The M4 Ultra GPU is estimated to beat the RTX 4090 across OpenGL and Vulkan APIs, but its advantage could only be seen in one benchmark

Apple launched its latest M4-powered MacBook Pro models recently, and we’ve reported that the devices boast superior performance over the company’s previous flagship chips, including the M2 Ultra. While the company has debuted three variants of the M3 chip, we’re eagerly awaiting the M4 Ultra chip, which is slated to produce huge gains in computational and graphics performance. A YouTuber has now shared his expectations for the M4 Ultra chip and how it would fare against the RTX 4090 in both OpenCL and Vulkan.

The M4 Ultra chip is expected to outperform the RTX 4090 in OpenCL and Vulkan APIs

The M4 Pro and M4 Max surprised us with their latest benchmarks, where the chips beat Intel and AMD’s flagship processors. We’ve also covered how the chips handle graphics, and the Metal results show an impressive picture. The GeekBench 6 benchmark results for the M4 Max were reported to be 192,812, and based on the latest numbers, the M4 Ultra could blow the RTX 4090 out of the water.

Vadim Yuriev from YouTube channel Max Tech shared his expectations for the M4 Ultra and claimed that the chip will have a score on it 330,000which is a rough estimate based on the company’s M4 Pro and M4 chips. Yuryev states that “the GPU scaling from the leaked M4 Pro score to the M4 Max chip is 78 percent higher performance,” assuming the company maintains a similar performance scaling.

However, Yuryev only accounted for 70 percent of the scaling for the M4 Ultra chip and expected little shift in scaling. The score is significantly higher than the RTX 4090 if you account for the entire scaling change of 78 percent. For example one tipster mentioned that the M4 Ultra could get as much as 385,624and in comparison, the RTX 4090 has an OpenCL score of 317,162 and a Vulkan score of 262,907. With these numbers in hand, we can safely assume that Apple’s upcoming M4 Ultra chip will outperform the RTX 4090 in terms of graphics output.

While these are just speculations based on the company’s previous M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, there are certain factors users should keep in mind regarding the chips’ performance. Apple’s M4 Ultra, while capable, won’t have access to flagship gaming titles on the market, which puts the chip’s performance into perspective. Also, the company may change the performance ratio further, which may bring down the score, as we do not have any official information on the matter.

The estimates are also based on a single test, and possibly further, in-depth comparisons with the real world may provide a different picture. The M4 Ultra chip is expected to launch next year with the release of Apple’s long-awaited Mac Pro and Mac Studio. We’ll be sharing more details on the case, so stay tuned.