Apple has announced the M1 Ultra chip, the final addition to the M1 family.

Apple described it as a "breakthrough", because the M1 Max has a built in connector that was previously unrevealed and that's the secret behind the M1 Ultra.

This allows Apple to connect two M1 Max chips together, so they will work seamlessly together, using a technology that Apple is calling UltraFusion.

This, says Apple, means that the M1 Ultra is seen as one chip, rather than two, so there's no new architecture to be supported.

The result is that the M1 Max is doubled up, giving you a 20-core CPU and a 64-core GPU. The M1 Ultra is 8x faster than the M1 - so it's a big step forward in performance.

The M1 Ultra is going to be put to task in the Mac Studio, an evolution of the Mac mini design, but boosted to make it a power house. Sticking to the compact design, this is a new Apple desktop computer, designed to sit on your desk, but now 3.7-inches tall. 

Much of the height of the Mac Studio is to accomodate cooling, while the exterior has a full range of connectivity. There will also be a Studio monitor so go along with it, so you can setup a complete workspace. The Mac Studio will be available with M1 Max or M1 Ultra, with the performance smashing the Mac Pro and iMac models.