M4 Mac Studio – Image Credit: Apple
Apple’s update to the Mac Studio has arrived, bringing with it the performance of the M4 Max as well as the new M3 Ultra chip to provide desktop Mac users even more processing power.
The Mac Studio was last updated in 2023 with an M2 chip upgrade, securing the desktop Mac’s position as the one to get if you care about performance, but not enough to get a Mac Pro. A few years later, and Apple’s finally refreshed it.
The 2025 Mac Studio is Apple’s typical spec-bump update, with the changes largely being internal instead of externally-visible alterations. The design remains the same as the previous model, one that was good enough for the Mac mini to steal for itself.
Inside one configuration is the M4 Max chip, which first surfaced in the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro. In the portables, they were offered in two variants, consisting of a 14-core CPU with ten performance cores and four efficiency cores and a 32-core GPU, or a 16-core CPU with two more performance cores and a 40-core GPU.
In the Mac Studio, both M4 Max variants are available for choosing, with a $300 price difference.
The M4 Max and M3 Ultra feature in the Mac Studio – Image Credit: Apple
The other option, the M3 Ultra, takes the usual Ultra form of being two M3 Max chips attached together. This doubles the CPU core and GPU core counts considerably, with one version having a 28-core CPU and 60-core GPU and the other having a 32-core CPU and an 80-core GPU.
Both M3 Ultra variants have a 32-core Neural Engine, double the core count of the non-Ultra chips.
When it comes to memory, the 14-core M4 Max model is limited to 36GB, with the 16-core version offering 48GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities. The M3 Ultra versions include 96GB or 256GB for the 28-core CPU version, with an extra 512GB option for the top chip variant.
For storage, the M4 Max models start with 512GB SSDs, rising to configurations with 8TB. The M3 Ultra models start at 1TB and rising to 16TB.
The rear of the new Mac Studio – Image Credit: Apple
When it comes to connectivity, there is a tiny change on the back panel in the form of four Thunderbolt 5 connections, supporting up to 120Gbps of bandwidth. The ports also handle USB 4 and DisplayPort 2.1 connections.
There are also two USB-A 3 connections, an HDMI 2.1 port, 10Gb Ethernet, and a headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support at the rear, as well as the power button.
At the front, the M4 Max has two USB-C ports with 10Gbps of bandwidth, while the M3 Ultra has two Thunderbolt 5 ports. Both versions also have an SDXC card slot with UHS-II support on the user side too.
Wireless connectivity consists of Wi-Fi 6E support and Bluetooth 5.3.
Available for preorder, the Mac Studio starts from $1,999 for the M4 Max variant, $3,999 for the M3 Ultra.
