Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra) vs Apple Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower

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Mac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra) compared with Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower

	AppleMac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra)	ApplePower Macintosh G3 Mini Tower
Overview
Released
Released	March 2025	November 1997
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M4 Max or Apple M3 Ultra	PowerPC G3 233 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower), PowerPC G3 266 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower), PowerPC G3 300 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) or PowerPC G3 333 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower)
CPU cores
CPU cores	14, 16, 28 or 32	1
Graphics
Graphics	32-core GPU, 40-core GPU, 60-core GPU or 80-core GPU	ATI 3D RAGE II+ (2 MB), ATI 3D RAGE II+ (6 MB) and IX Micro 2D/3D PCI card (8 MB), Built-in graphics (6 MB SGRAM; factory revision varies), Built-in graphics (6 MB SGRAM) and IX Micro 2D/3D PCI card (8 MB) or ATI RAGE Pro Turbo (6 MB)
Memory
Memory	36 GB, 96 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB (better)	32 MB, 64 MB or 128 MB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 16 TB (better)	4 GB to 9 GB
CPU
CPU	M4 Max: 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, or 16-core CPU; M3 Ultra: 28-core CPU with 20 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores, or 32-core CPU	233 and 266 MHz PowerPC G 3 with 512 KB backside L 2 cache; later 300 and 333 MHz with 1 MB. Apple’s exact Mini Tower Service Source confirms all four clocks and the 66 MHz system architecture. The factory processor supplier is not identified per machine.
GPU
GPU	M4 Max: 32-core or 40-core GPU; M3 Ultra: 60-core or 80-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing	Built-in 2D/3D accelerator with 2 MB SGRAM, expandable to 6 MB. Original maker sheet specifies ATI RAGE II+; later logic boards changed the accelerator. Optional IX Micro 128-bit PCI graphics card has 8 MB EDO VRAM. EveryMac identifies RAGE Pro Turbo in the later 333 MHz configuration.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine (M4 Max); 32-core Neural Engine (M3 Ultra)	–
Memory type
Memory type	M4 Max: 36GB; 48GB, 64GB or 128GB with the 16-core CPU / 40-core GPU. M3 Ultra: 96GB or 256GB in the current specification table. Apple announced 512GB at launch and documents a 32-core CPU / 80-core GPU, 512GB, 16TB system in its power test; that historical option is retained separately.	Three 168-pin 64-bit JEDEC-standard 3.3 V unbuffered SDRAM DIMM slots; maker-supported maximum 384 MB. Stock memory of 32, 64 or 128 MB is tied to the factory ordering table. Unofficial 768 MB upgrades are excluded.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	M4 Max: 410GB/s with the 32-core GPU, 546GB/s with the 40-core GPU; M3 Ultra: 819GB/s. M4 Max takes 36GB (32-core GPU) or 48GB, 64GB or 128GB (40-core GPU); M3 Ultra takes 96GB or 256GB, and was offered with up to 512GB at launch	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD	May 1998 Apple factory pairs: 233 MHz/32 MB/4 GB IDE (M6431LL/A); 266 MHz/32 MB/6 GB IDE/Zip/audio-video (M6142LL/A); 266 MHz/128 MB/4 GB Ultra Wide SCSI/additional 8 MB PCI graphics (M6459LL/A); 300 MHz/64 MB/4 GB Ultra Wide SCSI (M6572LL/A); 300 MHz/128 MB/two 4 GB Ultra Wide SCSI drives/additional 8 MB PCI graphics (M6494LL/A). All have 24x CD-ROM. Later 333 MHz/128 MB/9 GB/Zip is from EveryMac’s exact record. Optional drive/RAM cross-products are omitted. Internal 1.44 MB floppy and optional 2x DVD-ROM.
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	–	Three PCI slots accept three 12-inch cards; PERCH I/O card connector and modem slot. Optional SCSI, Ethernet and graphics cards consume PCI slots. Free internal storage bays vary by configuration.
Media engine
Media engine	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; AV1 decode; M4 Max: video decode engine, two video encode engines and two ProRes encode and decode engines; M3 Ultra: two video decode engines, four video encode engines and four ProRes encode and decode engines	–
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	4 × Thunderbolt 5, 2 × USB-C, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone jack	Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	10 Gb/s (better)	0.01 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 5	–
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	–
Front ports
Front ports	M4 Max: 2 × USB-C (up to 10Gb/s); M3 Ultra: 2 × Thunderbolt 5 (up to 120Gb/s); SDXC card slot (UHS-II)	–
Back ports
Back ports	4 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with Thunderbolt 5 and USB 4 (up to 120Gb/s), USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s) and DisplayPort 2.1; 2 × USB-A (USB 3, up to 5Gb/s); HDMI 2.1 with multichannel audio output; 10Gb Ethernet (RJ-45); 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones	One ADB, one DB-15 monitor, one DB-25 SCSI, two GeoPort-compatible serial ports, 10BASE-T Ethernet and stereo audio input/output. Optional 10/100BASE-T and FireWire cards are excluded from the standard count.
External displays
External displays	M4 Max: up to five (four at up to 6K 60Hz over Thunderbolt plus one at 4K 144Hz over HDMI), or three (two at up to 6K 60Hz plus one at up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 240Hz over HDMI); M3 Ultra: up to eight at up to 6K 60Hz or 4K 144Hz, or four at up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 240Hz; VRR, HDR and multichannel audio supported	Built-in video supports up to 1600 × 1200, with colour depth depending on SGRAM. Optional PCI graphics card connects a second monitor.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker	–
Microphones
Microphones	None built in	–
Design and power
Type
Type	Compact	Tower
Weight
Weight	2.74 kg (better)	15.015 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	197 × 197 × 95 mm	243.84 × 452.12 × 386.08 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	–	Maker gives 33.1 lb and 15.2 × 9.6 × 17.8 inches height × width × depth. Main fields are direct conversions using 25.4 mm/inch and 0.45359237 kg/lb; actual weight depends on fitted devices.
Power supply
Power supply	Built-in; 100–240V AC; 480W maximum continuous power	240 W maximum; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz (current Apple Mini Tower support table).
Colours
Colours	Silver	–
In the box
In the box	Mac Studio, power lead	Mac OS 8.0 originally; revised stock includes Mac OS 8.1. November 1997 month is supported by Apple’s opened Store selling the new Desktop/Mini Tower, with stock deliveries in two working days and BTO about two weeks; no exact first delivery day is proven. Server G3 shares the chassis but its bundled server configurations are excluded.