As with all new Apple chips, the first leaked Geekbench benchmarking numbers for the new Mac Studio featuring the M3 Ultra have arrived. But before you think these numbers are disappointing or evidence that Apple is manipulating numbers, let’s put them in context.
As reported, the benchmark for a Mac 15,14 running the M3 Ultra with a 32-core CPU and 256GB RAM shows 3221 (single-core) and 27749 (multi-core). Of course, these are impressive numbers, but they’re on par with our own numbers for the MacBook Pro with the M4 Max, which measured 3804 (single-core) and 25343 (multi-core).
We would expect the single-core score to be lower since this is comparing the M3 to the M4, but the multi-core score should theoretically be much higher, showing an 8% improvement. The M3 Ultra has 24 performance cores, while the M4 Max has just 12. Although this isn’t exactly a like-for-like comparison — since the M3 and M4 chips are based on different 3nm architecture generations — it’s still surprising to see such low scores. So, what’s going on?
The simple explanation is that Geekbench 6, the version used here to test the Mac, was not designed to handle larger CPUs. As noted in a post by ServeTheHome, which tests high-end PC hardware, “High-end workstations and even high-end desktop CPUs also run into scaling issues with Geekbench 6.” Specifically, problems arise in Geekbench when there are more than 16 performance cores, which is the case with the M3 Ultra. (Note that the M2 Ultra had exactly 16 performance cores, so it didn’t face this issue.) In ServeTheHome’s testing of the 64-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3995WX, they found similar numbers that didn’t reflect the chip’s true performance.
This wasn’t an issue with Geekbench 5, but the developer Primate Labs has shifted focus with the Geekbench 6 update to “smaller CPUs.” This shift makes sense as Geekbench is so popular among consumers, especially for phones and mid-range PCs. It works well for devices like the iPhone and MacBook Air but isn’t the best for $7,000 supercomputers.
It’s also worth noting that the M3 Ultra is likely to show its greatest advantage in terms of graphics. With a 60- or 80-core GPU, the M3 Ultra could outshine the M4 Max in real-world performance tests. We’ll have to wait a bit longer to see those numbers.
