The Apple M5 processor is reportedly now in mass production in Korea, ready to improve the performance of Macs and iPads later this year.
With production already taking place, it’s possible the M5 will launch as an Apple product in the middle of the year, and not wait until autumn. As Apple continues to integrate AI capabilities into its chips, many users are looking for insights on how to use Apple AI to enhance their workflows.
The Apple M5 transition begins
After the M series launched in 2020, Apple and its chip-maker TSMC settled into a pattern in which new versions of these powerful processors launch annually. The 2025 iteration seems right on schedule.
“Apple has started mass production of the next-generation semiconductor chip ‘M5,‘” reports etnews on Wednesday.
The Korean-language tech site goes on to say, “It is understood that Apple has introduced new process technology to enhance artificial intelligence (AI) performance,” according to a machine translation.
While no official announcement has been made, previous unconfirmed reports indicate that the M5 is made with the third generation of TSMC’s 3nm process, dubbed N3P. This is not as advanced as the future 2nm process, so the new chip will offer a 5% increase in performance and a 5%-to-10% improvement in power efficiency, according to etnews.
While only the base version is in production now, expect the full range of versions: M5, M5 Pro/Max and M5 Ultra. The base model is for consumer-oriented computers, but the follow-ups will be increasingly powerful and made for pro-grade equipment.
Coming soon?
The current M4 chip debuted months before most people expected: last spring in the iPad Pro. The Apple M5 seems poised to repeat this trick, unless Apple is simply planning to sit on the chip inventory until October.
But what computer could play host is open to speculation. An M5 iPad Pro, now expected in the second half of the year, is a possibility.
Expect the M5 Pro and M5 Max to go into the MacBook Pro and perhaps the Mac mini late in 2025. The premier model, the M5 Ultra, should go into the Mac Studio and perhaps the Mac Pro in 2026.
MacBook Air doesn’t even have M4 yet, but that’s expected to change very soon. Perhaps before the end of February.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
