Interestingly, the "ultra" Mac Studio released a year ago was based on the older M3, not M4. Apparently, the work to "ultra-fy" a CPU is significant (which makes sense) so there can be a lag.
Not that they have to follow pattern, but the a Mac Studio ultra released later this year might be based on M4. Or one based on M5 might be released a year or more from now.
My understanding is “ultra-ify” means put two together. I think it’s about having inventory
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/03/apple-unveils-m1-ultr...
It's really probably more about wafer and chip allocation.
The M4 Max lacks the UltraFusion interconnect, making an M4 Ultra impossible. We might however see an M5 Ultra due to the new Fusion Architecture in the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips (just announced for the latest MacBook Pro), which uses a high-bandwidth die-to-die interconnect to bond two dies into a single unified SoC—similar in concept to UltraFusion but evolved for better scaling, efficiency, and features like per-GPU-core Neural Accelerators.
Reports and leaks strongly indicate Apple is preparing an M5 Ultra (likely fusing or scaling from the M5 Max using this advanced interconnect tech) for a Mac Studio refresh later in 2026, based on Bloomberg/Mark Gurman and other sources. This would bring back the top-tier "Ultra" option after skipping it entirely for M4.