M3 Max Chip Around as Fast as M2 Ultra in Early Benchmark Results

[zakarhino]

Mac Studio Ultra users just lost half of its value.

Nope, not so fast, this is not necessarily the case -- at least for editing. Unless I'm missing something these scores don't account for the full story of how Apple Silicon differs from the old Intel machines. Remember that these chips are modular and contain different subprocessing units for specialized tasks such as media playback. The M2 Ultra chips still have more media processing engines than the M3 Max. This M3 Max may be faster in terms of raw GPU and CPU abilities but what makes Apple Silicon so powerful for editing workflows is the inclusion of those media engines (that's why people can play multiple 8k streams on Apple Silicon when editing).

Maybe the raw performance of the M3 Max's GPU makes up for the lack of extra media engines but it's interesting how these specialized subprocessors (like the NPU or media engines) are becoming more important for workflows than raw horsepower. We will have to wait and see the tests but I can see a world where the extra media engines in a last generation Ultra chip are more valuable for certain workflows than a current gen Max chip.

 

[zakarhino]

Based on some of the conversations on this forum, there was never any doubt that both the top spec M3 Max and the base M3 would be impressive. The real question is how do the rest of the chips between those perform because of the apparent downgrades to the Pro series of chips.

Let's wait for the real testing. If Apple only send the base M3 and top spec Max to reviewers we're in trouble.

 

[klky]

Good to know. So I don’t need to trash my maxed out M2 Ultra which I got 4 months ago.

Kidding aside, Apple are spitting out these chips with insane frequency.

 

[midkay]

Yeah like something's just off. Not gonna say what it is because i have no proof. Just gonna say "hmmmmmm"

I’m calling it now – nothing’s off, these 3nm chips are just incredible. Apple deserves massive credit for this beastly M3 Max. We’ll know for sure in a couple weeks!

 

[mysticalos]

Wow! M3 Mac Studio Max is going to be crazy!

And when will that be available? Next Summer?

And just a few months behind M4 Max. I think this is one of biggest issues with the ultra machines. They are too late in cycle AND depreciate too fast to pay so much for such a throw away machine. They NEED to add value to the ultra high end machines like PCI gpu support or quite frankly they are setup to fail

 

[Giant_enemy_crab]

And just a few months behind M4 Max. I think this is one of biggest issues with the ultra machines. They are too late in cycle AND depreciate too fast to pay so much for such a throw away machine. They NEED to add value to the ultra high end machines like PCI gpu support or quite frankly they are setup to fail

Agreed. Why buy an Ultra when it will get outclassed by a laptop in a few months?

 

[imamacperson]

Looks like the M3 Ultra is going to be a beast!

 

[dante_mr]

Wow! M3 Mac Studio Max is going to be crazy!

And when will that be available? Next Summer?

Next summer makes the most sense to me since the last update was only a few months ago.

And the update before it was about a year before that.

But with the M3 already out so soon could we possibly see new desktop Macs in Spring 2024?

 

[dmi]

This is astonishig progress from m1 days wow

One might almost believe Moore's law was back https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/extrapolating.png

 

[Anglagard]

"The new 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $3,499 in the U.S. when configured with the M3 Max chip, while the Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra chip starts at $3,999, so you can effectively get the same performance for $500 less ..."

Which points to a pretty quick upgrade timetable for the Studio? Which was already looking overpriced compared to the higher end Mac Minis.

Except the Macbook Pro is portable and has a built in screen, keyboard, trackpad, audio etc.

 

[Anglagard]

If I dont do video editing or 3d stuff, should I only be concerned about single core performance if all I do is web browsing, youtube, basic programming and the likes? If thats the case all I need is M3 to fly.

 

[Hopscotcher]

If I dont do video editing or 3d stuff, should I only be concerned about single core performance if all I do is web browsing, youtube, basic programming and the likes? If thats the case all I need is M3 to fly.

Any M series Mac will fly with those activities. The M3 will dropkick them in the face.

 

[m4mario]

We need a special color for choosing the Max processor. At least a Max logo somewhere on the laptop. Not enough bragging rights.

 

[rukia]

Seems more clear why Qualcomm did the paper launch for their Snapdragon X Elite recently even though products won't be available until middle of 2024. With a GB score of ~2900 ST and ~15K MT (at 80W) it doesn't look as good against the M3 Max and even worse against the M4 Max, its real 2024 competitor. Unlike GB real world apps running on WoA would have the additional penalty of emulation.

 

[magdogg]

Apple's claim means nothing especially when they said "UP TO". It's just an advertisement so dont be fooled. They even said M1 Ultra is as powerful as RTX 3090 which turns out to be false. Also, CPU performance doesn't really multiply so easily.

The single core performance improved by almost 17% compared to M2 series based on Geekbench 6 but that seems to be possible by increasing the clock speed from 3.5 to 4ghz. Also, the CPU core difference is huge: 24 cores vs 16 cores. Beside Apple said that M3 Pro is 20% faster than "M1 Pro" in terms of multi core. How does it even improved by 50% when the single core performance gained only 16%?

The CPU performance improvement wasn't really dramatic compared to M2 and therefore, it's fishy. At this point, I would wait for actual results especially since M3 Max won't be available till late November.

This is about the Max chip, not the Pro! Nothing fishy about it whatsoever in any way shape or form.

 

[krell100]

Only 7 months to wait for an M3 Studio Ultra...

 

[Hopscotcher]

That is absolutely insane.

 

[yosh22]

Waiting for real world benchs but GPU wise we are still far far from real GPU power needed for 3D Rendering. The Apple GPU bench’s are promising much more than what real world results are. Let’s see if the ultra m3 maxed out Mac Pro will reach the power of one 4090.. I will have to stick to my pc and m1max for now..

 

[svish]

M3 seems to be at the same level as M1 Max. Was not expecting this!!

 

[bousozoku]

We just need to see a real comparison with the Qualcomm/Nuvia Snapdragon X Elite.

 

[MayaUser]

M3 seems to be at the same level as M1 Max. Was not expecting this!!

So if these are accurate
M3 faster than M1 Pro
M3 Max as fast as M2 Ultra and faster than M1 Ultra

 

[klasma]

This makes me want to buy one even though have absolutely no use for it except for commenting on Macrumors.

Just think about how much faster you'll be able to comment on multiple threads.

 

[MayaUser]

We just need to see a real comparison with the Qualcomm/Nuvia Snapdragon X Elite.

good luck with that ) They have no chance not even with M3

 

[jillpygok]

"The new 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $3,499 in the U.S. when configured with the M3 Max chip, while the Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra chip starts at $3,999, so you can effectively get the same performance for $500 less ..."

Which points to a pretty quick upgrade timetable for the Studio? Which was already looking overpriced compared to the higher end Mac Minis.

The 16 core M3 Max 16" starts at $3999, not $3499.

 

[tahoeroscoe]

M3 seems to be at the same level as M1 Max. Was not expecting this!!

Yeah that’s pretty wild