The new Mac Studio could be an incredible computer, easily outpacing Apple’s most powerful (and expensive) Mac Pro, if the leaked benchmarks are right. As MacRumors reports, benchmark results for Geekbench 5 software, which tests the capabilities of PC processors, show a Mac Studio with a 20-core M1 Ultra scoring 1,793 in single-core tests and 24,055 in multi-core tests.
These are impressive numbers, especially when compared to the Mac Pro with a 28-core Intel Xeon W processor, which scored 1,152 and 19,951 in the same tests. These scores show that the M1 Ultra is 21% faster in multi-core performance and 56% faster in single-core performance compared to the 28-core Mac Pro.
Single core performance means the M1 Ultra is faster than the Xeon W, despite having fewer cores overall. The Intel Xeon W is a powerful, professional-grade processor designed for very heavy workloads, so the fact that Apple has come up with chips that can outperform is pretty impressive, especially given the lower power consumption of the M1 Ultra.
While these benchmark results are unconfirmed, they look realistic and correspond to the performance improvements Apple announced at its March Event where both the Mac Studio and M1 Ultra were unveiled.
The M1 Ultra is a very impressive set of two M1 Max chips that are basically connected together and function as one giant, super-powered SoC (System-on-Chip). Mac Studio will be the first device to use the M1 Ultra. So, delivering this level of performance in a compact design that’s not much bigger than a Mac mini means some people might think the Mac Pro with the aging Intel Xeon processor is obsolete.
While that certainly seems to be the case at the moment, Apple says a new Mac Pro is also on the way. The Mac Pro was only mentioned very briefly at the end of the event. At the end of the March Event, CEO Tim Cook said the Mac Studio would rank between the Mac mini and Mac Pro when it comes to power, while also conceding that the Mac Pro is the last of the company’s Macs that haven’t switched to Apple M1-based chips.
So, although Mac Studio may seem like a Mac Pro killer right now, we’ll probably see a new Mac Pro with more powerful M1 chips in the near future.
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