Despite Apple's claims and charts, the new M1 Ultra chip is not able to outperform Nvidia's RTX 3090 in terms of raw GPU performance, according to benchmark testing performed by The Verge.
When the M1 Ultra was introduced, Apple shared a chart that had the new chip winning out over the "highest-end discrete GPU" in "relative performance," without details on what tests were run to achieve those results. Apple showed the M1 Ultra beating the RTX 3090 at a certain power level, but Apple isn't sharing the whole picture with its limited graphic.
The Verge decided to pit the M1 Ultra against the Nvidia RTX 3090 using Geekbench 5 graphics tests, and unsurprisingly, it cannot match Nvidia's chip when that chip is run at full power. The Mac Studio beat out the 16-core Mac Pro, but performance was about half that of the RTX 3090.
But it seems that Apple just simply isn't showing the full performance of the competitor it's chasing here.
It's sort of like arguing that because your electric car can use dramatically less fuel when driving at 80 miles per hour than a Lamborghini, it has a better engine -- without mentioning the fact that a Lambo can still go twice as fast.
The M1 Ultra is otherwise impressive, and it is unclear why Apple focused on this particular benchmark as it is somewhat misleading to customers because it does not take into account the full range of Nvidia's chip.
Apple's M1 Ultra is essentially two M1 Max chips connected together, and as The Verge highlighted in its full Mac Studio review, Apple has managed to successfully get double the M1 Max performance out of the M1 Ultra, which is a notable feat that other chip makers cannot match.
I suppose it is possible that in the chart displayed in this article, Apple is saying an M1 Ultra at ~100 watts matches a 3090 at ~300 watts. However, pushing the 3090 to it's near-500W maximum would allow it to pull significantly ahead as the benchmarks run by The Verge showed.
Forget the actual results. The worrisome part for Nvidia is Apple has a chip that is quite good and might overtake them at sometime even though it is not a discrete graphic card. I mean this stuff is built into the chip. Everyone used to laugh at built-in graphics. Not so much anymore.
Evidence that Apple is testing the M2 Apple silicon chip, expected to debut first in a new MacBook Air and refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro, has been spotted by a developer ahead of Tuesday's "Peek performance" Apple event.
As reported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter, a "developer source" has informed him that in recent weeks, Apple has been testing a chip with an...
Wednesday March 2, 2022 9:03 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today announced that it will be holding its first event of 2022 on Tuesday, March 8 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. As with the 2021 events, Apple's first event of 2022 will continue to be a digital-only gathering with no members of the media invited to...
Apple today at its "Peek Performance" event announced a new Mac Studio desktop computer with a companion Studio Display monitor.
With a 3.7-inch tall enclosure, the Mac Studio looks like a larger Mac mini, but it is far more powerful. The computer can be configured with the same M1 Max chip as found in the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro or the just-announced M1 Ultra chip, which features a...
Tuesday March 15, 2022 12:38 pm PDT by Juli Clover
The Mac Studio isn't set to launch until Friday, March 18, but a French Apple fan was able to secure his new machine today due to a store error. As relayed to Mac4Ever, an unnamed store gave the customer the Mac Studio early, and he has shared an initial photo of the new device.
According to Mac4Ever, the customer, Simon, will be providing additional photos of the Mac Studio later today, but ...
Wednesday March 9, 2022 10:31 am PST by Juli Clover
The Mac Studio comes in two varieties, one with the same M1 Max chip used in the 2021 MacBook Pro models and a second featuring an M1 Ultra chip, which is two interconnected M1 Max chips that operate as a single chip.
Following yesterday's event, Apple's technical specifications for the Mac Studio went live, and there was a curiosity - the M1 Ultra version of the Mac Studio is a full two...
Apple today introduced the Mac Studio, an all-new Mac that's a hybrid between a Mac Pro and a Mac mini, with the new machine equipped with M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips.
Priced starting at $1999 for the M1 Max version and $3999 for the M1 Ultra version, the Mac Studio can now be ordered from Apple's website.
Alongside the Mac Studio, Apple introduced the new 5K 27-inch Studio Display, which...
The first benchmark for Apple's M1 Ultra chip popped up on Geekbench following today's event, confirming that the doubled-up M1 Max is indeed able to outperform the highest-end Mac Pro as Apple claims.
Labeled Mac13,2, the Mac Studio with 20-core M1 Ultra that was benchmarked earned a single-core score of 1793 and a multi-core score of 24055.
Comparatively, the highest-end Mac Pro with...
Today's "Peek Performance" event was more exciting than we initially thought it would be, with Apple debuting a new Mac Studio machine and Studio Display alongside a 5G version of the iPhone SE with A15 chip and an M1 iPad Air with 5G chip.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. It took Apple an hour to go over all of today's announcements, but we've summarized all of the ...
Apple is still planning to add body temperature monitoring and new health features to the Apple Watch this year, despite experiencing development problems with blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring, in addition to multiple new features in the iPhone's Health app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Apple has reportedly been working on an updated sensor for the Apple Watch that is...
Wednesday April 13, 2022 5:03 am PDT by Sami Fathi
Meta, better known as Facebook, plans to take a nearly 50% commission on digital asset purchases made inside the "metaverse," the company has revealed, months after it had complained about the maximum 30% cut that Apple takes for purchases through the App Store.
This week, Meta announced new ways it's allowing creators to monetize and earn money from the "metaverse." One way it's enabling...
After months of rumors about a redesigned Mac mini with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, recent reports indicate that Apple has canceled its plans for a new Mac mini in 2022.
Apple has been believed to be working on a new Mac mini for some time. It updated the entry-level Mac mini with the M1 chip in November 2020, but the high-end offering is still the Space Gray model with an Intel processor...
ChargerLAB today shared alleged images of Apple's unreleased 35W power adapter with dual USB-C ports, providing a first look at the accessory's potential design.
The images suggest that the charger will have a compact design with side-by-side USB-C ports, foldable prongs, and circular indents that would provide extra grip for removing the charger from a power outlet. 35W would be suitable...
Following a lengthy testing period, YouTube's picture-in-picture support for iOS will begin rolling out in the next few days, allowing all users, including non-premium and premium subscribers, to close the YouTube app and continue watching their video in a small pop-up window.
Google in June announced that picture-in-picture support would be rolling out to both premium and non-paying YouTube ...
An unreleased Mac mini has been spotted within code of the latest Studio Display firmware, adding credence to rumors that Apple is working on an updated Mac mini that could debut sometime this year. Developer Steve Troughton-Smith revealed on Twitter that within iOS 15.4 for the Studio Display, a reference to "Macmini10,1" has been found. That model identifier does not match any existing...
Apple today unveiled the 10 winning photos from the Shot on iPhone Macro Challenge that the company launched earlier this year.
"Strawberry in Soda" by Ashley Lee, from San Francisco, U.S.A. Entrants were able to submit unedited macro photos shot on the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max straight from the camera, but photos edited through Apple's Photos app or third-party software were...
Some owners of the new Studio Display are facing issues when attempting to update Apple's newest monitor to its latest firmware, causing some customers to be told by Apple Support to bring in their display for repair at an Apple Store or authorized repair center.
A growing thread on the Apple Support forum (1, 2) includes owners of the Studio Display reporting that as they try to update the...
Apple on March 14 released iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4, bringing Universal Control across iPad and Mac, support for Face ID while wearing a mask, new emojis, anti-stalking changes for AirTags, and more.
Top Rated Comments
M1 Ultra energy cost: £148/year
Even if it’s half the speed that’s a win.