Apple introduced the M3 Ultra alongside the M4 generation chips, but the likelihood of seeing an M4 Ultra is slim. The recent launch of the Mac Studio included the M4 Max chip; however, the presence of the M3 Ultra left many, including AppleInsider staff, questioning Apple’s decision. According to Ars Technica, Apple clarified that not every chip generation will receive an Ultra tier. While the M1 Ultra and M2 Ultra were released in previous years, the M3 Ultra uses Apple’s UltraFusion architecture, connecting two M3 Max chips for enhanced performance in graphics-intensive tasks like 3D rendering and gaming.
Apple claimed that the M3 Ultra delivers 1.5 times the performance of the M2 Ultra and up to 2.6 times that of the M1 Ultra. Notably, the M4 Max lacks UltraFusion connectors, making the development of an M4 Ultra currently unfeasible without significant re-engineering. Apple decided to upgrade the Mac Studio now to take advantage of Thunderbolt 5’s backward compatibility with the M3 architecture. This choice eliminated the need to design an M4 Ultra from scratch or wait for the M5 Max.
While Apple has not ruled out the possibility of an M4 Ultra release, it appears unlikely until the arrival of the M5 generation or beyond.