Apple's new M2 Ultra chip offers even more ridiculous performance than before

WWDC 2023 is here, and it serves as the stage for some of Apple’s most ambitious hardware plays we have ever seen. At the heart of a lot of Apple’s recent hardware has been the M-series of chips which started with the M1 generation and added in Pro, Max, and Ultra upgrades. We’re now in the M2 generation with Pro and Max upgrades, and Apple has just announced the new M2 Ultra, its most ridiculously overpowered SoC ever.

The M2 Ultra is a generational upgrade over the M1 Ultra from early 2022 and a big spec bump over the M2 Max that was announced a year ago at WWDC 2022. The highlight of the M2 Ultra is its 24 CPU cores that break down into 16 high-performance cores and eight efficiency cores. Complementing the CPU cores are up to 76 GPU cores, as well as RAM options of 64GB, 128GB, and 192GB.

Other notable specifications of the M2 Ultra include its 32-core Neural Engine that helps out with complex workloads and machine learning models. As with the M1 generation before it, the M2 Ultra is practically two M2 Max dies connected together with Apple’s UltraFusion packaging architecture.

To truly appreciate the scale of the M2 Ultra, you need to take a look at your next best options in Apple silicon. The next-best M2 Max goes up to 12 CPU cores, 38 GPU cores, and up to 96GB of RAM, while the more grounded M2 Pro goes up to 12 CPU cores, 19 GPU cores, and up to 32GB of RAM.

For a view on the generational upgrade, the M1 Ultra had 20 CPU cores, 64 GPU cores, and up to 128GB of RAM. No matter how you compare, the M2 Ultra is the most powerful chip coming out of Apple, as it should be.

The M2 Ultra’s performance is certainly its standout feature, but what makes it even more impressive is its footprint. You can get similar and better performance on competitors, but those alternatives are bigger, bulkier, and have a higher power draw. You definitely cannot compete in packing all of this power in the footprint of a Mac Studio, which is still fairly portable for today’s time.

The M2 Ultra is available in the new 2023 Mac Studio, with prices starting at $3,999 for the base model with a 60-core GPU, 64GB RAM, and 1TB SSD and going all the way up to $8,799 for the topmost spec with 76-core GPU, 192GB RAM, and 8TB SSD. You can also get it on the newly announced Mac Pro. If you’re looking to get an Apple Macbook laptop with the same SoC, there won’t be one, as Apple does not offer this SoC for laptops. For now, we wouldn’t advise holding your breath for seeing this in an iPad or iPhone either.