The Mac line has gotten a major overhaul with the latest addition to the M-series chipsets: the Apple M2 Ultra. Following last year’s M1 Ultra chip, the M2 Ultra combines two Apple M2 Max chips via Apple UltraFusion architecture with up to 2.5TB/s bandwidth. Apple’s new high-end chip is made with a second-generation 5nm process.
Apple claims 20% higher CPU performance than the M1 Ultra, and the new 76-core GPU inside the M2 Ultra is 30% faster. The 32-core Neural Engine (NPU) offers a 40% increase over the M1 Ultra. The M2 Ultra is configurable with up to 192GB of unified memory (50% more than the M1 Ultra) and 800GB/s bandwidth, which is double the bandwidth of the M2 Max.
In terms of real-world performance, Apple claims 50% faster video processing with the ability to play up to 22 streams of 8K ProRes video. You can connect up to 6 Pro Display Pro XDR displays.
The new M2 Ultra chip will be available in two new Macs: the M2 Ultra Mac Studio and the updated Mac Pro. Apple has now completed its transition to Mac silicon.
Mac Studio is now available with M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips and up to 192GB of unified memory, as well as upgraded connectivity via HDMI with 8K monitor support and 240Hz refresh rate. Mac Studio also gets Wi-Fi 6E connectivity and Bluetooth 5.3.
Moving on to the new Mac Pro, it’s available in both tower and rack-mounted versions with the iconic aluminum chassis and all-new M2 Ultra chip. Enjoy PCIe expansion with the ability to add and swap video cards. You get six open PCIe gen 4 slots. Pro users can also add additional Digital Signal Processing (DSP) cards, Serial Digital Interface (SDI) I/O cards, or additional network and storage depending on their workflow.
Mac Pro is available in Tower and Rack enclosures
Mac Pro with M2 Ultra can handle up to 24 4K camera feeds with the ability to encode in ProRes. It can be connected to six Pro Display XDRs and also gets Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. I/O also includes 2 USB-A ports, 2 HDMI 2.1 ports, and 2 10GB Ethernet ports, as well as a headphone jack.
Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra chipset starts at $1,999.
The Mac Pro in its Tower enclosure starts at $6,999, while the Rack enclosure model will start at $7,499.
Both new Macs are available for pre-order today and will be available in the US next week.
Start a new Thread