To the surprise of the Mac community, Apple announced the third generation Mac Studio on 2025.03.05 and started shipping it the following week on 2025.03.12. The $1999 MS ships with a 14-core 4.5 GHz M4 Max chip and a 32-core GPU, and the $2499 has the 16-core CPU with a 40-core GPU.

For those clamoring for even more speed, there’s a 28-Core M3 Ultra model for $3999, at a $2000 premium over the base model. Despite releasing the M4 chip in fall 2024, Apple released a new chip for an outgoing architecture iteration likely for the first time ever. This is due to some of the time/scaling needed to make a monolithic “ultra” M3 chip as the M1/M2 “ultra” models relied on UltraFision Interconnect, and the M3 discontinues this. As a result of making a monolithic “Ultra” chip they are able to reduce component latency, increase performance, and mitigate the performance scaling loss presented by the UltraFusion.

The new Early 2025 Mac Studio looks identical to previous models, there weren’t any design changes on the exterior. You can get up to 512 GB of 3200 MHZ LPDDR5-6400 SDRAM on an M3 ultra Studio, the most amount of RAM currently configurable on an Apple Silicon Mac to-date. The M4 Max tops out at 128 GB of RAM but takes advantage of slightly faster memory frequency at 4266 MHz LPDDR5X-8533.

Thunderbolt 5 on the Mac

The Early 2025 Mac Studio Thunderbolt 5, and is available on both the M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips. Although the M3 series is technically previous to the M4, the M3 Ultra is the only in the “3” series with Thunderbolt 5. The difference is in USB 4v2, which can do up to 80 Gb/s.

• Support for up to 80 Gb/s bi-directional bandwidth
• Support for up to 120 Gb/s “Bandwidth Boost” oriented toward display experiences
  • (In Bandwidth boost mode, Transmit is 120 Gb/s, Receive is 40 Gb/s)
• Support for USB 4 v2 (80 Gb/s)

Apple Intelligence

macOS Sequoia and later supports Apple intelligence on any Mac with Apple Silicon. This feature is also available on most iPads with an M-chip, as well as iOS devices running 18 and later with an A17 Pro chip or better (iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max, or all iPhone 16 models+). While device capability has increased over the years, it’s theorized by some that older devices don’t have enough RAM to properly run Apple Intelligence.

What You Need to Know

• If you’re someone who’s transitioning over from an Intel Mac, or will be using Intel Mac apps, Apple has an app called Rosetta 2 for Apple Silicon Macs. Once installed, this isn’t something you directly interact with. Rather, you may simply open an Intel app, and it’ll open. Rosetta 2 does an Intel to Arm “ahead of time” translation, using an instruction set in the Apple Silicon chip. The first time the Intel app launches it’ll be noticeably slow, as Rosetta caches and stores code. Once this process is done, the App should work just as normal.
• A monolithic CPU replaces UltraFusion interconnect for the top-end CPU resulting in better performance over the previous generation.
• The Mac Studio has slots for the SSD storage, so it is possible to upgrade the storage after purchase.
• Thunderbolt 5 comes with both the M3 Ultra and the M4 Max chips.
• Changing the chip/CPU option upon purchase also changes the RAM amount. (which cannot be changed after purchase). Base RAM configuration changes depending on CPU option chosen.

Details

• Announced March 5th, 2025
  • Available March 12th, 2025
• Apple model number: A- (EMC -)
• Model ID: –
• Order: –

Mac OS

• Requires macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 (Build 24B91) or later

Core System

Legend: L1i = L1 Instruction Cache, L1d = L1 Data cache, SLC = System Level Cache

Note – All AS chips have this L1 memory configuration for their cache in their CPUS:

• L1 Per-performance core: 128KB L1i, 128KB L1d
• L1 Per-efficiency core: 128 KB L1i, 64 KB L1d
• *Some information requires further research and is subject to change.
  .
• M4 Max 14-Core ($1999): 14 Cores, 10x 4.5 GHz “M4” High Performance Cores: 1.28MB L1i, 1.28MB L1d, ~320?MB L2*, ~48?MB System Level Cache*
  • 4x 2.85 GHz “M4” energy efficient cores: 512K L1i, 256K L1d, 16MB L2, ~48? MB SLC*
• 16-Core Neural Engine
  .
• M4 Max 16-Core ($2499): 16 Cores, -x 4.5 GHz “M4” High Performance Cores: -MB L1i, -MB L1d, – MB L2*, –MB System Level Cache*
  • -x 2.85 GHz “M4” energy efficient cores: -K L1i, -K L1d, -MB L2, – MB SLC*
• 16-Core Neural Engine
  .
• M3 Ultra 28-Core ($3999): 28 Cores, 20x 4.01 GHz “M3” High Performance Cores: 2.56 MB L1i, 2.56 MB L1d, 640 MB L2, 96 MB System Level Cache
  • 8x 2.75 GHz “M3” energy efficient cores: 1 MB L1i, 512K L1d, 32 MB L2, 96 MB SLC
• 32-Core Neural Engine
  .
• M3 Ultra 32-Core ($5499): 32 Cores, -x 4.01 GHz “M3” High Performance Cores: – MB L1i, – MB L1d, – MB L2, – MB System Level Cache
  • -x 2.75 GHz “M3” energy efficient cores: – MB L1i, -K L1d, – MB L2, – MB SLC
• 32-Core Neural Engine

Memory

•  M4 Max: 36 GB 4266 MHz LPDDR5X-8533 SDRAM
  • Configurable up to 128 GB, requires M4 Max chip with 16-core CPU/40-core GPU
  • 48 GB (+$500),  64 GB (+$700), 128GB (+$1500), prices vs from base MSRP
  • 410 GB/s Memory Bandwidth
    .
• M3 Ultra: 96 GB 3200 MHz LPDDR5-6400 SDRAM
  • Configurable up to 512 GB, requires M3 Ultra chip with 32-core CPU/80-core GPU
  • Configurable up to 256 GB with 28-core CPU/60-core GPU M3 ultra
  • 256 GB (+$1600), 512 GB (+$4000)
  • 819 GB/s Memory Bandwidth

Video

• Integrated Apple M4 Max with 32-Core Metal 3 Hardware Accelerated GPU, configurable to 40-cores (+$500)
  • Simultaneous Support up to 5 displays:
  • Config 1: 4x 6K60 Hz via Thunderbolt with 1x 4K144 Hz via HDMI
  • Config 2: 2x 6K60 Hz via Thunderbolt with 1x 8K60Hz, or 4K240Hz display over HDMI
  • Support for VVR (Variable Refresh Rate)
    .
• Integrated Apple M3 Ultra with 60-Core Metal 3 Hardware Accelerated GPU, configurable to 80-cores (+$1500)
  • Simultaneous Support up to 8 displays:
  • Config 1: 8x displays: 6K60Hz or 4K144Hz
  • Config 2: 4x 8K60Hz or 4K240Hz
  • Support for VVR (Variable Refresh Rate)

Drives

• Drive bus: PCIe up to 5.1 GB/s.
  .
• 512 GB standard on M4 Max
  • M4 Max Configurable to: 1 TB (+$200), 2 TB (+$600), 4 TB (+$1200), and 8 TB (+$2400)
    .
• 1 TB standard on M3 Ultra
  • M3 Ultra Configurable to: 2 TB (+$400), 4 TB (+$1000), 8 TB (+$2200), and 16 TB (+$4600)
• Prices in 2025 USD.

Expansion

• 370W available power
• 6x USB-C Thunderbolt 5 ports, 2x Front (M3 Ultra Only), 4x Rear
  • Support for: USB 4v2 (up to 120 Gb/s)
  • Support for: USB 4 (up to 40 Gb/s)
  • USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)
  • M4 Max only: 2x front USB-C Style USB 3.1 ports
• 2x Rear USB 3.0 Type A ports (up to 5Gb/s)
• HDMI 2.1 w/multi-channel audio support
• SDCX (UHS-II) Slot
• 10 Gb Ethernet port
• 3.5mm headphone
  • Advanced support for high-impedance headphones
• Built-in Speaker
• Bluetooth 5.3
• Wifi 6E (802.11a/b/g/n/ac)

Included Peripherals

• Mac Studio
• Power Cord

Physical

• Size (HxWxD): 3.7″ x 7.7″ x 7.7″ (9.5 x 19.7 x 19.7)
• Weight M4 Max: 6.1 Lb (2.74 Kg)
• Weight M2 Ultra: 8.0 Lb (3.64 Kg)
• Photo and Icon Gallery