Apple Raises the Bar with New Mac Studio, Boasting M4 Max and the All-New M3 Ultra

Apple has just lifted the curtain on its new Mac Studio, calling it the most powerful Mac the company has ever produced. It sports the formidable M4 Max chip alongside the brand-new M3 Ultra, giving pros immense performance, numerous connectivity options (thanks to Thunderbolt 5), and extra capabilities—all in a surprisingly quiet, desk-friendly design. Expect it to blow away intense workloads, courtesy of its robust CPU, advanced graphics architecture, higher unified memory capacity, lightning-fast SSD storage, and a Neural Engine that’s both faster and more efficient. Users on older Macs will notice a massive boost; even those on the previous-generation Mac Studio should prepare for a meaningful leap in performance.

A highlight here is AI. Armed with its advanced GPU and up to 512GB of unified memory on the M3 Ultra, Mac Studio can handle large language models (LLMs) with over 600 billion parameters entirely in memory—an astonishing feat for a personal computer. It’s also primed for Apple Intelligence, the privacy-centred personal intelligence system that promises to revolutionise work, communication, and creativity. Pre-orders start today, with availability kicking off on 12 March.

“The new Mac Studio is the most powerful Mac we’ve ever made,” says John Ternus, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering. “A complete game-changer for pros around the world — powering both home and pro studios — Mac Studio sits in a class of its own, offering a staggering amount of performance in a compact, quiet design that fits beautifully on your desk. With this new Mac Studio, we’re delivering even more extreme performance with M4 Max and M3 Ultra, support for half a terabyte of unified memory, up to 16TB of superfast storage, and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity. Mac Studio truly is the ultimate pro desktop.”

Mac Studio with M4 Max: The Performance Powerhouse

The Mac Studio equipped with M4 Max makes a perfect companion for video editors, colourists, developers, engineers, photographers, creative professionals, and anyone needing ultra-fast intensive workflows. The M4 Max brings:

• Spectacular single-threaded CPU performance with what Apple says is the world’s fastest CPU core.
• Exceptional multi-threaded performance for complex tasks.
• Up to a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, and over half a terabyte per second of unified memory bandwidth.
• A Neural Engine that’s over three times faster than M1 Max, ensuring on-device AI tasks fly.
• The new GPU architecture, featuring dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and a second-gen ray-tracing engine for smoother content creation and gaming.

Starting at 36GB of unified memory (scalable to 128GB), M4 Max is tailor-made for handling massive image libraries, vast music compositions, and so much more in real time. Meanwhile, the chip’s Media Engine, including two ProRes accelerators, remains an absolute gift for videographers who can swiftly juggle multiple streams of 4K ProRes.

Compared to its M1 Max predecessor, Mac Studio with M4 Max promises up to 3.5 times faster speeds—and up to 6.1 times faster performance than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac. Apple touts:

• Up to 1.6x faster image processing in Adobe Photoshop vs. Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 2.9x vs. a 27-inch iMac with Core i9.
• Up to 2.1x speedier code compilation in Xcode vs. Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 3.1x vs. the 27-inch iMac with Core i9.
• Up to 1.2x faster ProRes transcoding in Compressor vs. Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 2.8x vs. the 27-inch iMac with Core i9.
• Up to 1.6x faster video processing in Topaz Video AI vs. Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 5x vs. the 27-inch iMac with Core i9.

Mac Studio with M3 Ultra: Peak Pro Performance

Boasting M3 Ultra, Mac Studio ascends to a whole new realm of capability, delivering nearly double the speed of M4 Max in tasks that rely heavily on CPU and GPU core counts as well as vast unified memory.² According to Apple, Mac Studio with M3 Ultra performs up to 2.6 times faster than Mac Studio with M1 Ultra and up to 6.4 times faster than a 16-core Intel Xeon W-based Mac Pro.¹

Under the hood, M3 Ultra packs:

• Up to a 32-core CPU with 24 performance cores, the most cores ever in a Mac.
• An up to 80-core GPU, more than any Apple silicon chip so far.
• A 32-core Neural Engine that cranks up on-device AI and machine learning (ML).
• Over 800GB/s unified memory bandwidth—enough to keep even the heaviest data operations running smoothly.

M3 Ultra starts with 96GB of unified memory (expandable up to 512GB), plus up to 16TB of ultrafast SSD storage—enough for over 12 hours of 8K ProRes video. The advanced graphics architecture and dynamic caching, combined with hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing, speed up workflows like GPU-based rendering by up to 2.6 times compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra.

Apple highlights:

• Up to 16.9x faster token generation for large language models in LM Studio vs. Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, thanks to the huge unified memory capacity.
• Up to 2.6x quicker scene rendering in Maxon Redshift vs. Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 6.4x vs. the 16-core Intel-based Mac Pro with Radeon Pro W5700X.
• Up to 1.1x faster DNA sequencing basecalling in Oxford Nanopore MinKNOW vs. Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 21.1x vs. the 16-core Intel-based Mac Pro with Radeon Pro W5700X.
• Up to 1.4x faster 8K video rendering in Final Cut Pro vs. Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 4x vs. the 16-core Intel-based Mac Pro with Radeon Pro W5700X.

Thunderbolt 5: Beefed-Up Bandwidth and Expansion

In a win for pro-grade accessories and expansions, the new Mac Studio sports Thunderbolt 5 ports delivering speeds up to 120 Gb/s—a notable 3x improvement over the previous generation. This extra bandwidth is perfect for speedy external storage and expansion chassis, or for hooking up powerful hubs. And if you rely on PCIe expansion cards, Thunderbolt 5 gives you higher throughput and lower latency via an external chassis. On the M3 Ultra model, you can drive up to eight Pro Display XDRs at 6K resolution. Other handy connectivity features include:

• A 10Gb Ethernet port
• An HDMI port
• An SDXC card slot upfront for quick photo/video imports
• Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Engineered for Apple Intelligence

Built to push pro workflows to new heights, the Mac Studio pairs seamlessly with Apple Intelligence for an amplified user experience. Writers can call on Writing Tools to help rewrite, proofread, or summarise drafts in apps like Scrivener. Priority Notifications let pros minimise annoying distractions, while live transcription in Notes records and summarises critical meetings. With upgraded Siri features, you can switch effortlessly between spoken and typed commands and get step-by-step instructions—like how to combine PDFs in Preview.

ChatGPT is also smoothly woven into Writing Tools and Siri, granting users the option to leverage ChatGPT’s expertise whenever needed. You’re in full control of enabling or disabling ChatGPT integration and can decide what data is shared. Image Playground promises new avenues for creativity, letting users produce visuals and drop them directly into their document, design mock-up, or Keynote presentation.

All of this is engineered with privacy at the forefront, keeping data on the device whenever possible. Larger AI models, when required, use Private Cloud Compute—an end-to-end secure method that doesn’t store or share your data with Apple.

macOS Sequoia: A Seamless Mac Experience

The new Mac Studio runs on macOS Sequoia, delivering features like iPhone Mirroring, which allows you to wirelessly access and use iPhone apps and notifications directly on your Mac. Moving files between devices is now as simple as drag-and-drop. Window tiling has also been simplified, so you can keep things organised exactly how you like them. The all-new Passwords app consolidates your credentials in one spot, and you can personalise video calls with built-in or custom backgrounds.

Safari, famously known as the world’s fastest browser, now offers Highlights (handy for finding relevant info on websites), a reimagined Reader (capable of summarising articles), and a Video Viewer that ensures videos stay front and centre. Game Mode gets some love too, paving the way for a more immersive experience in upcoming titles like Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition and Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Come next month, macOS Sequoia 15.4 streamlines Mac Studio setup with iPhone, letting you sign in almost automatically. Expect quick access to all your files, photos, messages, passwords, and more.

Build Your Dream Studio

Match Mac Studio with the Studio Display for a powerhouse combination. The Studio Display’s 27-inch 5K Retina screen, 12MP camera with Center Stage, premium three-mic setup, and six-speaker system with Spatial Audio make it a pro’s best friend. If you’re handling HDR content, the Pro Display XDR is a 32-inch 6K option with 1600 nits of peak HDR brightness. You can also pick up perfectly matched Magic accessories—Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, Magic Trackpad, or Magic Mouse—to round out your dream studio.

Better for the Planet

Apple is making strides toward Apple 2030, its pledge to be carbon neutral across its entire footprint by decade’s end. That means transitioning to renewable electricity for manufacturing, investing in wind and solar worldwide, and ensuring all Apple facilities (including the data centres powering Apple Intelligence) run on green energy.

The new Mac Studio aligns with this eco-friendly vision: over 30 per cent recycled content is used throughout, including 100 per cent recycled aluminium in the enclosure and 100 per cent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets. It also sips far less energy than comparable desktop machines and comes free of harmful substances like mercury, brominated flame retardants, and PVC. Even its packaging is all fibre-based—another step toward eliminating plastic from packaging by 2025.

Pricing and Availability

• Mac Studio can be pre-ordered today at apple.com/au/store and in the Apple Store app, across 28 countries and regions, including Australia.
• It hits doorsteps and store shelves on Wednesday, 12 March.
• Pricing starts at an RRP of A$3,499 inc. GST or A$3,199 inc. GST for education.
• Additional configure-to-order options are available at apple.com/au/store.
• More details on Studio Display, Pro Display XDR, and Magic accessories are at apple.com/au/shop/buy-mac.
• Apple Intelligence ships with all M1-and-later Macs in localised English for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, and the U.S. More languages—French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (simplified), English (Singapore), and English (India)—are coming next month. Even more are planned throughout the year, including Vietnamese. Some features, apps, and services may vary by region or language.
• Apple Trade In lets you trade in your current computer for credit towards a new Mac at apple.com/au/shop/trade-in.
• AppleCare+ for Mac offers comprehensive support, unlimited accidental damage coverage, battery service, and 24/7 assistance from Apple experts.
• Every purchase through Apple Retail comes with a Personal Setup session. Join a Specialist online to walk through setup or learn about key features. You can also drop by a Today at Apple session to find out more and hit the ground running with your new Mac Studio.

Want more? Click here for Apple’s New MacBook Air Lands with M4 Chip, Sky Blue Finish, and a Tempting Lower Price Tag – Tech Drive Play

Zachary Skinner

Zachary Skinner is the editor of TechDrivePlay.com, where tech, cars and adventure share the fast lane.
A former snowboarding pro and programmer, he brings both creative flair and technical know-how to his reviews. From high-performance cars to clever gadgets, he explores how innovation shapes the way we move, connect and live.