Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips Could Launch This Week

[Unregistered 4U]

I don't think the M4 Max has it either.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1896944769328427216

Hey, look everyone, proof there’s no M4 Ultra!

And you KNOW, teh ONLY conclusion after no M3 Ultra and no M4 Ultra IS THAT THERE WILL MOST DEFINITELY BE AN M5 ULTRA!!

It couldn’t be that so few people bought the Ultra that it makes no sense to continue producing it. That’s not crazy enough to be true.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Are you aware that he has his sources? Do you think he would work in Bloomberg and so many people would read him if there was no substance there?

He works at Bloomberg because he draws much attention to himself and their site. The moment he becomes even the LEAST bit rational and start losing eyeballs (ad views) is the moment he no longer works at Bloomberg.

 

[johnmarki]

It figures as soon as I'm in the market for an Ultra and patiently waiting, this craziness gets spread-about. I personally dont believe it, but the only thing that gets me worried is that the Ultra chip is going to be its own thing and they will move it to the Mac Pro line which will be very close to pricing me out of its capabilities.

The only hope I have (if this rumor is true) is that the Ultra chip is just being re-branded, and the Max chips will become tiered to the upside to provide the same power we expect from the previous Ultra, while the future Ultra chip becomes something even more powerful than we've come to expect.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Gurman has a lot of sources in the supply chain

A week ago, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote Apple was “gearing up” for the release of the M4 MacBook Air in March. February is over, and Gurman hasn’t revised his estimate.

In fact, he’s now predicting it could arrive this week, with new iPads following shortly after.

Well, just lost a few more.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Agreed. Upgrading to an M4 Max version really only makes sense if you're currently on the original M1 Max version.

Or, if you’re using any of the millions and millions of desktop Macs released over the years and are looking for an upgrade to a top performance Apple Silicon system.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Mark “Flippity Floppity” Gurman trying to save face here after he said that the iPad 11 was gonna have Apple Intelligence (it didn’t)

At this point, accuracy doesn’t even matter anymore. Say things, drive traffic and ad views, WIN!

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

If true, this would be a very wonky release. The machine that’s twice as expensive has a 1 generation older chip. Weird.

 

[Antony Newman]

+) If Apple had a single SoC M3 Ultra from in 2023 - customers would have happily purchased new Mac Studios in 2024_Q1 before the M4 iPad Pro came out. A single Huge SoC might only have (speculation) 70% more area for GPU than the M3 Max (and so have at most 1.7 x the GPU performance)

+) In 7 months from now - the M5 Max will be available in a Laptop. If the M5 Max GPU is (speculation) 25% faster than the M4 Max, and the M4 GPU is (roughly) 25% faster than the M3 GPU .. then it will be about 1.6 x the performance of the M3 Max GPU (ie roughly the same performance / 10% slower)

+) And so from 2025 Q4 who would buy a Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra? Or even an M4 Max for that matter?
If Apple tried to 'fix this' by releasing an M4 Ultra in the Studio in early 2026 or offer Whatever Apple intend to put into the Mac Pro later this year .... then who would buy a Mac Pro?

+) If Apple have abandoned the M4 version of Hydra that was supposed to go into the Mac Pro in 2025 - is it more likely that they also abandoned bifurcating the MAC PRO and MAC STUDIO lines in 2025 - and for this year at least they will Both have the same (lower Wattage) Ultra chip that could be used in both machines.

 

[Airmk]

M3 Ultra makes no sense but on the other hand, holding off on a M4 Max Studio release just because M4 Ultra isn't ready makes no sense to me either

At this point people aren't gonna just buy a Mac Mini but wait for the new Studio so they might as well just release the Studio M4 Max now and announce a M4 Ultra available later this year

 

[xgman]

well here's hoping that they thought all this through and have a reasonable solution for all this.

 

[Acidsplat]

Why would apple produce an M3 Ultra for use in one single product SKU?
Seems like production costs wouldn't be worth the low volume when it can put in more devices (like the Mac Pro)

 

[octopi]

Time machine could launch as soon as yesterday........ claims Gurman.

 

[developer13245]

Apple release an M4 Max /M3 Ultra Mac Studio? 🙄

Well done. Peak product line fragmentation achieved.

By only developing one line of "Apple Silicon" (AS) chips (M Series) based on SOC architecture, Apple has painted themselves into a "product line fragmentation" corner. When Apple announced their 2 year AS transition I hoped Apple had a breakthrough hidden "up their sleeve" for the Mac Pro. When the AS Mac Pro was late it increased my hopefulness they would deliver a breakthrough. But it was not to be the case.
The M series Mac Pro is a larger fail than the Trash Can Mac Pro.

 

[211]

I’ve been waiting for a Mac Studio with M4 for ages. I’m happy for Apple to release the M4 Max sooner with the M4 Ultra later. However, I don’t think an updated Mac Studio in any form will be released this month, but I hope I’m wrong

 

[Airmk]

I’ve been waiting for a Mac Studio with M4 for ages. I’m happy for Apple to release the M4 Max sooner with the M4 Ultra later. However, I don’t think an updated Mac Studio in any form will be released this month, but I hope I’m wrong

Same here, tbh I find it pretty annoying that we have to wait just because M4 Ultra isn't ready

 

[Bafflefish]

I’ll play Devil’s Advocate and say that if they do need to move to a different type of interconnect for the Ultra-class chips, then it wouldn’t the worst idea to expose customers and developers to it via a low-volume M3 Ultra on the Studio before moving on to an M4- or M5-based Ultra that would use it.

I still imagine though that the Ultras will just become low-volume monolithic dies.

 

[steveebeatz]

I stuck 8 m4 chips together and made the Mac Oct8gon for 4,000 quid - I can use 8 screens as well - 8 X CPU / 8 x GPU - loads of ports and stuff - it's like a digital octopus

 

[JippaLippa]

That'd be so stupid.
Much better to delay the launch, but feature both M4 options.

 

[Antony Newman]

If Apple was able to release the M4 iPad Pro in Max 2024 - could they release a low volume M5 SoC for the Mac Pro in May 2025?

If Apple have a 2 year cadence for the Mac Studio would you be happy with (speculation) 1.7 x M3 MAX speed for the next 2 years ... or would you Wait to see exactly what Apple release in the MacPro later in the year?

If the Next Mac Studio performance in 2027 is increased to be in line with the 2025 Mac Pro ... would it make more sense to wait to see the Price and Performance of the 2025 Mac Pro before making the upgrade?

 

[fathergll]

It would be hilarious if the M3 Ultra rumor was Apple trying to flush out an internal mole. "hey tell Bob the Ultra is a M3 chip....lets see if Gurman picks up on it and then we got our guy"

 

[Thunderbird]

Knowing Apple, they'll probably only have the M4 Max chip in the Mac Studio and reserve the M4 Ultra chip for the Mac Pro, where you'll have to pay $10,000 to get that chip.

 

[Frantisekj]

Gurman's strategy is guessing as much as possible so some random predictions could be correct.

Ok. So let start my rumor machine as well

Studio will be launched with Max only and Studio Ultra will be launched alongside of MacPro on WWDC!

 

[jccrtv]

An updated version of the Mac Studio could launch as soon as this week, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The new machine is expected to be equipped with the M4 Max chip that we first saw in the 2024 MacBook Pro models, but Apple apparently does not have an M4 Ultra chip ready to go.

Instead, there could be a version of the Mac Studio that uses an M3 Ultra chip. Apple didn't release an M3 Ultra chip alongside the M3 chip lineup, so it would be a new chip even though it's not part of the current M4 family. The current Mac Studio has an M2 Ultra chip, as does the Mac Pro.

Apple's "Ultra" chips have historically been two of the "Max" chips linked together, but the M3 Max does not have the UltraFusion interconnect feature that allows the Max chips to be doubled up. The M3 Ultra would likely be a standalone chip that is a departure from the prior Ultra chips that Apple has come out with.

As the M3 Ultra is not likely to be a doubled up M3 Max chip, it's not entirely clear what we can expect in terms of performance, but Apple has more flexibility to tweak processor cores and add additional GPU power. Gurman suggests that Apple might opt to go with an M3 Ultra in the Mac Studio in order to distinguish it from a Mac Pro with a future M4 Ultra chip.

Gurman has faced some difficulty predicting the Mac Studio's launch timeline, perhaps due to Apple's shifting plans. Last year, he said the Mac Studio would come out in mid-2025 around WWDC. He later said that the timing would place it after the MacBook Air, a machine that he suggested would launch before the iPhone 16e and the new iPad Air.

Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased new product launches with a "There's something in the air" graphic on social media, and Apple has so far updated the iPad Air and the low-cost iPad. The MacBook Air is also rumored to be getting a refresh this week, and now we may also get the Mac Studio even though it doesn't have "Air" in the name.

Article Link: Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips Could Launch This Week

This stinks like yesterday's diapers. We have a Constitutional right to a real M4 Ultra after waiting so long. Hey Tim Cook, drop and give me 20.

 

[JDHiro]

I kinda wonder if they just plan to release a separate workstation/server processor (let's call it the Z1).

- We know that Apple has had a hard time keeping continuity in their processor lineup between entry-level and high-end chips.
- We know that Apple is planning to manufacture their own server boxes/chips anyways.
- I don't believe any prosumer would want to buy an ultra-expensive M3, when the latest devices have M4 or M5s.
- It's likely that, motivated by impact, volume, and power constraints, that Apple needs to release basic Mac Air, iPad, etc processors much more often.

I think instead of trying to juggle the expectations between a bunch of M-series processors, they could just start a new series and not have to focus as much on keeping them in lockstep.

Also, put an M-series in my Apple TV 😆

 

[Sippincider]

Apple should release a M4 Max Studio even if they don't have an M3 or M4 Ultra ready yet.

Careful or they'll announce an M4 Ultra Studio "available later this year"...