Apple (Hacker News):
Mac Studio with M4 Max is up to 3.5x faster than Mac Studio with M1 Max, and is up to 6.1x faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac.
[…]
Mac Studio with M3 Ultra pushes demanding workflows to a whole new level. It delivers nearly 2x faster performance than M4 Max in workloads that take advantage of high CPU and GPU core counts, and massive amounts of unified memory. Mac Studio with M3 Ultra is up to 2.6x faster than Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 6.4x faster than the 16-core Intel Xeon W-based Mac Pro.
[…]
Mac Studio with M3 Ultra starts with 96GB of unified memory, which can be configured up to 512GB — the most unified memory ever in a personal computer — and up to 16TB of ultrafast SSD storage, so content and data can be kept locally.
[…]
The new Mac Studio features Thunderbolt 5 ports that deliver transfer speeds up to 120 Gb/s, up to 3x faster than the prior generation, enabling faster external storage, expansion chassis, and powerful hub solutions. For those who rely on PCIe expansion cards for their workflows, Thunderbolt 5 allows users to connect an external expansion chassis with higher bandwidth and lower latency. And with M3 Ultra, Mac Studio now drives up to eight Pro Display XDRs at the full 6K resolution.
The only Xcode benchmark mentioned is that the Mac Studio with M4 Max is 2.1× faster than with M1 Max, so perhaps it doesn’t scale as well as other tasks.
Joe Rossignol:
This is the first Mac Studio refresh since it was updated with M2 Max and M2 Ultra chip options in June 2023.
The overall design of the Mac Studio has not changed.
Jason Snell:
It seems like a few things are going on here: first, that the development of the Ultra chip takes longer and that Apple won’t commit to shipping an Ultra chip in every chip generation. Second, that the first-generation three-nanometer chip process of Apple’s chipmaking partner, TSMC, isn’t as dead and buried as generally thought. Just this week Apple also introduced an iPad Air with an M3 processor, and of course the new iPad mini shipped with an A17 Pro processor based on the same process.
[…]
Though the prices for the two base models remain the same at $1999 and $3999, there’s one wrinkle: more memory. The M4 Max Mac Studio starts at 36GB of RAM, up from 32GB on the same-priced M2 Max model. And the M3 Ultra Mac Studio starts at 96GB, up from 64GB on the same-priced M2 Ultra.
Previously:
Apple Hardware Announcement Apple M3 Ultra Apple M4 Max Mac Mac Studio macOS 15 Sequoia
Apple (Hacker News, MacRumors):
M3 Ultra is built using Apple’s innovative UltraFusion packaging architecture, which links two M3 Max dies over 10,000 high-speed connections that offer low latency and high bandwidth. This allows the system to treat the combined dies as a single, unified chip for massive performance while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading power efficiency. UltraFusion brings together a total of 184 billion transistors to take the industry-leading capabilities of the new Mac Studio to new heights.
[…]
It features up to a 32-core CPU with 24 performance cores and eight efficiency cores, delivering up to 1.5x the performance of M2 Ultra, and up to 1.8x that of M1 Ultra. It also has the largest GPU in any Apple chip, with up to 80 graphics cores that bring up to 2x faster performance than M2 Ultra, and up to 2.6x faster than M1 Ultra.
[…]
The unified memory architecture of M3 Ultra integrates the most high-bandwidth, low-latency memory ever available in a personal computer. Starting at 96GB, it can be configured up to 512GB, or over half a terabyte.
Previously:
Apple Hardware Announcement Apple M3 Ultra Mac Processors
Apple (Hacker News, MacRumors, ArsTechnica):
Apple today announced the new MacBook Air, featuring the blazing-fast performance of the M4 chip, up to 18 hours of battery life, a new 12MP Center Stage camera, and a lower starting price. It also offers support for up to two external displays in addition to the built-in display, 16GB of starting unified memory, and the incredible capabilities of macOS Sequoia with Apple Intelligence — all packed into its strikingly thin and light design that’s built to last. The new MacBook Air now comes in an all-new color — sky blue, a metallic light blue that joins midnight, starlight, and silver — giving MacBook Air its most beautiful array of colors ever. It also now starts at just $999 — $100 less than before — and $899 for education, making it an incredible value for students, business professionals, or anyone looking for a phenomenal combination of world-class performance, portability, design, and durability.
The previous model started with only 8 GB of memory and went up to 24 GB. Between the RAM increase and the price decrease, the base model is much better than before. Upgrading to 32 GB of memory costs $400, though, and of course the SSD prices are still outrageous.
Howard Oakley:
In Apple’s current M4 models, the smallest internal storage on offer is 256 GB. For the great majority, that’s barely adequate if you don’t install any of your own apps.
[…]
Don’t be tempted to skimp with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 external SSD if that’s going to be your main storage. While it might seem a reasonable economy now, in 3-5 years time you’ll regret it. Besides, it may well have severe limitations in not Trimming as standard, and most don’t support SMART health indicators.
Thus, your expected saving by buying a Mac with only 512 GB internal storage, and providing 2 TB main storage on an external [Thunderbolt] SSD, is around $/€/£ 200-220, and that’s really the only advantage in not paying Apple’s high price for an internal 2 TB SSD.
Using an external boot drive just doesn’t work very well these days, in my experience, especially with a laptop and if you want to put the Mac to sleep. On the other hand, if you mostly need the storage for a media library, USB is fine and much less expensive. A 2 TB Samsung T7 is currently only $130 vs. $800 for Apple’s 2 TB upgrade.
Many noticed rapid changes in their SSD wear indicators, and some were getting worryingly close to the end of their expected working life after just three years. Users also reported that SSD performance was falling. The reasons for those are that SSDs work best, age slowest, and remain fastest when they have ample free space. One common rule of thumb is to keep at least 20-25% of SSD capacity as free space, although evidence is largely empirical, and in places confused.
Jason Snell:
The M4 also completely unlocks a feature that some MacBook Air fans have been clamoring for since the Apple silicon era began: The ability to drive two external displays and its own display, simultaneously.
[…]
A big quality-of-life upgrade in this model is the addition of a new 12-megapixel camera that supports Center Stage. These specs are identical to those found in the recently upgraded M4 iMac and M4 MacBook Pro. If this upgrade is anything like those, it’ll be a major improvement.
Christian Selig:
New MacBook Airs look great but Apple really needs to R&D the tech to add an extra USB-C port so you can charge from either side
Basic Apple Guy:
The Apple Color Czar needs to get Apple’s Blue Accessory Department under control. 11 current products, all with different blues…
Previously:
Apple Hardware Announcement Apple M4 Mac MacBook Air macOS 15 Sequoia Multiple Displays Solid-State Drive (SSD) Storage
Florian Albrecht:
Taska is a beautiful and versatile Mac native app for issue tracking.
Since working on issues typically is a team effort, it’s not an isolated or proprietary app. Instead, it acts as a frontend to the popular services GitHub and GitLab, maintaining full compatibility with other users of those services, whether they are using Taska or not.
[…]
We are celebrating our acquisition of Taska by providing 50% on all our products. We even set up a promotion page for that.
Zac Hall:
The app is available as a free download from the Mac App Store with a 14-day free trial and an unlimited read-only mode. Users can purchase the full app for a single $119.99 charge, or subscribe annually for $39.99/year.
Previously:
Acquisition Bargain Bug Tracking Business GitHub Kaleidoscope Mac Mac App macOS 15 Sequoia Programming Taska
