Apple’s recent launch of new Mac Studio systems, featuring updated silicon and substantial unified memory, has the tech world buzzing. This move warrants close attention from competitors like AMD, Intel, and particularly NVIDIA.
The new Apple Mac Studio M3 Ultra can be configured with up to a staggering 512GB of unified memory. An M4 Max option is also available.
The Local AI Play: New 512GB Unified Memory Apple Mac Studio
While Apple has been gradually rolling out the M4 series, the integration of both the M4 Max alongside the M3 Ultra into the Mac Studio lineup is intriguing. Having previously reviewed the now somewhat dated Apple Mac Mini M4, the updated Mac Studio is equipped with the M4 Max, boasting a 40-core GPU and 128GB of memory, which should provide a solid platform for professional users.
The M3 Ultra, however, steps it up with shared memory capacities of 256GB and 512GB, combined with an 80-core GPU. Based on the specifications and the initial pricing, the 512GB variant will set you back a cool $9,499, even with a modest 1TB of storage.
The price point is a concern, with the cost for expanded storage being an additional premium. However, the inclusion of Thunderbolt 5 and 10GbE could potentially make network storage a more appealing and cost-effective alternative to the $4,600 16TB storage upgrade.
The ability to run a large AI model, such as Deepseek-R1 671b, on a system priced around $10,000, without the complexity of clustering, could be a game-changer. Keeping that in mind, a NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada card costs $8,999.
For just a bit more, Apple offers an entire system with Thunderbolt 5 (120Gbps) clustering capability. Also, it’s important to remember that the RTX 6000 Ada is a 2023-era part with only 48GB of memory, while the new Apple offers 10x the memory footprint. The memory capacity is the key.
The unified memory architecture enables running higher-end workloads with ease. While the cost of the Apple workstation is high, when you compare it to the cost per GB of memory for NVIDIA, there are some advantages.
The unified memory SoC model could be a gigantic market for the future. For both AMD and Intel, they must not look at this sector as a low-cost segment, in what appears to be a very dynamic field. The March 17, 2025, launch date for the 512GB M3 Ultra model just happens to coincide with the first day of NVIDIA GTC 2025.
