M3 Ultra May Skip UltraFusion for Single-Chip Design this Year

Apple’s M3 Ultra, its fourth 3nm SoC for Mac, could potentially arrive in the latter half of 2024. Unlike previous “M-Ultra” chips, which weren’t true SoCs but rather two M-Max series chips fused together due to physical limitations, the M3 Ultra is expected to be a single die design, probably.

UltraFusion, the process of using die-to-die interconnect technology to package two SoCs via high-density silicon transposers, may not be implemented in the M3 Ultra. This is because there is an indication that the M3 Max may lack the silicon bridge connector required for UltraFusion. However, this doesn’t necessarily indicate a complete architectural shift.

On the surface, one might speculate that Apple may not release the M3 Ultra this year, as it is one of their low-volume products aimed at a very specific and limited audience. Since the absence of a silicon bridge on the M3 Max serves as the basis for this speculation, there is also a possibility that the M3 Ultra utilizes a completely new packaging technology that is faster and doesn’t require a silicon transposer.

Currently, all of Apple’s 3nm SoCs are fabricated on TSMC’s N3B process, but several sources have cited the possibility that Apple may switch to N3E, a more advanced and improved process, for the M3 Ultra. This suggests that a single-die M3 Ultra could be in the works.

There is also the minute possibility that each of the M3 Ultra chipsets has its own die-to-die interconnect silicon bridge, leading to an even larger processor, presumably the M3 Extreme. However, it’s crucial to remember that these are merely conjectures based on unverified information. As Apple provided no detailed view of the M3 series die during their October event, it’s wise to treat this news with a pinch of salt.

This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.