M2 Ultra pushes the limits of Mac performance in more ways than one, thanks to its faster CPU and GPU, as well as its capability for even more unified memory.
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA M2 Ultra is the final member of Apple’s M2 series of system-on-a-chips (SoC) and will bring massive performance improvements to the Mac. The announcement was made today by Apple. The M2 Ultra chip is the most advanced and capable chip that Apple has ever developed; as a result, the new Mac Studio and Mac Pro are the most potent desktop computers that Apple has ever produced. M2 Ultra is constructed using a second-generation 5-nanometer process, and it makes use of Apple’s ground-breaking UltraFusion technology to join the die of two M2 Max chips, which effectively doubles the performance of the system. M2 Ultra is comprised of 134 billion transistors, which is an increase of 20 billion above M1 Ultra’s count. Its unified memory architecture has memory bandwidth that is 800GB/s, which is twice as much as M2 Max, and supports up to a record-breaking 192GB of memory capacity, which is a 50 percent increase over M1 Ultra. The M2 Ultra has a more powerful CPU that is 20% quicker than the M1 Ultra, a larger GPU that is up to 30% faster, and a Neural Engine that is up to 40% faster than the M1 Ultra.1 In addition to this, it has a media engine that has double the capability of M2 Max for lightning-fast acceleration of ProRes files. The M2 Ultra increases the overall performance of Mac computers to an entirely new level thanks to all of these innovations.
“M2 Ultra delivers astonishing performance and capabilities for our pro users’ most demanding workflows,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “While maintaining Apple silicon’s industry-leading power efficiency,” he said. “With huge performance gains in the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine, combined with massive memory bandwidth in a single SoC, M2 Ultra is the world’s most powerful chip that has ever been created for a personal computer.”
UltraFusion Technology, the Most Advanced in the Industry
UltraFusion is Apple’s industry-leading, custom-built packaging technique, and it is used to join two M2 Max dies that are used in the construction of M2 Ultra. Over 2.5 terabits per second (TB/s) of low-latency interprocessor bandwidth is made available by UltraFusion, which makes use of a silicon interposer that connects the dies with more than 10,000 signals.
The architecture of UltraFusion makes it possible for M2 Ultra to appear to software as a singular chip. This means that the code does not need to be modified in order to take advantage of the extremely high performance of M2 Ultra, which distinguishes UltraFusion from anything else that is available within the industry.
Performance and power efficiency that are unmatched in the industry
M2 Ultra’s 24-core central processing unit (CPU) is comprised of 16 high-performance cores of the next generation and eight high-efficiency cores of the next generation. It offers performance that is up to 20 percent faster than that of M1 Ultra. Colorists working with DaVinci Resolve may notice an increase of up to 50 percent in the speed of video processing when utilizing Mac Studio powered by M2 Ultra as opposed to Mac Studio powered by M1 Ultra.2
The graphics processing unit (GPU) can be outfitted with either 60 or 76 cores of the next-generation variety. When compared to the already incredible power of the GPU found in M1 Ultra, this represents up to 12 additional cores and up to a 30 percent gain. When compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, the rendering of 3D effects with Octane on Mac Studio with M2 Ultra is up to three times faster.2
Architecture of Unified Memory That Completely Changes the Game
The amazing bandwidth, low latency, and unrivaled power efficiency that the unified memory architecture of Apple’s semiconductor products provides is a characteristic of Apple’s products. The system memory bandwidth of the M2 Ultra is 800GB/s, which is significantly higher than anything that can be found in a PC. Additionally, it is possible to configure it with an enormous 192 GB of unified memory, which enables processes that are not conceivable on a standard personal computer. For instance, M2 Ultra is able to train enormous machine learning workloads in a single system, something that even the most powerful discrete GPU is unable to accomplish.3
Advanced, Personalized Technologies Boost Machine Learning, Video, and Other Areas of Interest
M2 Ultra incorporates Apple’s most recent bespoke technology directly on the chip, maximizing both performance and efficiency in the following ways:
- M2 Ultra comes equipped with a 32-core Neural Engine that is capable of performing 31.6 trillion operations per second. This represents a performance increase of 40 percent in comparison to M1 Ultra.
- The robust media engine has double the capabilities of the M2 Max, which further accelerates the processing of video data. M2 Ultra is able to play back up to 22 streams of 8K ProRes 422 video thanks to its dedicated, hardware-enabled H.264, HEVC, and ProRes encode and decoding capabilities. This is significantly more than any PC chip is capable of doing.
- More than 100 million pixels may be driven by the display engine, which can support up to six Pro Display XDRs simultaneously.
- The most recent iteration of Secure Enclave, in conjunction with hardware-verified secure boot and runtime anti-exploitation technologies, offers the highest level of protection available in its class.
Superior from an ecological point of view
M2 Ultra’s power-efficient performance opens up new doors of opportunity for even the most demanding professional users, all without compromising M2 Ultra’s commitment to being environmentally responsible. Today, Apple is carbon neutral for all of its global corporate activities, and by the year 2030, the company expects to have a net-zero climate impact across the board across all of its operations, including all product life cycles and manufacturing supply chains. This also means that every single chip Apple designs and manufactures, from the point of design all the way through production, will be completely free of carbon emissions.
The switch from Intel to Apple silicon has been finished.
The transition of Mac computers to use Apple silicon is now complete with the introduction of M2 Ultra, which powers the new Mac Pro. This will completely change the way laptops and desktops are used. It’s the beginning of a new age for the Mac, and it’s all thanks to the constant innovation that Apple has brought to its silicon.