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Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra) vs Apple Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2003)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra)ApplePower Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2003)
Overview
ReleasedMarch 2025June 2003
Performance
ProcessorApple M4 Max or Apple M3 UltraPowerPC G4 1250 MHz (Power Mac MDD 2003) or 2 × PowerPC G4 1250 MHz (Power Mac MDD 2003)
CPU cores14, 16, 28 or 321 or 2
Graphics32-core GPU, 40-core GPU, 60-core GPU or 80-core GPUATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64 MB)
Memory36 GB, 96 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB256 MB or 2 GB
Storage512 GB to 16 TB80 GB
CPUM4 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 CPUStock single 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 with 256 KB L2 cache and 1 MB L3 cache. Contemporary Macworld reporting of Apple Store configurations also documents dual 1.25 GHz processors, each with 2 MB L3; this custom build is labelled in configuration details rather than presented as a second stock base.
GPUM4 Max: 32-core or 40-core GPU; M3 Ultra: 60-core or 80-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracingStock ATI Radeon 9000 Pro with 64 MB DDR in an AGP 4x slot. Macworld also documents a custom dual-processor build with NVIDIA GeForce4 Titanium; that build has other upgrades and is not treated as a freely interchangeable stock configuration.
AI engine16-core Neural Engine (M4 Max); 32-core Neural Engine (M3 Ultra)–
Memory typeM4 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.Stock 256 MB PC2700 DDR333; four DIMM slots, maximum 2 GB. The single-processor configurations retain the stock drive and graphics at base and maximum memory. The documented dual-processor custom base has 256 MB.
Memory bandwidthM4 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 typeSSDStock 80 GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 hard drive; up to four internal drives. Tray-loading Combo drive reads DVD at 8x and CD at 32x, writes CD-R at 16x and CD-RW at 10x. Macworld documents a dual 1.25 GHz custom base with 80 GB, Combo drive and Radeon 9000 Pro, and a separate upgraded build with 2 GB RAM, two 160 GB drives, SuperDrive and GeForce4 Titanium. The two-drive build is described here without flattening its drives into a single capacity.
Expansion slots–Four PCI slots and an occupied AGP 4x graphics slot.
Media engineHardware-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
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports4 × Thunderbolt 5, 2 × USB-C, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone jack2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet10 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displaysUp to 5–
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6E–
Bluetooth5.3–
Front portsM4 Max: 2 × USB-C (up to 10Gb/s); M3 Ultra: 2 × Thunderbolt 5 (up to 120Gb/s); SDXC card slot (UHS-II)Headphone connection and built-in mono speaker.
Back ports4 × 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 headphonesTwo USB 1.1, two FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet with Auto-MDIX, ADC and DVI display connectors, audio line-in/out and Apple Pro Speakers connection. The maker lists a V.92 modem. Optional original AirPort; the contemporary Apple-spokesman report confirms no AirPort Extreme, internal Bluetooth or FireWire 800.
External displaysM4 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 supportedADC and DVI connectors with included DVI-to-VGA adapter. Digital resolution up to 1920 × 1200; analogue up to 1600 × 1200. The exact sheet does not publish a simultaneous display count.
SpeakersBuilt-in speakerBuilt-in mono speaker and connection for Apple Pro Speakers; no built-in microphone.
Keyboard and mouse–Black Apple Pro input devices and DVI-to-VGA adapter.
MicrophonesNone built in–
Design and power
TypeCompactTower
Weight2.74 kg19.1 kg
Width × depth × height197 × 197 × 95 mm226 × 467 × 432 mm
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Size and weight detail–Maker dimensions: height 43.2 cm, width 22.6 cm, depth 46.7 cm; weight 19.1 kg. These published metric values differ slightly from the FW800 sheet.
Power supplyBuilt-in; 100–240V AC; 480W maximum continuous power–
ColoursSilver–
In the boxMac Studio, power leadMac OS X 10.2.4 and bootable Mac OS 9.2.2, install/restore DVD and Apple Hardware Test. First sale uses the 23 June 2003 Macworld report that these models were for sale at Apple’s online store; a 29 June report quotes an Apple spokesman confirming manufacture and sale. The first day is contemporary Apple Store reporting rather than a retained maker launch notice.

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