The top M3 Max Studio model could have 32 processing cores and a whopping 80-core GPU, but the machine isn’t expected to arrive this year.
Instead, an update to the Max Studio workstation featuring the company’s upcoming M3 Max and Ultra chips should be expected around the end of 2024 “at the earliest.”
The M3 Ultra, the most powerful next-generation Apple silicon, could also power the next Mac Pro “if Apple continues making those,” says Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
M3 Ultra Mac Studio will be a screamer
Gurman has revealed suspected specifications of the various M3 chips in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg.
Like the current Mac Studio, the M3-based Mac Studio will come in two flavors. The base model will use the M3 Max chip with 16 CPU and 32 GPU cores. Customers will be able to upgrade to a version of the M3 Max with 40 graphics cores.
The high-end Mac Studio model will use the flagship M3 Ultra chip, a higher-powered version of the M3 Max combining two M3 Max chips in one package.
The base M3 Ultra version will therefore have two times-everything vs. the M3 Max: 32 CPU cores instead of 16 and 64 GPU cores instead of 32. Those needing even more power will be able to order their Mac Studio with a whopping 80 GPU cores.
The first M3 Macs, which will be based on the 3-nanometer production process developed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., should debut in October. Given the previous M1 and M2 release cycles, I don’t believe the M3 Pro and M3 Max Macs will arrive until 2024. And it’s plausible that an M3 Ultra chip doesn’t arrive until the end of that year at the earliest.
That means no update to the Mac Studio until the end of 2024. The Mac Studio doesn’t have an established release schedule—the first model using the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips launched in March 2022. If Gurman is correct, the next Mac Studio will have arrived two and a half years following the inaugural model.
Claimed M3 and M3 Pro specifications
Gurman earlier reported on the claimed specifications of the M3 and M3 Pro chips. The base M3 with 8 CPU and 10 GPU cores will arrive this year in the refreshed base MacBook Pro, 13 and 15-inch MacBook Air and Mac mini.
It will also power the next iPad Pro which isn’t expected until sometime in 2024.
The M3 Pro, meanwhile, will boost CPU core count to 12 (6 performance and 6 efficiency) and have 18 GPU cores. The more powerful version with 14 CPU cores and 20 GPU will also be available. Both these versions o the M3 Pro are expected to power the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac mini.
The M3 Max will also be available for the MacBook Pro, yielding Apple’s most powerful notebook yet with 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU ones.
Gurman also outlined his expectations for the Apple Watch’s tenth anniversary, with the so-called “Apple Watch X” bringing the biggest design change to the wearable device yet and the possibility of a simpler magnetic band-release system.