Apple May Be Readying an M3 Ultra Mac Studio for WWDC 2024

A new report out of Taiwan from research firm TrendForce cites ICsmart in a claim that Apple is working on a new M3-powered Mac Studio model for a possible mid-2024 launch.

If the rumored Mac Studio does debut around that time, it’s likely we’ll see it unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) in June, following in the steps of last year’s WWDC 2023 debut of Apple’s current M2 Mac Studio models.

Somewhat strangely, the article makes no mention of Apple’s only other M2 Ultra-powered Mac, the Mac Pro. While it’s logical to assume that the Mac Pro would also receive an under-the-hood M3 Ultra upgrade alongside the Mac Studio, no mention was made of such a spec increase being readied for the Mac Pro this year.

The TrendForce report says that the M3 Ultra chip powering the new Mac Studio will be fabricated using TSMC’s N3E node, which is also expected to be used for the A18 chip in the iPhone 16, which will likely debut in September of this year.

If the report is correct, the M3 Ultra chip would be Apple’s first N3E chip. The M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips are all fabricated using TSMC’s N3B process, which was used for the A17 Pro that powers the current iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. N3E is an improved version of TSMC’s 3nm fabrication process, offering slightly better performance and an improved production yield.

All of Apple’s “Ultra” chips are made up of two “Max” chips that are linked via its UltraFusion chip interconnect technology, making it unusual for Apple to use N3E for the chip. Using different nodes in the same family of Apple Silicon chips would be somewhat unusual.

Such a move may also indicate that Apple has plans to debut M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips in the near future, perhaps as soon as late this year. In this case, the N3E process would also help the M3 Ultra Mac Studio to remain competitive with any M4-powered Macs.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in August that the M3 Ultra chips could feature as many as 32 CPU cores (24 performance and eight efficiency) in its base configuration, while the top configuration could boast as many as 32 CPU cores (24 performance and eight efficiency) and 80 GPU cores. Gurman predicted the chips would be used in the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro.

As usual, take any report like this with a grain of your favorite salt-free seasoning. That said, we will stay alert for any additional info about a new Mac Studio and will let you know if we discover anything new.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]