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Go to the Apple website and take a look at the new Mac Studio with M2 processor. There is a choice between an M2 Max and M2 Ultra. I will just highlight the performance claims made for the M2 Ultra here, but the same goes for the M2 Max too.
This new M2 Ultra powered Mac has 3.3x faster CPU, 6.1x faster GPU and 5.9x faster machine learning. That is brilliant, right? Well hang on a minutes. Don’t be too hasty. What exactly is it up to 6.1 times faster than?
When you see these figures, it is very easy to assume that Apple means that this M2 Ultra chip is 6.1 times faster than previous chips. Is it 6.1 times faster than the previous generation? No. This is misleading.
There are tiny 1, 2 and 3 superscripts next to the figures that are easily missed. These are explained at the bottom of the page.
The performance is being compared to a 2020 iMac with Intel 10th-gen core i9 CPU and Radeon Pro 5700 XT graphics.
So the M2 Ultra is 6.1 times faster than a 3-year-old iMac with 3-year-old Intel CPU and 3-year-old GPU. It is not 6.1 times faster than the previous chip, the M1 Ultra.
To be fair, Apple does say this on the page, but it is far to easy to glance at the figures and think this new chip is up to 6.1x faster than the previous one. It is not. But it is still faster than Intel+Radeon powered PCs, right? Both Intel CPUs and Radeon GPUs have come a long way in three years and depending on the benchmark, can be faster.
The M2 Ultra is a great chip, but don’t assume upgrading from an M1 Ultra will give you a Mac that is 6.1x faster.
