M3 Ultra exposed: Inside Apple's hybrid chip powerful enough to take on Nvidia

Apple's newest powerhouse processor is a cross between an M3 and an M4— and is made for the most demanding users.

- BY JASON SNELL

Just when we thought the M3 was in the ground (fave.co/4j4YGYW) and Apple had rapidly moved every single Mac model over to the fresh and new M4 processor, in rolls the high-end Mac Studio (fave. co/3QXIgWx), equipped with the impossible-to-predict, never-before-seen M3 Ultra processor.

That's right—in March 2025, a full 16 months after the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips arrived on the scene, Apple introduced a new chip in the old, nearly retired family. And it means that the new Mac Studio comes simultaneously in M3 and M4 varieties—with the M3 model being the high-end configuration It's so confusing—I admit to being a bit baffled when I heard the news, too. But the more I think about it, the more I have come to grips with the fact that Apple’s chip strategy isn't quite as straightforward as it would like us to believe. What if I told you that the M3 Ultra isn't quite an M3 or an M4 chip? Follow me, friend, and let’s see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

M3 CLOSEOUT SALE

Here’s the story as we know it: Apple and its chipmaker, TSMC, were rightly proud when the M3 and A17 Pro chips arrived in 2023 as the first chips made by a new, state-of-the-art 3nm fabrication process. But as it turns out, TSMC was already working on a more efficient and economical second-generation 3nm process, making that first generation a bit of an architectural dead end. Therefore, everyone expected Apple and TSMC to rapidly turn from the M3 to the M4, which is based on the second-generation process and more efficient all around. That’s why Apple has spent the last few months updating almost every Mac from M3 to M4.