Apple’s M3 Ultra—didn’t see that coming, did you? Let’s explore what’s worth your cash and what’s just overkill.
M3 Ultra—seriously, Apple? I thought you finished with the M3 chips, but here we are. Where’s the M4 Ultra? Why did Apple make buying a Mac Studio so confusing this year? I get it if you’re feeling lost. I’ve been saving for a couple of years to upgrade from my 6-year-old Dell Inspiron 3584. Definitely grabbing a Mac Studio, but is the M3 Ultra worth it? Rumor says it’ll crush Geekbench multicore with 30k-33k points. Wild. But are you paying for power you’ll never use? In this Mac Studio M3 Ultra review, I’ll help you figure out if all that raw power is necessary for you.
Let’s break down what upgrades matter (and what’s pointless) for video editing, coding, music, or casual use. No tech jargon—just straight talk to cut through the chaos.
M3 Ultra Mac Studio design
The 7.7-inch square, 3.7-inch tall aluminum workstation keeps the same design as before, with identical port placement and the wide vent grill on the back. Apple stuck with this Mac Studio’s chassis for a reason (just ask my friend). It doesn’t take up much space and fits neatly under the Apple Studio Display.
Up front, it’s business as usual with 2 USB-C ports and an SD card slot. Spin it around, and you’ll spot 4 more USB-C ports, 2 USB-A, ethernet, power, audio jacks, and the power button.
Port selection isn’t an issue here. The M3 Ultra comes with Thunderbolt 5, just like the M4 Max. But while the M4 Max only has it on the 4 rear USB-C ports, the M3 Ultra Mac Studio slaps it on all 6.
Speaking of upgrades, the M3 Ultra now handles up to 8 6K Pro Display XDRs. That’s way better than the M2 Ultra’s 8 4K limit. Thunderbolt 5 is a big deal if you’re editing 8K video, juggling monitors, or moving huge files. For everyone else? Meh. If you’re wondering whether you need it, you probably don’t.
Storage also gets a bump—you can now spec the Mac Studio with up to 16TB. That caught my eye because I ran out of space on my MacBook after a few years and had to start deleting files. Oddly, the new Mac Pro doesn’t get this upgrade.
At the end of the day, the new Mac Studio sticks to Apple’s sleek, compact formula. The biggest change? That powerhouse chip inside.
M3 Ultra Mac Studio performance
Apple surprised everyone by basing the M3 Ultra on the M3 chip instead of jumping straight to an M4 Ultra. When Mark Gurman mentioned an M3 Ultra was coming, I was like, “Nah, where’s Thunderbolt 5?” But here’s the twist—Apple still gave us Thunderbolt 5, just on an M3 Ultra.
So, why use an older chip family for the Ultra? Apple says it’s basically 2 M3 Max chips fused together. Honestly, I’ll let that slide because after digging into the M3 Ultra’s specs, I can already tell this machine is an absolute beast. Whether you’re gaming or diving into AI work.
Gaming
For almost 20 years, everyone agreed—Windows was the go-to for gaming, and Macs weren’t even in the conversation. Apple wants to change that by getting developers to bring AAA games to Apple silicon. The M3 Ultra packs a 32-core CPU and an 80-core GPU, a solid upgrade from the M2 Ultra’s 24-core CPU and 76-core GPU. Those extra 8 cores are performance cores, so expect some serious power.
Bringing the M3 to Mac Studio also unlocks ray tracing, making graphics look even better in games. Right now, it’s more of a luxury feature for enthusiasts who can afford one. I didn’t care about it until I experienced it in “The Witcher 3”, and yeah, it made a difference. Would I buy a whole system just for ray tracing? Probably not. But I’d consider it when picking a GPU.
Artificial intelligence
Apple is rolling out Dynamic Caching, which reduces latency by storing frequently used data, along with hardware-accelerated mesh shading. Both features are firsts for Apple’s GPUs.
AI tasks need tons of parallel processing power, and Dynamic Caching helps GPUs work smarter, not harder, by avoiding memory waste. My Dell laptop uses huge GPU resources for just simple tasks like dragging Windows around. It’s not smooth at all. I can see how Dynamic Catching can be valuable in preventing inefficient memory usage.
Memory capacity also plays a key role. M3 Ultra’s base model has 96GB RAM, but you can max it out at 512GB. That’s enough to run some serious AI models locally.
Apple says the M3 Ultra is 2.6 times faster than the M1 Ultra Mac Studio. It also has a 32-core Neural Engine that’s up to 16.9x speedier at token generation in LM Studio.
Should you buy Mac Studio with M3 Ultra?
Apple dropped its latest chips in the weirdest way possible—and it works. That said, a fully loaded Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra plus top memory and storage will set you back $14,099. It’s easy to get lost in the hype of the latest tech and end up spending more than you need to.
For most creative tasks, both the M4 Max (starting at $1,999) and M3 Ultra (starting at $3,999) are excellent. However, if you want to maximize speed and handle the heaviest workloads, the M3 Ultra is the right choice.
The M4 Max is ideal for editing 4K videos, using Final Cut Pro, and tasks like making Photoshop thumbnails. But if you’re training AI models or dealing with LLMs, opt for the M3 Ultra. It’s all about how fast you need to go from idea to done.
My former colleague, who’s an animator, is considering the M3 Ultra for video editing. With more encoders and decoders, it’ll speed up exports compared to the M4 Max.
Not doing heavy-duty professional work? I’d skip the Mac Studio and save money by going for the M4 Pro Mac mini (starting at $1,399). You can even pick the M4 Mac mini (starting at $599) and upgrade the RAM and storage for long-term use.
Bottom line
The M3 Ultra (starting at $3,999) is your best bet for top-notch multicore CPU power. Think CPU rendering, massive Logic Pro projects, science work, or AI builds needing tons of VRAM.
If you’re not dealing with intense workloads, the M4 Pro Mac mini saves cash. Apple’s lineup has options for every vibe—just grab what matches your needs. Skip paying for extra power you won’t use.