Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra) vs Apple Macintosh Quadra 700

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Mac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra) compared with Macintosh Quadra 700

	AppleMac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra)	AppleMacintosh Quadra 700
Overview
Released
Released	March 2025	October 1991
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M4 Max or Apple M3 Ultra	68040 25 MHz (Quadra 700)
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	–
Memory
Memory	36 GB, 96 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB (better)	4 MB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 16 TB (better)	80 MB to 400 MB
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	25 MHz Motorola 68040 with integrated paged memory management and floating-point units plus 8 KB on-chip cache; no standard L2 cache
GPU
GPU	M4 Max: 32-core or 40-core GPU; M3 Ultra: 60-core or 80-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing	Built-in video with 512 KB dedicated VRAM, expandable to 1 or 2 MB; 8-bit colour at 640 × 480 or 832 × 624 with the standard VRAM, and 24-bit at those resolutions with 2 MB
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.	4 MB soldered RAM and four 30-pin SIMM sockets; 80 ns or faster SIMMs installed in matching groups of four. Exact original UK brochure supports 20 MB using four 4 MB SIMMs or 68 MB using four 16 MB SIMMs. Current Apple support and the shared Service Source list the older 20 MB limit; their shorter supported-SIMM table does not describe the UK brochure's 16 MB modules. 1 MB ROM.
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	Internal 1.44 MB SuperDrive and optional 80, 160 or 400 MB SCSI hard drives; Apple's October 1991 catalogue pairs each drive with 4 MB RAM and dates the 400 MB variant to January 1992
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	–	Two NuBus '90 slots and one processor-direct slot; the PDS shares physical space with one NuBus slot
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	–
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	Two Apple Desktop Bus ports, DB-15 video, DB-25 SCSI, two serial ports, AAUI Ethernet, mono sound input and stereo sound output
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	Apple's built-in video supports its monitor range; output colour depth depends on VRAM and display resolution
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker	Internal speaker, mono audio input and stereo 8-bit sound output; Apple supplied a microphone
Microphones
Microphones	None built in	–
Design and power
Type
Type	Compact	Tower
Weight
Weight	2.74 kg (better)	6.2 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	197 × 197 × 95 mm	140 × 366 × 302 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	–	Apple's 5.5 × 11.9 × 14.4 inch and 13.6 lb dimensions; metric fields reflect the upright orientation and rounded conversions. Apple states the weight for the floppy-only model
Power supply
Power supply	Built-in; 100–240V AC; 480W maximum continuous power	Original UK brochure and current support give 50 W maximum excluding the external monitor, 100–240 V AC at 50–60 Hz. Shared Service Source gives 130 W maximum excluding the monitor and 90 W continuous; Apple Direct calls the power supply 90 W. These are conflicting or differently qualified ratings; no single universal consumption figure is assigned. A 3.6 V lithium clock battery is listed by current support.
Colours
Colours	Silver	–
In the box
In the box	Mac Studio, power lead	Original System Software 7.0.1, microphone and ADB mouse; Apple's October 1991 catalogue says the keyboard was sold separately. Apple dates introduction to 21 October 1991