The first Geekbench 6 benchmark of the Apple M3 Ultra chip with a 32-core CPU and 80-core GPU has surfaced online.
Apple M3 Ultra Might be Barely Faster than the M4 Max, But Things Suddenly Change When You Read the Fine Print
Without a doubt, the M3 Ultra is faster than the already-fast M4 Max chip. But how fast exactly? Fast enough that you spend $3,999 on a Mac Studio and $1,500 extra to get on top of the charts?
Well, if this Geekbench 6 benchmark is anything to go by, then it seems as though the M4 Max is a far better choice in terms of value, but not quite at the same time.
The benchmark comes from the 32-core version of the M3 Ultra which is the fastest Apple advertises, and it managed a score of 3,221 in the single-core test and 27,749 in the multi-core test.
Again, excellent numbers, without a doubt, and they put the M3 Ultra chip right above everything else from the Apple silicon camp.
Currently, the M4 Max holds the crown for the fastest chip around until the Mac Studio starts shipping. That chip manages to score 3,925 in the single-core test and 25.647 in multi-core.
That’s barely any difference right?
The thing is, these numbers do not reveal much about the overall package at all. The moment you get access to the M3 Ultra, you also enjoy a 32-core Neural Engine versus the 16-core in the M4 Max.
Just look at the differences below and you’ll immediately get how the M3 Ultra is better:
M3 Ultra allows you to configure the Mac Studio with up to 512GB of RAM versus just 128GB on the M4 Max. But the most important metric for professionals is memory bandwidth, and the M3 Ultra has up to 819GB/s versus 546GB/s on the M4 Max.
Just mere performance numbers barely tell the entire story. When you factor in other benefits that come with a faster chip like M3 Ultra, it all starts to make sense.
So yes, the extra money on the Mac Studio is absolutely worth it when you look away from the benchmarks and start reading the fine prints carefully.
