Apple’s fastest in-house silicon, the M3 Ultra, was available to test in the updated Mac Studio, with various media outlets and content creators taking the workstation-class chipset through its paces. One of its biggest strengths is power efficiency, thanks to Apple leveraging the ARM architecture instead of x86, which is still used for desktop processors. This change allows the M3 Ultra to consume less power than every other CPU on the market, with the SoC drawing 55 percent less juice than the least aggressive chip regarding wattage utilization.
While running HandBrake, the M3 Ultra tops out at around 77.3W, with the M4 Max being the most power-efficient
A Mac Studio unit was tested by Ars Technica’s Andrew Cunningham, who ran a multitude of tests to see what sort of performance and efficiency levels can be obtained with the M3 Ultra. We were particularly curious to see the power consumption side of things, which is why we turned our attention to HandBrake, a benchmark open-source video transcoder that stresses both the CPU and GPU in various tests. On average, Apple’s fastest chipset consumes around 77.3W, making it slightly higher than the M4 Max, which tops out at 50.2W.
With the exception of the M4 Max, the M3 Ultra guzzles less power than every other high-end x86 desktop processor, with AMD’s 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen 9 7950X utilizing the least amount of power in its weight class at 172.6W. Intel’s Core Ultra 285K ended up pulling 186.5W, with the Core i9-14900K going as high as 233.6W. The power consumption metrics were recorded by HWInfo or powermetrics, both of which are monitoring software. However, there can be some margin of error using programs, with proper accuracy coming from running a multimeter that is connected to the power outlet.
Even if these are not the M3 Ultra’s accurate figures, it still does not take away from the fact that this Apple Silicon is not just thoroughly efficient, but it can also bulldoze the competition in both single-core and multi-core workloads. In Geekbench 6, the same SoC ended up being 29 percent faster than the M2 Ultra but barely materialized any meaningful difference against the M4 Max, registering a meager 7 percent lead. Regardless of these scores, if efficiency is your top priority and you do not mind paying the extra premium, the M3 Ultra-powered Mac Studio will likely be in your crosshairs.
News Source: Ars Technica
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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