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

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
m1 chip slide

Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
iphone pocket%402x

Apple Debuts iPhone Pocket, a Limited Edition iPod Sock-Style Accessory

Tuesday November 11, 2025 1:23 am PST by
Apple has teamed up with Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE to launch iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted limited edition accessory designed to carry an iPhone, AirPods, and other everyday items. The accessory is like a stretchy pocket, not unlike an iPod Sock, but elongated to form a strap made of a ribbed, elastic textile that fully encloses an iPhone yet allows you to glimpse the display...
homepod mini colors

New HomePod Mini Coming Soon With These Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is expected to announce a new HomePod mini imminently, headlining with new chips. Here are all of the new features we're expecting. The second-generation HomePod mini is highly likely to contain a more up-to-date chip for more advanced computational audio and improved responsiveness. The current HomePod mini is equipped with the Apple Watch Series 5's S5 chip from 2019. Apple is likely ...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Announces Launch of U.S. Passport Feature in iPhone's Wallet App

Wednesday November 12, 2025 9:15 am PST by
Apple today announced that iPhone users can now create a Digital ID in the Apple Wallet app based on information from their U.S. passport. To create and present a Digital ID based on a U.S. passport, you need: An iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.1 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 6 or later running watchOS 26.1 or later Face ID or Touch ID and Bluetooth turned on An Apple Account ...
homepod mini thumb feature

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen. Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
Tesla Charging

Tesla Working to Add Apple CarPlay Support to Vehicles

Thursday November 13, 2025 8:31 am PST by
Tesla is working to add support for Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Tesla vehicles rely on its own infotainment software system, which integrates vehicle functions, navigation, music, web browsing, and more. The automaker has been an outlier in foregoing support for Apple CarPlay, which has otherwise become an industry standard feature, allowing users to...
iphone air thinness

iPhone Air Sales Are So Bad That Apple's Delaying the Next-Generation Version

Monday November 10, 2025 11:41 am PST by
The thin, light iPhone Air sold so poorly that Apple has decided to delay the launch of the next-generation iPhone Air that was scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, reports The Information. Apple initially planned to release a new iPhone Air in fall 2026, but now that's not going to happen. Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales...

Top Rated Comments

phuklok1 Avatar
9 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
9 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
9 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
9 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
9 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
9 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)