M3 Ultra Mac Studio rumored to debut in mid-2024 — without a Mac Pro

Apple M3 is built on the 3nm process

Supply chain reports suggest Apple will continue to increase its use of TSMC's 3 nanometer wafers through 2024 with the M3 Ultra said to debut in a Mac Studio around the 2024 WWDC timeframe — but perhaps without a refreshed Mac Pro.

Apple shifted to the 3 nanometer process with M3 and A17 Pro in 2023. The process is almost exclusively owned by TSMC and may continue to be the case through 2024.

According to Trendforce, based on data from The Elec and a report from ICsmart, TSMC customers that include Apple will increase orders for second generation 3nm process wafers up to 80% utilization by the end of 2024. Apple will introduce new chips using the process later in 2024 like the M3 Ultra and A18 Pro.

The M3 Ultra is expected to be launched with an updated Mac Studio in the middle of the year.

The report doesn't make any specific mention of a Mac Pro using the chipset, however. It's not clear if this is an accidental omission, or an intentional statement.

This information appears to originate from the supply chain. It matches up with Apple's release pattern, and previous reports on the matter. The continued use of the 3nm process for the next year or so is probable — but we're less certain about no Mac Pro update in conjunction with a Mac Studio.

Apple surprised the world by introducing three M-series processors at once, and ahead of expected cadence during its "Scary Fast" event. The M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max were all revealed in late October 2023.

More Macs will likely be introduced with those processors before M3 Ultra is revealed. Given Apple's previous patterns, M3 Ultra will likely be announced during WWDC in June.

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41 Comments

hypoluxa 614 comments · 22 Years

About 3 months ago

I can't see them (yet) removing the MacPro from their roster. The PCI expansion slots are a niche market for some Pro users who use them, they still have a customer market for it albeit a shrinking one.

mjtomlin 2673 comments · 20 Years

TSMC customers that include Apple will increase orders for second generation 3nm process wafers
Not so sure this applies to the M3 Ultra; the next generation 3nm process is not compatible with the first generation, which is why so many other companies have opted to pass on it and wait.

The A18 will make the switch as will the M4.

tht 5375 comments · 23 Years

mjtomlin said:

TSMC customers that include Apple will increase orders for second generation 3nm process wafers
Not so sure this applies to the M3 Ultra; the next generation 3nm process is not compatible with the first generation, which is why so many other companies have opted to pass on it and wait.

The A18 will make the switch as will the M4.

Yeah. Apple is already making M3 Max chips on N3B. What's the point of using N3E when TSMC is fabbing M3 Max chips on order low millions of chips? The M3 Ultra is two M3 Max chips and the UltraFusion silicon bridge. So, the compute chips are already available. Just waiting on the silicon bridge chip, qualification/validation of the M3 Ultra, and marketing timing. Apple still needs to up their ambition and ship the quad Max chip solution too. You hope they can ship it for every generation.

N3E? Yeah, that might arrive in time for the A18 and M4 family of chips. Apple could be using four generations of TSMC 3nm fabs: N3B, N3E, N3P and N3X. Won't see TSMC 2nm chips until late 2026 at the earliest.

maury markowitz 365 comments · 17 Years

hypoluxa said:

I can't see them (yet) removing the MacPro from their roster. The PCI expansion slots are a niche market for some Pro users who use them, they still have a customer market for it albeit a shrinking one.

Could this not be addressed with a working external PCI expansion system?

macxpress 5785 comments · 16 Years

Perhaps Apple will release MacPro with an M3 Extreme of some sort? They need to do something to differentiate the Mac Pro from Mac Studio other than it has PCIe slots. More CPU/GPU power, higher RAM capacity would definitely separate it from the Mac Studio for those who really need the power and capacity. Make it actually worth its $6-7,000 starting price tag.