Rated Comments

Rychiar Avatar
4 weeks ago
so why did the m3 ultra not come out LAST summer:rolleyes: Apple makes no sense
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
VisceralRealist Avatar
4 weeks ago
Yeah, that sounds like a pretty clear admission that there's not going to be an M4 Ultra.

But then what was all that about the M3 Max not being built for connecting two together in an "Ultra" configuration?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
4 weeks ago

Yeah, that sounds like a pretty clear admission that there's not going to be an M4 Ultra.

But then what was all that about the M3 Max not being built for connecting two together in an "Ultra" configuration?
That rumor was simply wrong. M3 Ultra does use UltraFusion to combine two M3 Max chips.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MayaUser Avatar
4 weeks ago
So Mac pro will stay with inferior M2 Ultra but a lot more expesinve than Mac studio?
Because i dont see why Apple didnt update the Mac pro with M3 ultra today
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
4 weeks ago
Money is why:



Attachment Image
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gloor Avatar
4 weeks ago
They didn't explain anything. In fact, why no one asked them - if this is the case, Apple then why did you not do BOTH with M4 (ie. M4 Max & M4 Ultra) as that would clearly skip M3 and would be on par. Why do one each?

Also, why did they wait so long to update it? They could have done M3 Max and M3 Ultra last summer and skip M4.

So confusing and so NOT explained by Apple
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)