Here's Why Apple is Unlikely to Release an M4 Ultra Chip for Macs

The new Mac Studio is available with mismatched M4 Max and M3 Ultra chip options. Will there be an M4 Ultra chip in the future, though? It looks unlikely.

Here are three reasons why Apple might never release an M4 Ultra chip.

First, among Apple's line of Mac chips, the highest-end Ultra chips are effectively two Max chips fused together with a technology called UltraFusion. So, the M1 Ultra chip is two M1 Max chips combined, and the M2 Ultra chip is two M2 Max chips combined. However, Apple confirmed that the M4 Max chip lacks an UltraFusion connector, so that means Apple cannot simply release a doubled-up M4 Ultra chip this time around.

Second, Apple told several journalists and YouTubers that not every generation of Mac chips will have an "Ultra" chip. The timing of Apple revealing this information suggests that we might never get an M4 Ultra chip.

The third reason was shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today.

In his Power On newsletter, he said that Apple is reluctant to develop an M4 Ultra chip from scratch due to production challenges, costs, and the relatively small sales volume of its desktop computers, like the Mac Studio. So, that seems to rule out the only other way in which Apple could have released an M4 Ultra chip.

Maybe we will see UltraFusion return on the M5 Max chip, paving the way for an M5 Ultra chip?