The Apple M2 Ultra is the most powerful PC processor from Apple to date. But you’ll have to spend a lot of money to get your hands on a computer featuring the new chip.

It’s debuting in the new Mac Pro that sells for $6,999 and up, and a version of the more compact Mac Studio that starts at $3,999. And that’s for models with the entry-level M2 Ultra chip. There’s also a higher-priced variants with more graphics horsepower for folks who want/can afford it.

All versions of the M2 Ultra include 24 CPU cores, a 32-ncore neural engine, support for up to 192 GB of unified memory, and 800GB/s memory bandwidth. The base model also has 60 GPU cores, while the more expensive version has a 76-core GPU.

Like the M1 Ultra, which basically fused two M1 Max chips together into a single package, the new chip is basically what you get if you smush two M2 Max chips together so that they appear to software as a single chip. But Apple claims the new chip offers a number of significant performance boosts.

Compared with the M1 Ultra, Apple says the new processor has

  • 20 billion more transistors (for a total of 134 billion)
  • 50% more maximum memory
  • 2X the memory bandwidth
  • 20% faster CPU
  • 30% faster GPU
  • 40% faster Neural Engine

Apple says the new chip also offers “twice the capabilities of M2 Max for blazing ProRes acceleration,” which should lead to speedier video editing.

With the new chip powering Apple’s new Mac Pro, the company says this is the chip that also means the “Mac transition to Apple silicon is now complete,” because Apple is no longer selling any devices with Intel chips. Whether you buy a new iPhone, iPad, any of the company’s wearables or speakers, or a Mac, you’re going to end up with a device that’s powered by Apple’s own processors.

If the $3,999 and up price tags feel a bit steep, you can still buy cheaper pro-level Mac hardware. Prices for the Mac Studio start at $1,999 for models with M2 Max chips. But if you want the new M2 Ultra processor, you’re going to have to pay at least twice as much… and three times as much if you want the Mac Pro with its larger case and additional expansion options including six full-length PCIe Gen 4 slots and one half-length PCIe Gen 3 slot.

press release (1)(2)

 

 

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  1. What’s the purpose of the Mac Pro’s large case? Is it just a psychological thing? If they shrunk it, their customers wouldn’t be convinced that it’s more powerful than the last one?

    Seems pointless considering it’s probably just a tiny motherboard in there now.

    1. The MacPro is about extension, hence the 7 internal PCIe slots. It’s also a good design as rack or stand up. Apple didn’t change the design of the tower when they moved from PowerPC G5 to Intel. Maybe in a couple of years, the technology will justify changing the format but right now, they’re just taking advantage of the existing tooling.