Apple today introduced the M1 Ultra chip with a 20-core CPU, up to a 64-core GPU, and a 32-core Neural Engine. The first Mac to offer the M1 Ultra is the all-new Mac Studio desktop computer, which is available to order starting today.
Tech specs for the Mac Studio confirm that the M1 Ultra chip supports up to five external displays. Specifically, a Mac Studio configured with the M1 Ultra chip supports up to four external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over USB-C, along with a fifth display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI, according to Apple.
By comparison, 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the M1 Pro chip support up to two 6K displays, while models configured with the M1 Max chip support up to three 6K displays and a fourth display with up to 4K resolution. MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro models with the standard M1 chip officially only support up to one external display, but users have worked around this limitation with the use of DisplayLink adapters.
The M1 Ultra chip interconnects the die of two M1 Max chips for higher performance and support for up to 128GB of unified memory, compared to a limit of 64GB for the M1 Max chip. The 20-core CPU has 16 high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores.
"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's chipmaking lead Johny Srouji. "With its powerful CPU, massive GPU, incredible Neural Engine, ProRes hardware acceleration, and huge amount of unified memory, M1 Ultra completes the M1 family as the world's most powerful and capable chip for a personal computer."
