This new Apple M3 chip is faster than the M4

Apple M3 Ultra.

Sit yourself down because this is where things can get a bit confusing. The M series of chips from Apple have been relatively simple to date. The M1 was replaced by the M2, then the M3 and now the M4. Within each of these there was also higher performance versions – the Pro, the Max and the Ultra. But when today Apple released the M3 Ultra alongside the M4 Pro and Max models, you may be left scratching your head.

The Ultra chip is a little different from the Pro and Max models. In fact, the best way to think about the Ultra is that it's two Max chips fused together, because that's exactly what it is. Apple uses UltraFusion technology to connect the chips and allow them to work as one, and the result it blisteringly fast.

The M1 ultra was literally twice the chip the M1 Max was, and the same is true of the M3 Ultra (Image credit: Apple)

This new M3 Ultra has twice the performance of the M2 Ultra and is also a big jump up from the M4 Max. While the M4 Max is more powerful than the M3 Max, it's not twice as powerful. And so, the M3 Ultra (essentially 2x M3 Max chips) is the faster option. While a direct comparison between the M3 Ultra and the M4 Max hasn't been given, you can see it on the numbers – both of cores and in pounds or dollars.

For the new Mac Studio, the M3 Ultra model is almost double the price of the M4 Max version. It has double the CPU cores, almost double the GPU cores (depending on the model) and double the core for the Neural Engine.

(Image credit: Apple)

If you look at the performance benchmarks from Geekbench, the Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra chip out performs the MacBook Pro models with the M3 Max chip, so I expect we will see the M3 Ultra doing the same to the M4 Max. If you look purely at graphics performance, the M2 Ultra machines are still the most powerful of any Mac chip – until now.

You may be asking then, why don't we have an M4 Ultra chip, surely that would be better still? Well, yes it would, and I'm sure one will follow but probably not until next year. I assume that the Ultra is developed after Apple have perfected the Max chip, rather than along side it, so more time is needed.

So while having an M3 chip that's more powerful than an M4 chip, it does make sense when you look at the details. Two M3's are better than one M4, though to be honest, both are more powerful than most users will need in their lifetimes.