Apple's M1 Ultra combines two M1 Max into a powerhouse chip

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited March 2022
Apple has added a fourth chip to its groundbreaking M1 Apple Silicon family, with the M1 Ultra combining two M1 Max dies into one chip.

M1 Ultra
M1 Ultra


After the initial M1 and the update to M1 Pro and M1 Max, Apple decided it wanted to add a fourth option for power users. For the new M1 Ultra, it does so by effectively combining two M1 Max chips.

Apple uses a die-to-die interconnect called UltraFusion to connect the two dies together. In effect, it's two M1 Max chips hooked up via more than 10,000 signals, providing up to 2.5 terabytes a second of bandwidth between the two.

This allows the M1 Ultra to function as one chip rather than two. Apple says developers won't have to rewrite any code to take advantage of the chip's performance. Naturally, it also has access to 20 CPU cores, a 64-core GPU, and 32 Neural Engine cores.

With twice the footprint of the M1 Max, the M1 Ultra uses 114 billion transistors, seven times that of the M1.




Memory support has also been increased, with the M1 Ultra supporting up to 128GB of Unified Memory. Additionally, memory bandwidth has been bumped up to 800GB/s, with the M1 Ultra now eight times faster than the original M1. The 32-core Neural Engine runs up to 22 trillion operations per second, making even challenging machine learning tasks a cinch.

Apple says the new M1 Ultra provides unprecedented performance. It delivers 90% faster speeds than the fastest available 16-core PC desktop chip in the same power envelope. It also reaches the PC chip's peak performance using 100 fewer watts.

M1 Ultra's CPU performance.
M1 Ultra's CPU performance.


It's a similar bump for graphics. The M1 Ultra's 64-core GPU delivers better performance than the highest-end PC GPUs while using up to 200 fewer watts of power.

M1 Ultra's GPU performance.
M1 Ultra's GPU performance.


"M1 Ultra is another game-changer for Apple silicon that once again will shock the PC industry. By connecting two M1 Max die with our UltraFusion packaging architecture, we're able to scale Apple silicon to unprecedented new heights," said Apple Hardware Technologies SVP Johny Srouji. "M1 Ultra completes the M1 family as the world's most powerful and capable chip for a personal computer."

Read on AppleInsider
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Err, ah, what was Intel babbling about catching up to and outperforming the M1?
    JapheynetroxMisterKitwilliamlondonmuthuk_vanalingamsuddenly newtonGG1Beatsjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 21
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,663member
    Saving the quad for the pro eh? 

    M1 Extreme? 

    For the $4,000 STARTING price of the Studio, you’d think it would have a quad. 
    edited March 2022 MisterKitdk49lkruppwilliamlondonITGUYINSDwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 21
    MisterKitMisterKit Posts: 492member
    You can bet that the people over at Intel have their heads spinning.
    williamlondonmuthuk_vanalingamlolliverjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 21
    datsonddatsond Posts: 10member
    Saving the quad for the pro eh? 

    M1 Extreme? 

    For the $4,000 STARTING price of the Studio, you’d think it would have a quad. 
    That’s probably for the Mac Pro… the last Mac to transition off Intel.
    Beatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 21
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Saving the quad for the pro eh? 

    M1 Extreme? 

    For the $4,000 STARTING price of the Studio, you’d think it would have a quad. 

    Maybe dual Ultras?

    I think for the performance you’re getting with the Ultra $4k is a good start. Considering the high end 28-core Xeon in the Mac Pro is a $7000 upgrade option. 
    williamlondonlolliverBeatsjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 21
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    mjtomlin said:
    Saving the quad for the pro eh? 

    M1 Extreme? 

    For the $4,000 STARTING price of the Studio, you’d think it would have a quad. 

    Maybe dual Ultras?

    I think for the performance you’re getting with the Ultra $4k is a good start. Considering the high end 28-core Xeon in the Mac Pro is a $7000 upgrade option. 
    The 64 core GPU is an extra $1000.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 21
    killroykillroy Posts: 271member
    lkrupp said:
    Err, ah, what was Intel babbling about catching up to and outperforming the M1?

    It's gaslighting for your brain.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 21
    Paging Mr. Schiller...

    bulk001watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 21
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    crowley said:
    mjtomlin said:
    Saving the quad for the pro eh? 

    M1 Extreme? 

    For the $4,000 STARTING price of the Studio, you’d think it would have a quad. 

    Maybe dual Ultras?

    I think for the performance you’re getting with the Ultra $4k is a good start. Considering the high end 28-core Xeon in the Mac Pro is a $7000 upgrade option. 
    The 64 core GPU is an extra $1000.

    Yep. Not sure what the GPU core count has to do with comparing CPU’s, but ok.

    High end Xeon is $7,000 upgrade
    Highest end Radeon is another $5,400 upgrade

    Neither of which are as performant as the Ultra supposedly is. So again, definitely worth the $4k starting price and the extra $1k for the 64 core GPU upgrade.
    williamlondonlolliverBeatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 21
    ITGUYINSDITGUYINSD Posts: 510member
    Nice to see my Mac Mini M1 didn't depreciate as much today as I had anticipated.  $1999 doesn't exactly attract the same crowd as the $700-$800 Mac Mini M1.  Would have been nice to see a M1 Pro Mini for $1000.
    edited March 2022 opuscroakuswatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 21
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Saving the quad for the pro eh? 

    M1 Extreme? 

    For the $4,000 STARTING price of the Studio, you’d think it would have a quad. 
    If you spec out an similar Intel variant, $4K is actually quite a bargain. 

    Once again, people shouting out "expensive" without doing a single shred of research on its closest competitor.
    y2anbulk001williamlondontmaylolliverGG1thtBeatsjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 21
    bulk001bulk001 Posts: 764member
    Now imagine 2 or 4 or even 8 of these in a pro mac machine! 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 21
    bulk001bulk001 Posts: 764member
    hcrefugee said:
    Paging Mr. Schiller...

    Classic post of the day!
    Beatsjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 21
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    ITGUYINSD said:
    Nice to see my Mac Mini M1 didn't depreciate as much today as I had anticipated.  $1999 doesn't exactly attract the same crowd as the $700-$800 Mac Mini M1.  Would have been nice to see a M1 Pro Mini for $1000.

    Agree… How about an iMac and a Mac mini with an M1 Pro, even if it is low-end variant.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 21
    bulk001bulk001 Posts: 764member
    lkrupp said:
    Err, ah, what was Intel babbling about catching up to and outperforming the M1?
    Thankfully the rumors of an M2 chip with a marginally more powerful CPU (though more powerful GPU) did not pan out. This is a beast! Thinking of getting these for our office and then using the new 5G iPads to dial in with JumpDesktop when out of the office. 
    edited March 2022 williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 21
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    mjtomlin said:
    crowley said:
    mjtomlin said:
    Saving the quad for the pro eh? 

    M1 Extreme? 

    For the $4,000 STARTING price of the Studio, you’d think it would have a quad. 

    Maybe dual Ultras?

    I think for the performance you’re getting with the Ultra $4k is a good start. Considering the high end 28-core Xeon in the Mac Pro is a $7000 upgrade option. 
    The 64 core GPU is an extra $1000.

    Yep. Not sure what the GPU core count has to do with comparing CPU’s, but ok.
    Normally it doesn't, but the M1 in all its varieties is an integrated package.  You buy the CPU, RAM and GPU together, and none are upgradable, quite unlike an Intel, Radeon. and RAM stick combination.  I was just saying if you're taking the highest end Intel option then you should take the highest end M1 Ultra, because that's all you're ever going to have unless you replace the entire system.
    killroywatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 21
    sirbryansirbryan Posts: 33member
    The keynote also mentioned "the last" M1 chip in the lineup was Ultra.

    My bet is Mac Pro gets M2 (Max/Ultra) with each chip having 2 interconnects instead of one and perhaps 128GB per package, supporting quad/hex/octo configs within insane core counts.
    tmayfastasleepbulk001watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 21
    All y’all talking about “saving the quad for a Mac Pro” - are there additional interconnects on the M1? The ones used by the Ultra were discovered when the Pro/Max were x-rayed.
    fastasleepwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 21
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    All y’all talking about “saving the quad for a Mac Pro” - are there additional interconnects on the M1? The ones used by the Ultra were discovered when the Pro/Max were x-rayed.

    I don’t believe so… just at the bottom. This doesn’t prevent them from including 2 Ultras on package though, so while the Ultra might be the last “SoC”, there could still be an M1 Extreme that includes 2 Ultras and memory on a single package. Apple keeps talking up this high performance fabric that connects the RAM to the SoC.
    Beatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 21
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    lkrupp said:
    Err, ah, what was Intel babbling about catching up to and outperforming the M1?
    that's what Intel is doing - skating to where the puck was last year.
    edited March 2022 lolliverBeatswatto_cobra
Sign In or Register to comment.