Apple’s M3 Ultra is the fastest chip that it produces, and right now, you can find it exclusively in the Mac Studio. Like a Mac mini that’s been supersized, the Mac Studio still sits neatly underneath a monitor screen. For a professional-grade computer, it’s tiny, and due to its size, it’s easy to underestimate its power.
You can buy the Mac Studio now in two versions. The relative ‘entry-level’ model features an M4 Max chip – the second most powerful in the current range. While the flagship version features the M3 Ultra – the equivalent of two M3 Max chips combined, because essentially that’s what it is. So until an M4 Ultra is born, the M3 Ultra is hands down the fastest.
But just how fast is that, and do I really need that kind of power? Giving you a list of numbers doesn’t do the M3 Ultra justice. Its Geekbench CPU multicore score is over 27,000 and its GPU Metal score is over 245,000. That’s 3.3x faster CPU and 6.4x faster GPU than the M2 Ultra. 3D rendering performance is 6.4x faster, video editing is 4x faster, code compiling is 3.3x faster.
Chances are you probably don’t need the kind of power that the Mac Studio M3 Ultra can deliver. In fact, unless you’re a high-end animation, video or audio professional, you’re unlikely to get anywhere near its capabilities. But no one really needs the power and acceleration of a sports car, but that doesn’t make it any less appealing.
I’ve used previous Mac Studio models, as well as Mac mini and the best MacBook Pro machines consistently for the last few years, so to really get to grips with the latest Mac Studio, I swapped my regular work machine for this powerhouse for the last month.
I wanted to look beyond the big numbers and see just how much different it is to use this Mac Studio M3 Ultra day-to-day. What I found is that the user experience is little different. However, the possibilities are endless. There was nothing I could throw at it that would even tax its power.
How much is the Mac Studio M3 Ultra?
As I’ve already mentioned, there are two flavours of the Mac Studio, which start from £2099 / €2499 / $1999 / AU$3499 for the M4 Max model and £4199 / €4999 / $3999 / AU$6999 for the M3 Ultra version. That’s a huge jump in price, but there is an equally huge performance difference, too.
Of course, you can also customise both versions of the machine during the purchase process, choosing either the more powerful (more CPU and GPU cores) versions of the chip, adding memory (up to 512GB), and increasing storage (up to 16TB). That maxes out at an eye-watering £14,299 / €17,624 / $14099 / AU$22,149.
The version I tested was the 32-core CPU / 80-core GPU M3 Ultra model, which has 256GB of memory and 4TB of storage and costs £ 8,299 in the UK.
Mac Studio: Design and Features
The look and feel of the Mac Studio has remained unchanged from the Mac Studio (2023) version, and even the original 2022 model. A relatively small silver box that is 19.7cm (7.7 inches) square and 9.5cm (3.7 inches) tall. This new model does weigh fractionally more – between 2.74kg (6.1lbs) and 3.64kg (8lbs) – but not so much you’d notice picking it up.
The latest Mac mini M4 now follows a similar design (though smaller) with two USB-C ports on the front. However, on the M3 Ultra version of the Mac Studio, these are faster Thunderbolt 5 ports. You also get an SDXC card slot on the front of the machine, which you don’t get on the Mac mini.
On the back of the device, both versions feature four Thunderbolt 5 ports, two USB-A ports, a 10Gb Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s a slight shame the headphone port isn’t on the front like it is on the Mac mini, but this is more likely to be used to output to speakers than headphones on the Mac Studio, so perhaps doesn’t need constant access.
Connection-wise, the Mac Studio also offers Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 options. This allows you to stay relatively wire-free, using Apple’s Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse – both available separately. You can also use Apple’s AirPlay to stream to the screen of another device, or even Universal Control to use the same keyboard and mouse across multiple devices.
This is especially useful to move files between the Mac Studio and my Mac Pro, or simply to switch between the two screens using the mouse. It turns multiple devices – whether it's MacBooks or iPads – into one single system with multiple displays.
Mac Studio: Performance
The ‘base’ Mac Studio uses the M4 Max chip. This is the most powerful option for the MacBook Pro, and so it’s incredibly quick. This chip features a 14-core CPU and a 32-core GPU. Or you can opt for the higher-powered version, with a 16-core CPU and a 40-core GPU.
When we get to the M3 Ultra version of the Mac Studio, the numbers get a little crazy. As standard, the M3 Ultra features a 28-core CPU and a 60-core GPU, plus a 32-core neural engine. If that’s not enough for you, you can opt for the more powerful version, which has a 32-core CPU and an 80-core GPU.
I wanted to get a real-life idea of what this speed means, so I tried a few software operations that I do regularly. I timed the same processes on the Mac Studio M3 Ultra and on a MacBook Pro M4 – which is still a much faster machine than I use day-to-day.
In Adobe Lightroom, I exported a folder of 684 high-res images (9.5GB) into a web-sized format. On my usual machine this would be something I set going and come back to later. However, on the MacBook Pro M4 it took just 52 seconds. By comparison, on the Mac Studio M3 Ultra, this took 18 seconds.
If you scale this for processing 8K video or animation, the difference will be huge. It’s this that makes the M3 Ultra chip so appealing for professional users. It also allows the machine to handle much larger files too, without breaking a sweat.
Should I buy the Mac Studio M3 Ultra?
The Mac Studio is now the most powerful machine that Apple sells. It's the ultimate solution for the professional user. This big brother to the Mac mini takes things to a different level, offering not only more power, but bigger capacities, more memory, greater monitor support, and more connectivity.
For most people, the Mac mini is probably more than adequate, but for creators – whether it’s in a professional or amateur capacity – the Mac Studio offers what, at times, feels like unlimited power. It certainly is more than capable of even the most memory-intensive challenges.
It also means that the machine is as future-proof as it can be, as resolutions and file sizes continue to rise. Perhaps the only downside of the Mac Studio is that, compared with the Mac Pro machine, it doesn’t have the expansion ports or the ability to upgrade parts at a later date.
Right now, though, if you are looking for the very best desktop machine, the Mac Studio is the answer.
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