The past two generations of M-series chips, Apple has displayed the pinnacle of their power in the “Ultra”-moniker chips: M1 Ultra and M2 Ultra, both the fastest of their respective groups. With Apple having announced the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max this past week, what kind of specifications and performance can we expect from the upcoming M3 Ultra?
The M3 chip has an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, while the M3 Pro has up to a 12-core CPU and up to an 18-core GPU. The M3 Max has up to a 16-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU.
The M1 and M2 series chips used TSMC’s 5-nanometer technology, and now the M3 chips are built on their newer 3-nanometer technology. The smaller node size means more transistor density, equating to improved efficiency and performance.
We believe that Apple will in fact introduce the M3 Ultra chip after 2 things happen: adoption of the already existing M3 series becomes more common, and if/when TSMC can increase chip production. It’s important to remember TSMC’s entire 3nm node production goes exclusively to Apple, per their agreement.
But when it does release, in Q2 or Q3 2024, we can expect a 24 or 28-core processor, most likely up to 256 GB of unified memory support (an increase from the current 192 GB on the M2 Ultra), and huge graphics improvements, thanks to the M3 lineup following in the iPhone’s A17 Pro chip. This will be the first Mac Pro to feature Ray Tracing and Dynamic Caching.
Although not necessary for the vast majority of users, the future Mac Pro and Mac Studio will be a success amongst design and production studios, who require the absolute most power possible for very demanding tasks. Are you interested in seeing the upcoming M3 Ultra chip?