Apple M1 Ultra (apple.com)

Article summary

Apple has announced the M1 Ultra, a new chip that combines two M1 Max chips using Apple's UltraFusion packaging architecture, providing unprecedented performance and power efficiency. The M1 Ultra features a 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, and 32-core Neural Engine, and can be configured with up to 128GB of unified memory. This chip is designed for the new Mac Studio and is said to deliver breathtaking computing power while maintaining industry-leading performance per watt. The M1 Ultra is also designed to be more environmentally friendly, with Apple aiming to have net-zero climate impact across its entire business by 2030.

Main themes

• M1 Ultra performance
• GPU performance
• Power efficiency
• Environmental impact
• Gaming on Macs
• System-on-a-chip design

What commenters say

• The M1 Ultra's GPU performance is not as impressive as Apple claims, especially when it comes to gaming.
• The chip's performance is substantial enough that it will eventually be exploited, even if it's not currently optimized for gaming.
• The M1 Ultra's power efficiency and unified memory architecture make it a great option for professional workloads, but not for gaming.
• The comparison between the M1 Ultra and Nvidia's top-of-the-line GPUs is not entirely fair, as the M1 Ultra is a system-on-a-chip with a different architecture.
• The M1 Ultra's performance is not linearly scalable, and its GPU performance may not be as good as expected in certain workloads.
• The lack of gaming performance on Macs is a significant issue, and the M1 Ultra does not address this problem.
• The M1 Ultra's design is a significant achievement, and its use of UltraFusion packaging architecture is a major innovation.