On Tuesday, Apple introduced its latest advancements in chip technology with the unveiling of the M5 Pro and M5 Max, now powering the new MacBook Pro models. These chips are crafted using Apple's groundbreaking Fusion Architecture, which integrates two dies into a single, high-performance system on a chip (SoC). This design encompasses a robust CPU, scalable GPU, Media Engine, unified memory controller, Neural Engine, and Thunderbolt 5 capabilities.
Both the M5 Pro and M5 Max showcase an 18-core CPU, an enhancement from the previous M4 Pro's 14-core and M4 Max's 16-core configurations. The CPU comprises six "super cores," Apple's designation for its top-tier performance cores, complemented by 12 new performance cores. This configuration collectively elevates performance by up to 30% for professional workloads.
Apple highlighted that the GPU has been upgraded to a next-generation architecture featuring up to a 40-core GPU. Each GPU core is equipped with a Neural Accelerator, along with increased unified memory bandwidth, resulting in over four times the peak GPU compute for AI tasks compared to earlier generations.
In terms of graphics performance, users can expect an overall speed increase of up to 20%, with significant improvements in ray-tracing tasks, which can be up to 35% faster. The M5 Pro supports a maximum of 64GB of unified memory, up from 48GB in the M4 Pro, with a bandwidth of 307GB/s, while the M5 Max continues to support up to 128GB of unified memory, now with an increased bandwidth of 614GB/s.
Targeted at professional users such as data modelers, sound designers in post-production, and STEM students, the M5 Pro is designed to deliver exceptional CPU and GPU performance along with substantial unified memory for demanding projects. Meanwhile, the M5 Max caters to 3D animators, app developers, and AI researchers needing maximum GPU compute and the highest memory bandwidth.
The new MacBook Pro models will be available for pre-order starting tomorrow, with official availability set for March 11.