Apple Releases M4 Ultra: A Turning Point for Desktop AI Inference?

Apple has released the M4 Ultra chip in the MacBook Pro and Mac Studio.

Key Specifications

• CPU: 32 cores (20 performance + 12 efficiency)
• GPU: 80 cores, 67 TFLOPS (FP16)
• Unified memory: up to 256GB LPDDR5X with 1.2TB/s bandwidth
• NPU: 64 cores, 120 TOPS

What This Means for AI Development

What does 256GB of unified memory mean? You can run the 405B-parameter Llama 4 model locally on a MacBook Pro.

Running large models on traditional consumer GPUs (4080 16GB / 4090 24GB) requires quantization, but the M4 Ultra's 256GB unified memory can handle full precision.

And it's a unified memory architecture—the CPU and GPU share the same memory pool, with no need for PCIe data transfers. This is highly favorable for inference latency.

The Cost

The top-tier Mac Studio M4 Ultra with 256GB is priced at $12,999. It's not cheap for individual developers, but compared to the procurement and operational costs of A100/H100, it's actually quite reasonable.

Going forward, the barrier to local AI development will keep lowering, which is good news for the entire industry.

References:

• Apple Newsroom