Apple plans to update the entire Mac lineup with updated M4 chips starting in late 2024 and continuing through 2025, and that will include a new M4 chip for Apple’s mid-tier desktop machine, Apple’s M4 Mac Studio.
Rumors about the Apple’s M4 Mac Studio
Apple has a line of M4 chips in development, including the standard M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max, and a high-end version codenamed “Hydra.” This high-end chip could be an “Ultra” version equivalent to the M2 Ultra, or it could even be something even more powerful.
With the M2 line, the M2 Ultra is a chip that is two M2 Max chips linked together. There is no M3 Ultra at this time, but the architecture of the M3 Max chip has led to speculation that future Ultra chips could be standalone chips rather than being built from two Max dies.
The M3 Max appears to lack the UltraFusion interconnect that allowed the M2 Max chips to function as an Ultra. Because that’s missing, the Ultra chip will likely see dedicated development with customizations for heavy workloads. Apple could adjust the number of performance and efficiency cores to focus on power and add more GPU cores.
Currently, Apple’s M4 Mac Studio machines use M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips, so we can expect the M4 models to be equipped with M4 Max and M4 Ultra chips (or their equivalent). Aside from the Mac Pro, the Mac Studio is the only Apple machine to use “Ultra” chips.
Mac Studio is designed for Mac users who have system-intensive workflows that require advanced computing and graphics capabilities. There isn’t much differentiation between Apple’s M4 Mac Studio and Mac Pro at the moment, so Apple may be planning a more powerful M4 Ultra variant for Mac Pro.
Apple will be betting on artificial intelligence across its product line in the coming months, so the M4 is expected to focus on boosting AI and machine learning performance. Rumors suggest that there will be an updated Neural Engine with a higher number of cores to handle AI tasks.
Memory upgrades
The upcoming Mac Studio and Mac Pro could support up to 500GB of unified memory, up from the current maximum of 192GB.
What about the M3?
Since Apple plans to update the Mac Studio with M4 chips in 2025, it’s still not entirely clear if there will be an update to the M3 this year.
The iMac, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air lines have been updated with M3 chips, but the Mac Mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro still use M2 chips. With the M4 update already planned, Apple could skip the M3 update for its desktop machines, but it’s also possible we could get an M3 update mid-year and a second M4 update next year, which would be a year difference between each one. update.
Apple is testing a version of Mac Studio with an M3 processor, so an update is possible this year and then a second update next year.
Design changes
Mac Studio hasn’t had a design update since it was first released in March 2022, but it hasn’t been around long enough to need an update. Apple tends to wait several years before making major changes to Mac hardware, and we don’t expect Mac Studio to have a refreshed look anytime soon.
It will probably be closer to 2026 or 2027 before Apple considers updating the design, although it could be even longer. The Mac mini hasn’t seen any notable design changes since 2010.
Release date
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the M4-powered Mac Studio is expected to launch in mid-2025, which would suggest a possible unveiling at the 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference.
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