New Mac Studio with Apple M3 Ultra tipped to launch alongside M4 MacBook Air

Apple surprised everyone with a stealthy M3 iPad Air and iPad 11th-gen launch yesterday. Both were essentially mid-cycle refreshes, with the latter offering double the base storage and a newer A16 SoC. A new MacBook Air is also scheduled to drop this week, but it will supposedly be joined by a surprise entrant.

Mark Gurman says the M4 MacBook Air will be accompanied by a new Mac Studio. It has been a while since we've seen a Mac Studio, with the last one running a two-generation-old M2 Ultra. That raises an interesting question: what chip will the new Mac Studio launch with?

Logic dictates it could be something M4-based, but that's not the case.Gurman says it will run an Apple M3 Ultra and not an M4 Ultra. The latter, he says, is reserved for an eventual Mac Pro. Nevertheless, the M3 Ultra should pack more than enough power for a machine of the Mac Studio's size. Apple isn't one to mix and match chips in a generation, but the Ultra is an entirely different beast.

Apple was already far ahead of the competition this generation, and the M3 Ultra will push that lead further. Its closest competitor, AMD's Strix Halo-based Ryzen AI Max 395 Plus, may trade blows with the M3 Max, but the story might be entirely different with an M3 Ultra.