Apple has finally introduced a new Ultra chip, not yet for its recent M4 lineup but rather for the M3 family. The new Mac Studio is slated for launch on March 12, with configurations using both the M4 Max and the new M3 Ultra - however, the latter may only be a slightly stronger processor, at least in some ways.

As reported by 9to5Mac, an early Geekbench 6 benchmark of the new M3 Ultra chip suggests it may only be 8% faster than the M4 Max in multi-core performance while being 20% slower in single-core performance. The benchmark indicates that this is the top-end configuration of the upcoming M3 Max Mac Studio (it utilizes a 32-core CPU and an 80-core GPU).

It's important to note that the comparison made here is with the MacBook Pro's M4 Max, with its top-end configuration using a 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU. While we should wait for more benchmarks when the Mac Studio launches, it looks like the M3 Ultra's winnings over the powerful M4 chip could be present in its graphical processes, specifically gaming.

The high-end M4 Max model (using 1TB storage and 128GB of unified memory) is available for pre-order at $3,699.00 / £3,799.00 / AU$6,049.00, while the best M3 Ultra model (using 1TB storage and 96GB of unified memory) is available for pre-order at $5,499.00 / £5,699.00 / AU$9,249.00.

Based on the early benchmark (which should be taken with a grain of salt), the M3 Ultra may not be the ideal choice between the two chips for CPU processes (considering the supposed minor uplift and the significant gap in pricing), but should be right up the alley for gamers - and that may end up justifying its high cost.

최신 Mac 게임 소식을 전하는 강력한 새 M3 Ultra Mac 스튜디오를 만나보세요. 인상적인 80코어 GPU를 탑재한 이 기기는 Cyberpunk 2077과 같은 고사양 게임도 무리 없이 소화하여 부드럽고 몰입감 있는 경험을 제공합니다. 강력한 GPU는 필수이지만, Mac에서의 게이밍은 최적화된 소프트웨어와 게임 지원 여부에도 달려 있습니다. Mac과 호환되는 타이틀이 점차 늘어나고 지속적인 개선이 이루어지면서 Mac 게이머들의 미래는 밝아지고 있습니다. M3 Ultra는 애플이 게이밍을 핵심 분야로 삼아 하드웨어와 게임 지원 확대를 함께 추진하는 것을 보여주는 중요한 증거입니다.