Apple M1 Ultra: How Much Better Will It Be Than Lesser M1 Chips?

pcmag.com:

At Apple's March 2022 event, the company's M1 silicon muscled its way into added relevance on desktop PCs. Desktops are the original hardware that made Apple a household name, and the new Mac Studio desktop—and the M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips that power it—are the penultimate step in completing the transition away from Intel Core and AMD Radeon chips in favor of ARM-based processors that Apple engineers design in-house. Those last steps will be bringing Apple silicon to the lone Intel/AMD holdout, the Mac Pro desktop, and (perhaps) to some differently sized iMacs. Apple has hinted that the Mac Pro move could happen soon, but in the meantime, there’s now a newly established hierarchy among Apple processors.

At the bottom is the Apple M1, which powers the MacBook Air, the entry-level version of the MacBook Pro, and the Mac mini. Next up are the more powerful M1 Pro and M1 Max, available on the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. And finally, there’s the new flagship, the M1 Ultra. It’s available only as an optional extra for the Mac Studio, a squarish 8-inch PC that evokes the old G4 Cube from 22 years ago, or at least a bulked-up, taller Mac mini.

Upgrading to the M1 Ultra isn’t cheap. Opting for a configuration of the Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra inside starts at a minimum of $3,799, almost twice the entry-level Mac Studio model’s $1,999 asking price. So let’s take a look at the improvements (and one potential drawback) you can expect if you decide to pull the trigger on Ultra. 

The M1 Ultra’s marquee innovation starts with a simple concept. The new processor is essentially two Apple M1s—specifically, the die of two M1 Max chips—fused together to create a single giant processor via a high-speed interconnect. On its