The M3 Ultra version of the Mac Studio (starting at $3,999; tested version priced at $8,099) is Apple’s high-end computer capable of handling everything from editing 8K video and rendering complex CGI to running large AI models on your own machine. From media editing to engineering, the Mac Studio is Apple’s most powerful workstation desktop you can buy. (Even the tower-style Mac Pro is only slightly bigger than the Mac Studio in a larger box.)
The 2025 Mac Studio comes in two essential versions, defined by their CPUs: M4 Max and M3 Ultra. Both are incredibly powerful and a meaningful upgrade over the 2023 models. However, the two processor options and slightly different feature sets might create some confusion about which system is the best fit for you and your work, not to mention your budget. That’s why we’ve extensively tested the Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra to help you understand when it makes sense to spend extra money for this higher-priced, more powerful model. (Spoiler: The M3 Ultra version delivers great power for the most demanding tasks, but the M4 Max-based Mac Studio earns our Editor’s Choice Award over this model. Keep reading to find out why.)
Design: M3 Ultra’s Stellar Architecture
The Mac Studio offers two processor options: the single-chip M4 Max, which is the default for the base model, or the M3 Ultra, which costs an additional $2,000. As the name suggests, the M3 Ultra is based on the M3 Max, Apple’s top-of-the-line single-chip processor from 2023.
The M3 Ultra pairs two M3 Max chips using Apple’s proprietary UltraFusion silicon interposer, linking both chips with ultra-low-latency connections so they can work together and appear as one in software. The result is double the compute cores, double the bandwidth, a dramatic increase in graphics cores, and support for more than half a terabyte of RAM.
This chip is designed for professionals who need the highest level of performance in areas like 8K video editing, 3D rendering, and complex simulations. However, it’s important to understand that despite being the top-tier chip right now, it’s still based on previous generation hardware. This means that compared to the M4 Max, it runs on an older core architecture without the refinements and optimizations made for the M4 series.
The outcome is an unquestionably powerful chip, often considered the most powerful chip currently offered by Apple. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best chip for every use case or every user.
The Mac Studio Exterior
Externally, the Mac Studio looks quite familiar as its design has remained unchanged from the last two iterations. A glance at the pictures in this review will give you all the information you need. The Mac Studio uses a completely aluminum build for its cube-like chassis. This aluminum housing is 3.7 inches tall and has a 7.7-inch square footprint, making it highly compact and capable of fitting on any desk. The aluminum isn’t just a design choice; it also serves as a heat sink for the internal hardware.
The Mac Studio is designed for airflow, with a ring-shaped air intake at the bottom surrounding the circular feet that serve as the base. On the back, right above the rear ports, hundreds of small holes create ventilation. Inside this compact chassis, there’s a very quiet fan that pulls in cool air and pushes out hot air, with a custom-designed heat sink inside the processor to dissipate heat. For this step-up model, the processor is cooled by a copper heat sink, and inside it, there’s a vapor chamber for added cooling efficiency.
Configurations: How Much Memory and Storage Can You Buy?
The Mac Studio comes in several configurations, starting with the base model that uses the M4 Max 14-core processor with a 32-core GPU and 16-core neural engine. With 36GB of unified memory and 512GB SSD storage by default, this version starts at $1,999. You can increase the memory and storage to 128GB and 8TB, respectively, bringing the price up to $5,899.
However, you can also get the Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra chip, which is a whole different beast. The “basic” M3 Ultra model, priced at $3,999, comes with a 28-core CPU, 60-core GPU, and 32-core neural engine, along with 96GB of memory and 1TB SSD storage—not exactly basic, but if you want dual CPUs, this is your entry point.
The M3 Ultra Mac Studio we tested goes further with the 32-core version of the chip. This version also boosts the GPU to 80 cores and pairs it with 256GB memory and 4TB SSD storage. These upgrades bring the price up to $8,099. Want to go all-in? Memory can go up to 512GB, and the SSD can be upgraded to 16TB, bringing the price to $14,099. Clearly, this system isn’t for the average consumer but for professional creators who need extreme performance and storage—and have the budget to match.
You might also want to budget for peripherals (sold separately) and extended AppleCare+ coverage, as the Mac Studio comes with a one-year warranty and only 90 days of free tech support.
Features and Connectivity: Thunderbolt 5 and Beyond
The M3 Ultra model has better connectivity, featuring Thunderbolt 5 ports both on the front and back that support speeds up to 120Gbps and native DisplayPort 2.1 output.
On the back, there are four Thunderbolt ports, along with two USB Type-A ports, one HDMI 2.1 output, a 10Gbps Ethernet jack, and a headphone jack. On the front, you’ll find two more Thunderbolt 5 ports (bringing the total to six), along with an SDXC card slot for easy photo and video transfers directly from camera storage without any adapters.
Between the Thunderbolt ports and HDMI output, you can drive eight displays at 6K resolution at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz. Alternatively, you can set up four displays at 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz. Wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Interestingly, despite being the latest standard, Wi-Fi 7 isn’t available on this machine. However, I suspect most users working in those rare areas will rely on the Mac Studio’s 10Gbps Ethernet connection for networking needs.
Using the Mac Studio: AI, macOS Sequoia, and More
The M3 Ultra-based Mac Studio benefits from macOS Sequoia and Apple’s intelligence to deliver a smooth, powerful user experience. The advanced neural engine and increased memory bandwidth ensure optimal performance for AI-driven tasks. A part of Apple Intelligence, it combines on-device and cloud AI for everything from writing and summarization tools to photo enhancement and image generation. Many of these features are available to anyone with an Apple system based on M-series processors, but the new M3 Ultra should offer the best performance for these new tools, thanks to its upgraded neural engine, GPU, and extended memory bandwidth.
The 2025 Mac Studio also comes with the latest macOS version, Sequoia, which brings several major improvements that weren’t present in previous Mac Studio models when they launched. These include on-screen iPhone mirroring, better window management, and improved performance thanks to seamless integration of Apple’s hardware and software.
However, it’s important to note that these upgrades are not exclusive to this Mac Studio model. Sequoia is available for free to all M-series Mac users, along with its many features.
Benchmarking the 2025 Mac Studio
The Mac Studio is more than just a compact desktop; it’s a beast of a workstation, which means most desktops can’t compete with it. For that reason, we’ve focused most of our comparisons on the latest Mac Studio models, including the new M4 Max version and the 2023 Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra.
For context, we’ve also compared it to the Apple iMac with the M4. Without the Pro, Max, or Ultra models, this comparison highlights just how far Mac Studio stands apart from mainstream systems in terms of performance and capability.
Productivity and Content Creation Tests
| CPU (Multi-Core) Render Setting | CPU (Single-Core) Render Setting | |
| Apple Mac Studio (2025, M3 Ultra) | 3080 | 150 |
| Apple iMac (2024, M4) | 873 | 172 |
| Apple Mac mini (2024, M4 Pro) | 1729 | 174 |
| Apple Mac Studio (2023, M2 Ultra) | 1940 | 130 |
| Apple Mac Studio (2025, M4 Max) | 2099 | 190 |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16-Inch (2023, M3 Max) | 1713 | 141 |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16-Inch (2024, M4 Pro) | 1734 | 173 |
We run the same general productivity benchmarks on both mobile and desktop systems. For Macs, this means three benchmarks focused on the CPU, utilizing all available cores and threads to rate the system’s suitability for processor-heavy workloads.
We also test using Maxon’s Cinebench 2024, which uses the Cinema 4D engine to render complex scenes, Geekbench 6.3 Pro from Primate Labs, which simulates popular apps from PDF rendering to speech recognition and machine learning, and HandBrake 1.8, an open-source video transcoder that converts a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution (the shorter the time, the better).
We run Puget Systems’ PugetBench for Photoshop, which is an automated benchmark that performs a range of common and GPU-accelerated Photoshop tasks.
Graphics and Gaming Tests
Under normal circumstances, we test Mac graphics performance using several 3DMark rendering tests and a real-world gaming benchmark, Total War: Warhammer 3. However, the version of 3DMark for Mac doesn’t share results publicly, so we couldn’t run it before publication due to privacy agreements with Apple.
We’ll run our 3DMark tests and update the review accordingly, but in the meantime, the Total War: Warhammer 3 results are enlightening. The M3 Ultra delivered excellent performance and playable frame rates at both ultra and low detail settings, indicating very capable gaming performance.
However, if you’re after the best gaming experience, the less expensive M4 Max version of the Mac Studio is the better choice. In this same test, the M4 Max delivered high frame rates and notably smooth gameplay at all detail settings. Of course, gaming isn’t the primary concern on these machines; with the price of the M3 Ultra-based Mac Studio, you could buy numerous gaming consoles and games, likely surpassing the cost of the Mac itself, along with a great TV for gaming.
Workstation-Specific Tests
The Mac Studio isn’t just a desktop; it’s a fully developed workstation capable of processing and graphics for fields like engineering, medical imaging, and CGI video rendering. Performance at this level requires more intensive testing. For that, we’ve run workstation-level tests, including video editing in Adobe Premiere Pro 24, further editing in Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve Studio, and rendering tests in Blender, which target both CPU and GPU performance.
Each of these tests generates a numerical score, and the fine differences between them aren’t crucial here; what matters is that higher scores indicate faster, more powerful performance.
Final Verdict?
The 2025 Apple Mac Studio with M3 Ultra is a monster workstation that we recommend for offices and studios that need massive power and can afford it. (If you need this kind of multicore processing power, you likely already know it.) For everyone else, the M4 Max configuration is the better Mac Studio and is our overall top recommendation.
