M3 Ultra Chip's Massive 80-Core Graphics Performance Revealed in Benchmark Result

Apple's new M3 Ultra chip can be configured with a massive 80-core GPU, and an early benchmark result offers a look at its graphics performance.

M3 Ultra Chip
In one Geekbench 6 result for the new Mac Studio, the M3 Ultra with an 80-core GPU achieved a Metal score of 259,668, up from 222,582 for the M2 Ultra chip with a 76-core GPU in the previous-generation Mac Studio. If that single result is accurate, then the M3 Ultra offers up to 16% faster graphics performance than the M2 Ultra.

This means the M3 Ultra offers the best graphics performance of any Apple chip ever.

In the 16-inch MacBook Pro, the highest-end M4 Max chip with a 40-core GPU has an average Metal score of 187,460, so the M3 Ultra appears to offer up to 38% faster graphics performance than the M4 Max based on the one result.

A few other Geekbench 6 results for the M3 Ultra chip with an 80-core GPU show Metal scores in the 195,000 range. We believe those results are inaccurate, as it would not make any sense for the score to be that low.

As for CPU performance, we previously reported that the M3 Ultra is up to 10% faster than the previous-fastest M4 Max chip.

The new Mac Studio is available to pre-order now on Apple's online store, and it will launch in stores on Wednesday, March 12. In the U.S., pricing starts at $1,999 for M4 Max configurations, and at $3,999 for M3 Ultra configurations.

Related Roundup: Mac Studio
Buyer's Guide: Mac Studio (Neutral)
Related Forum: Mac Studio

Popular Stories

Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Thursday September 25, 2025 1:11 pm PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system codenamed "Charismatic," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple smart home hub concept based on rumors This is likely Apple's long-rumored "homeOS" operating system. In a report last month, Gurman said both Apple's rumored smart home hub in 2026 and tabletop robot in 2027 will run the new operating system. He said the software platform ...
Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Event in October? Here's What to Expect

Monday September 29, 2025 9:31 am PDT by
Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends. Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below. Apple in October Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023. In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...
iOS 26

Apple Continues to Prepare iOS 26.0.1 With Multiple Bug Fixes Expected

Sunday September 28, 2025 1:30 pm PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The account initially said iOS 26.0.1 would have a build number of 23A350, but they now expect the update to have a build number of 23A355. This suggests that the software update will include more bug fixes or changes than initially...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pro Nears Mass Production, But Four Bigger Upgrades Expected Next Year

Sunday September 28, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next MacBook Pro models will enter mass production soon, according to the latest information shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said he continues to believe the new MacBook Pro models will be released at some point between late 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, meaning they should be available to order by March at the latest. Apple often...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.0.1 With Fixes for Wi-Fi, Cellular, and Camera Issues on iPhone 17 Models

Monday September 29, 2025 10:12 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 26.0.1 and iPadOS 26.0.1, the first updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out earlier this week. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes for the update, iOS 26.0.1 addresses a bug that could cause aberrations in...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iPhone 16 Pro Max 80% Charge Limit: One Year Later, Was It Worth It?

Wednesday September 24, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by
With the iPhone 15 series, I did an experiment and kept my iPhone's Charge Limit set at 80 percent for an entire year. It provided an interesting look at the impact of charge limits on battery longevity, so I decided to repeat it for the iPhone 16 line. Since September 2024, my iPhone 16 Pro Max has been limited to an 80 percent charge, with no cheating. As of today, my battery's maximum...
iphone 17 ceramic shield

Regular iPhone 17's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Friday September 26, 2025 9:01 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the standard iPhone 17 model's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 27W to 28W with these Apple chargers:29W USB-C Power Adapter 30W USB-C Power Adapter 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max...
LG UltraFine 6K Display TB5

LG UltraFine 6K (32U990A) TB5 Display: Pre-Orders Open September 30

Monday September 29, 2025 6:21 am PDT by
Pre-orders for LG's new UltraFine evo 6K display (model 32U990A) with Thunderbolt 5 support will begin on September 30, according to a major U.S. retailer listing. LG first revealed the 32-inch display at CES 2025 in January, teasing its status as the first monitor to support Thunderbolt 5. At the time, LG only provided high-level specs, but left pricing, availability, and full technical...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Iridescent 1

Samsung Confirms Plan to Make Foldable Displays for Major American Company

Monday September 29, 2025 6:54 am PDT by
Samsung Display president Lee Cheong has confirmed plans to make foldable smartphone displays for a major American company, which is widely believed to be Apple. As reported in Chosun Biz, Cheong last week told journalists in Seoul that the company is accelerating preparations for mass production of OLED displays designed for foldable smartphones to be supplied to a "North American client."...
maxresdefault

Review: A Week With the iPhone 17 Pro

Friday September 26, 2025 12:51 pm PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 models have been out for a week now, so we thought we'd do a longer-term review of the flagship iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max now that we've been able to spend more time with them. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has a Silver iPhone 17 Pro and a Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max, and despite a lot of concern over...

Top Rated Comments

phuklok1 Avatar
8 months ago
note they don't compare to AMD or NVIDIA GPU performance. It really, really sucks the M-series of Macs can no longer use external GPUs. This really screwed up our workflows. Would be great if Apple still produced or supported a new x86 (AMD/Intel) option if they were intent of gimping M chip based macs this way.

It is requiring our organization to move off of Apple products for workstations and I am really going to miss the integration and UI of Mac OS when working on these. (And on downtime, I personally miss being able to use parallels for some gaming sessions on high end GPUs.)
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lounge vibes 05 Avatar
8 months ago

Apple should release a new generation when all variants of the chip are actually ready, and all MacBooks and Desktops can be updated at the same time. Simple.
I like how some people think that new chips are just a button push away.
Like Apple can just push the “M4Ultra” button and all of a sudden it’s developed packaged put in computers, assembled, and ready to go.
There are no chip manufacturers that work that way.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
obviouslogic Avatar
8 months ago

The surprising point is that this situation was caused by not updating the Mac Studio last year. Had they updated it to M3 Max and M3 Ultra, they could have skipped the M4 this year if it won’t have an Ultra version. But somebody had the idea of skipping the update and now they pay for it. Anyway, in my case this has been good for me, as I can now get a M4 Max Studio, more powerful and with more RAM than if they had updated it last year.
You can’t update something you don’t have. Apple has stated it takes a long time to produce these Ultra chips. Probably because they have to wait for fab lines to open up on the newer process nodes. It makes much more sense to start with smaller chips (A-series) when nodes are new and volume is low, because you can fit more on each wafer. Then work your way up to larger and large chips as production picks up.

If I had to guess what the issue was, is that TSMC didn’t want to dedicate too many fabs for N3B because Apple was the only client using it. So Apple didn’t have the capacity to produce the M3 Ultra until after [almost] everything was moved to M4. This is made more evident because Apple just released two other products that still make use of that older node; the A16 (iPad), M3 (iPad Air) and now the M3 Ultra in the Mac Studio. Seems they’re trying to squeeze what they can from that node to maximize costs.

Either way, if these benchmarks are true, it is a bit disappointing compared to what everyone was expecting, which would’ve been a beast of an SoC in a M4 Ultra.

I think the M3 Ultra is going to mainly appeal to the A.I. crowd with 512MB memory and 32 neural engine cores.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GMShadow Avatar
8 months ago

Pretty sure Apple is just saving the M4 Ultra launch for the Mac Pro 2025. That would give the Mac Pro the edge over the Mac Studio moving forward with the Mac Studio always being a generation behind with the Ultra lineup.

My preference would be to just ditch the Mac Pro in favor of the Mac Studio. But I think Apple needs to do this to justify the Mac Pro's existence over the Mac Studio moving forward.
There's no UltraFusion interconnect on the M4 Max. Apple engineering also said that means no M4 Ultra.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
obviouslogic Avatar
8 months ago

Apple should release a new generation when all variants of the chip are actually ready, and all MacBooks and Desktops can be updated at the same time. Simple.
Is it though?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
switz Avatar
8 months ago
Since the M4 was intentionally designed without the webbing to make an Ultra chip, that means they were working on perhaps a new major single chip idea that failed and the emergency response was to quickly clone a M3 Ultra out of the M3 parts bins. Maybe the memory capacity increase option was always in the M3 chip? Was upping the USB-C to V5 in the chip design?

Otherwise, we have to go with the assumption Apple created the M3 Ultra chip for their own server farm(s) probably without the fancy Mac Studio enclosure.

The more I read, the less I am inclined to acquire this generation of Ultra Mac Studio even though I can afford it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)