With the launch of the M5 Ultra in the new Mac Studio, Apple’s M5 chip lineup is finally complete. The M5 is the entry-level chip for most Mac users, while the M5 Pro, Max and Ultra progressively add more CPU and GPU cores and unified memory.
Wondering how each differs from one another, and which is the best option for you? Here’s a detailed comparison of the M5 chip family.
M5 chip comparison: More complicated than usual
Apple launched the long-awaited M5 Ultra alongside its next-gen M6 chip. That makes its lineup more complicated than usual. However, the M6 is not in the same class as M5 Pro, Max or Ultra. It is the successor to the M5 and is currently intended only for Apple’s entry-level Mac mini.
As for the M5 family, the M5 Pro and the M5 Max use Apple’s Fusion architecture. They connect two third-generation 3nm dies within a single system-on-a-chip (SoC). With M5 Ultra, Apple is likely using UltraFusion to connect two dual-die M5 Max chips together. This fusion creates Apple’s first quad-die processor and enables all four of them to act as a single chip.
Even within the M5 family, there are architectural differences between the chips.
| Chip | CPU | GPU | Neural Engine | Unified memory | Memory bandwidth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M5 | Up to 10 cores | Up to 10 cores | 16 cores | Up to 32GB | 153GB/s |
| M5 Pro | 15 or 18 cores | 16 or 20 cores | 16 cores | Up to 64GB | 307GB/s |
| M5 Max | 18 cores | 32 or 40 cores | 16 cores | Up to 128GB | 460GB/s or 614GB/s |
| M5 Ultra | 30 or 36 cores | 64 or 80 cores | 32 cores | Up to512GB | 1.2TB/s |
All four M5 chips include Neural Accelerators in their GPU cores, hardware-accelerated ray tracing and unified memory shared by the CPU, GPU and Neural Engine. This allows them to excel at AI workloads, with the Max and Ultra being among the best SoCs for AI training and inference.
M5: The sensible option for most people
Image: Apple
The base version of Apple’s M5 chip features up to 10 CPU cores, comprising 4x super cores (originally called performance cores) and 6x efficiency cores. This is paired with up to a 10-core GPU and 32GB of unified memory with 153GB/s of memory bandwidth. An upgraded 16-core Neural Engine handles Apple Intelligence and other AI tasks.
Apple says the M5 offers up to 15% faster multithreaded CPU performance and up to 45% better graphics performance than its predecessor, the M4. AI processing is also up to 4x faster in certain workloads.
The standard M5 is meant for most Mac users. If you want a Mac for web browsing, word processing, college or regular office work, any M5-equipped model will do.
Apple currently uses the M5 chip in the MacBook Air, base 14-inch MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. The just-launched entry-level Mac mini is currently the only Mac in the company’s lineup to use the newer M6 chip.
M5 Pro: The sweet spot for demanding CPU work
Image: Apple
As its name suggests, the M5 ‘Pro’ is meant for ‘pro’ users. It is the first major step up in the M5 chip lineup, utilizing Fusion architecture to provide up to 18 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores.
The 18-core CPU is made up of six super cores and 12 performance cores. Unlike M5, there are no efficiency cores on the Pro. It replaces them with 12 performance cores, which Apple says are optimized for multithreaded workloads.
Memory bandwidth also gets a big boost, going from 153GB/s to 307GB/s. Unified memory support doubles from 32GB to 64GB. This provides the CPU and GPU with more memory to work with without having to wait for the data.
GPU performance is up to 50% faster than M4 Pro, while image generation is 8x faster than M1 Pro.
If you use demanding professional apps like Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro or Xcode, look for a Mac with an M5 Pro chip and as much memory as you can afford.
Apple offers the M5 Pro chip in the new Mac mini as well as the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
M5 Max: You are mostly paying for GPU and memory
Image: Apple
With the M4 and older generations, there was a big CPU performance gap between the Pro and Max chips. That’s not the case with the M5 Max.
It tops out at the same 18-core CPU. So, if your workload is CPU-intensive, moving from the M5 Pro to the M5 Max will not provide any noticeable benefit. Instead, the Max is all about its GPU power, higher memory support and media processing.
The M5 Max comes with either a 32-core or 40-core GPU vs. a 20-core GPU on M5 Pro. With the cut-down 32-core GPU, you get 460GB/s memory bandwidth, while the 40-core variant raises that to 614GB/s. More importantly, maximum unified memory support doubles to 128GB over the M5 Pro.
Apple claims up to 20% better graphics performance than the M4 Max and more than four times the peak GPU compute for AI. In apps that use ray tracing, the company claims an improvement of up to 30%.
The faster GPU and higher memory bandwidth make the M5 Max ideal for 3D animation, rendering, visual effects, complex simulations and large local AI models. These workloads will benefit from the raw GPU horsepower and additional memory.
For video editors, the M5 Max offers two video-encode engines and two ProRes encode-and-decode engines. That’s twice as many as the M5 Pro. This dramatically speeds up video editing and exports, without putting additional strain on the CPU or GPU.
So, if you frequently work with heavy 6K or larger footage running into hours, an M5 Max-equipped Mac will be a big step up.
You can configure the MacBook Pro or Mac Studio with the M5 Max chip.
M5 Ultra: Not a chip for everyone
Image: Apple
The M5 Ultra replaces the M3 Ultra as Apple’s most powerful chip. True to its name, it offers Ultra-level performance, besting the best CPU and GPU chips on the market.
The chip uses UltraFusion to connect two M5 Max packages, creating a quad-die design. It comes in two configurations: a 30-core CPU and 64-core GPU or a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU. The latter features 12 super cores and 24 performance CPU cores.
M5 Ultra also doubles the Neural Engine count from 16 to 32. Its Media Engine includes two video-decode engines, four video-encode engines and four ProRes encode-and-decode engines.
Apple claims the M5 Ultra delivers up to 40% better graphics performance than M3 Ultra and as much as 4.5x the peak GPU compute for AI.
And that’s not all. The M5 Ultra’s biggest advantage is its 512GB unified memory and a staggering memory bandwidth of 1.2TB/s. That’s 50% more bandwidth than the M3 Ultra.
Image: Apple
With that massive amount of memory and bandwidth, M5 Ultra is the chip to go for if you’re dealing with serious AI work, including large AI models and scientific computing.
Visual-effects artists can also work with extremely complex scenes, while video professionals can process multiple high-resolution streams simultaneously. Apple says the new Mac Studio can play as many as 33 streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 frames per second.
The M5 Ultra is for some serious work, and it’s not for everyone. If you’re not sure your work will benefit from that level of performance, the M5 Max is a better choice.
With so much power, it’s not surprising that Apple offers the M5 Ultra only in the new Mac Studio.
Which M5 chip is right for your Mac?
The answer to this is relatively easy. You only need to figure out the part of your workflow that creates the bottleneck.
Buy an M5-powered Mac for everyday work, basic photo and video editing, web browsing and general software development. Depending on how long you plan to use the machine, it would be a good idea to bump the RAM to 24GB or more if budget allows.
Select the M5 Pro for sustained CPU-intensive tasks, such as large development projects, professional audio production, video production and other complex workflows. If you are a heavy multitasker, with multiple apps and tens of browser tabs open simultaneously, the M5 Pro will be a good choice.
Make sure to configure the Mac with at least 32GB of RAM for future-proofing.
Move up to the M5 Max for GPU rendering, 3D modeling and animation, demanding video production or local AI models that require 64GB or more RAM. It will benefit workflows that rely heavily on graphics, memory and media processing.
The M5 Ultra is for select users working with enormous AI models, advanced visual effects and video workflows. This is the type of workflow that can take advantage of the M5 Ultra’s 512GB memory ceiling or four ProRes engines.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
You can reach out to him at mail[at]rajeshpandey.me.
