Specs at a glance
| CPU | Apple M3 Ultra: 28-core CPU (20 performance + 8 efficiency), or 32-core |
| GPU / NPU | 60-core GPU, or 80-core; 32-core Neural Engine |
| RAM options | 96 GB, configurable to 256 GB unified memory (819 GB/s) |
| Storage | 1 TB SSD, configurable to 2, 4, 8 or 16 TB |
| Power draw | Up to 480 W (maximum continuous) |
| Form factor | 197 × 197 × 95 mm, 3.64 kg |
| Local LLM capability | Up to 70B Q4 |
| Price point | €4,500-7,000 |
Chip, memory, storage, size and power: Apple, Mac Studio (2025) Tech Specs, read on 16 October 2026. Price and the rest are our own estimates.
Choosing between devices? The hardware buyer's guide compares them by budget, and Local LLM benchmarks has the published speeds, machine by machine.
Overview
The Mac Studio M3 Ultra was the top of the personal and small-team local-LLM stack when Apple released it in 2025. It ships with 96 GB of unified memory and goes to 256 GB, at 819 GB/s: that ceiling, not the core count, decides which quantised models load at all. There is no 192 GB M3 Ultra: 192 GB was the ceiling of the 2023 M2 Ultra model (64 GB, configurable to 128 or 192 GB, per Apple's Mac Studio (2023) specs). The price rules out hobbyists, but where local-LLM throughput is the bottleneck it is the small-form-factor leader of its generation. Apple's current Mac Studio page lists M5 Max and M5 Ultra models, with up to 512 GB on the M5 Ultra: compare both before buying.
Best for
- Production local-LLM deployments at scale
- Llama 3.3 70B / Qwen 2.5 72B with room to spare (96 GB and up)
- Power users who want "as good as it gets" small-form-factor
Not for
- Anyone cost-sensitive
- Linux-first stacks (Asahi Linux not yet production-ready for this)
- Use cases satisfied by Mac Mini M4 Pro
Compatible self-hosted agents
Listed as compatible with Mac Studio M3 Ultra from each agent's requirements, not from a test (with the caveats from “Best for” / “Not for” above):
Where to buy
Manufacturer page: https://www.apple.com/mac-studio/. The Amazon link is an affiliate link: it costs you nothing and funds the site. Details on our disclosure page.
See also: all AI hardware · AI agents tracker · AI CVEs · edge AI hardware buyer's guide · scan your AI stack · our methodology.