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Apple unleashes M5, the next big leap in AI performance for Apple silicon

Daniel Nenni

Admin
Staff member
M5 delivers over 4x the peak GPU compute performance for AI compared to M4, featuring a next-generation GPU with a Neural Accelerator in each core, a more powerful CPU, a faster Neural Engine, and higher unified memory bandwidth
original M5 is Apple’s next-generation system on a chip built for AI, resulting in a faster, more efficient, and more capable chip for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Vision Pro.
M5 is Apple’s next-generation system on a chip built for AI, resulting in a faster, more efficient, and more capable chip for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Vision Pro.

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple® today announced M5, delivering the next big leap in AI performance and advances to nearly every aspect of the chip. Built using third-generation 3-nanometer technology, M5 introduces a next-generation 10-core GPU architecture with a Neural Accelerator in each core, enabling GPU-based AI workloads to run dramatically faster, with over 4x the peak GPU compute performance compared to M4.1 The GPU also offers enhanced graphics capabilities and third-generation ray tracing that combined deliver a graphics performance that is up to 45 percent higher than M4.1 M5 features the world’s fastest performance core, with up to a 10-core CPU made up of six efficiency cores and up to four performance cores.2 Together, they deliver up to 15 percent faster multithreaded performance over M4.1 M5 also features an improved 16-core Neural Engine, a powerful media engine, and a nearly 30 percent increase in unified memory bandwidth to 153GB/s.1 M5 brings its industry-leading power-efficient performance to the new 14-inch MacBook Pro®, iPad Pro®, and Apple Vision Pro™, allowing each device to excel in its own way. All are available for pre-order today.

“M5 ushers in the next big leap in AI performance for Apple silicon,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “With the introduction of Neural Accelerators in the GPU, M5 delivers a huge boost to AI workloads. Combined with a big increase in graphics performance, the world’s fastest CPU core, a faster Neural Engine, and even higher unified memory bandwidth, M5 brings far more performance and capabilities to MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Vision Pro.”

A Next-Generation GPU Architecture Optimized for AI and Graphics
With the next-generation GPU architecture in M5, every compute block of the chip is optimized for AI. The 10-core GPU features a dedicated Neural Accelerator in each core, delivering over 4x peak GPU compute compared to M4, and over 6x peak GPU compute for AI performance compared to M1.1 And now with M5, the new 14-inch MacBook Pro and iPad Pro benefit from dramatically accelerated processing for AI-driven workflows, such as running diffusion models in apps like Draw Things, or running large language models locally using platforms like webAI.

The next-generation GPU and enhanced shader cores in M5 also deliver increased graphics performance, achieving up to 30 percent faster performance compared to M4 and up to 2.5x faster performance than M1.1 M5 also includes Apple’s third-generation ray-tracing engine, providing up to a 45 percent graphics uplift in apps using ray tracing.1 Combined with rearchitected second-generation dynamic caching, the GPU provides smoother gameplay, more realistic visuals in 3D applications, and faster rendering times for complex graphics projects and other visually intensive applications. With M5, Apple Vision Pro renders 10 percent more pixels with the micro-OLED displays, and refresh rates increase up to 120Hz, resulting in crisper details, more fluid display performance, and reduced motion blur.

The GPU architecture is engineered for seamless integration with Apple’s software frameworks. Applications using built-in Apple frameworks and APIs — like Core ML®, Metal® Performance Shaders, and Metal 4 — can automatically see immediate increases in performance. Developers can also build solutions for their apps by directly programming the Neural Accelerators using Tensor APIs in Metal 4.

A Faster Neural Engine to Power Intelligent Features
The faster 16-core Neural Engine delivers powerful AI performance with incredible energy efficiency, complementing the Neural Accelerators in the CPU and GPU to make M5 fully optimized for AI workloads. For example, AI-powered features on Apple Vision Pro — like the ability to transform 2D photos into spatial scenes in the Photos app, or generating a Persona — operate with greater speed and efficiency.

The Neural Engine in M5 also enhances performance for Apple Intelligence™.3 On-device AI tools like Image Playground™ get faster, and the overall performance of Apple Intelligence models are enhanced by the faster Neural Engine and unified memory in M5.4 Also, developers using Apple’s Foundation Models framework will get faster performance.

Enhanced Memory to Do Even More with AI
M5 offers unified memory bandwidth of 153GB/s, providing a nearly 30 percent increase over M4 and more than 2x over M1. The unified memory architecture enables the entire chip to access a large single pool of memory, which allows MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Vision Pro to run larger AI models completely on device. It fuels the faster CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine as well, offering higher multithreaded performance in apps, faster graphics performance in creative apps and games, and faster AI performance running models on the Neural Accelerators in the GPU or the Neural Engine. And with 32GB of memory capacity, M5 also helps users to seamlessly run demanding creative suites like Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro® simultaneously, while uploading large files to the cloud in the background.

Apple Silicon and the Environment
Apple 2030 is the company’s ambitious plan to be carbon neutral across its entire footprint by the end of this decade by reducing product emissions from their three biggest sources: materials, electricity, and transportation. The power-efficient performance of M5 helps the new 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Vision Pro meet Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency, and reduces the total amount of energy consumed over the product’s lifetime.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Footnotes

1 Testing conducted by Apple in September 2025 using preproduction 14-inch MacBook Pro systems with Apple M5, 10-core CPU, and 10-core GPU; production 14-inch MacBook Pro systems with Apple M4, 10-core CPU, and 10-core GPU; and production 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with Apple M1, 8-core CPU, and 8-core GPU. Performance measured using select industry-standard benchmarks. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of MacBook Pro.
2 Testing conducted by Apple in September 2025 using shipping competitive systems and select industry-standard benchmarks.
3 Apple Intelligence is available in beta with support for these languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Chinese (simplified), Japanese, and Korean. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages. For feature and language availability and system requirements, see support.apple.com/en-us/121115.
4 Genmoji™ and Image Playground are available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, and Japanese.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom (www.apple.com/newsroom), or email Apple’s Media Helpline at media.help@apple.com.
 
I used to buy the latest Intel or AMD 9-class chip but gave a $499 Mac Mini with M4 a try 1 year ago. 6 months ago I took the Windows 11 Pro PC apart for good.

Using Handbrake to encode the movie I use as a benchmark (Ad Astra) the Ryzen 9 5900x result varied from 39.01-39.55 FPS, the Core i9-13900K results varied from 51.3 to 97.76 FPS, and the M4 I tested once and it came in at 51.91 FPS. So it's similar to the i9-13900K before tuning. You can get more performance out of the i9 via Intel XTU so granted that is still an advantage Intel has whereas Apple doesn't permit turning.

I think I paid $599 for the i9, so it costs more than the whole mac. The day to day performance of the mac is like a high end PC; scrolling is like you have a graphics card installed, and it can handle multiple 4k or higher monitors. The M4 fan didn't spin up even during encoding with Handbrake.

Mac OS has certain distinct advantages over windows. Updates are better, you don't have to deal with drivers. Safari is the best browser. The privacy experience is profound.

So to summarize, why are people still buying Intel/AMD PCs? Probably gaming. I'm not a gamer, so that was not an issue for me. Apple could use a good external graphics chip to go on the next M chip package. When they do, if it's as good as a 5070 (a typical mid-high-end Appleish target) it will start to broadside Nvidia, AMD and Intel on the client side.
 
I used to buy the latest Intel or AMD 9-class chip but gave a $499 Mac Mini with M4 a try 1 year ago. 6 months ago I took the Windows 11 Pro PC apart for good.

Using Handbrake to encode the movie I use as a benchmark (Ad Astra) the Ryzen 9 5900x result varied from 39.01-39.55 FPS, the Core i9-13900K results varied from 51.3 to 97.76 FPS, and the M4 I tested once and it came in at 51.91 FPS. So it's similar to the i9-13900K before tuning. You can get more performance out of the i9 via Intel XTU so granted that is still an advantage Intel has whereas Apple doesn't permit turning.

I think I paid $599 for the i9, so it costs more than the whole mac. The day to day performance of the mac is like a high end PC; scrolling is like you have a graphics card installed, and it can handle multiple 4k or higher monitors. The M4 fan didn't spin up even during encoding with Handbrake.

Mac OS has certain distinct advantages over windows. Updates are better, you don't have to deal with drivers. Safari is the best browser. The privacy experience is profound.

So to summarize, why are people still buying Intel/AMD PCs? Probably gaming. I'm not a gamer, so that was not an issue for me. Apple could use a good external graphics chip to go on the next M chip package. When they do, if it's as good as a 5070 (a typical mid-high-end Appleish target) it will start to broadside Nvidia, AMD and Intel on the client side.
I agree with your assessment of the M4 Mac Mini (24GB memory). I've had mine since March of this year, and I think it's the best computer I've ever owned. BTW, the fan in the M4 Mini runs continuously, but it's so quiet you can't hear it.

A couple of oddities with Safari. I use Amazon Music for streaming, and with Safari the output quality is limited to "SD", even with UltraHD tracks, while using Chrome on the Mini the Amazon Music output improves to 24bit/48KHz. Supposedly there's a way to get hi-res audio output using the MIDI app, but I've never been able to make it work, so I use Chrome for Amazon Music. Also, with some websites I've experience problems with Safari, but not Chrome. The Wall Street Journal site is a good example.
 
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I used to buy the latest Intel or AMD 9-class chip but gave a $499 Mac Mini with M4 a try 1 year ago. 6 months ago I took the Windows 11 Pro PC apart for good.

Using Handbrake to encode the movie I use as a benchmark (Ad Astra) the Ryzen 9 5900x result varied from 39.01-39.55 FPS, the Core i9-13900K results varied from 51.3 to 97.76 FPS, and the M4 I tested once and it came in at 51.91 FPS. So it's similar to the i9-13900K before tuning. You can get more performance out of the i9 via Intel XTU so granted that is still an advantage Intel has whereas Apple doesn't permit turning.

I think I paid $599 for the i9, so it costs more than the whole mac. The day to day performance of the mac is like a high end PC; scrolling is like you have a graphics card installed, and it can handle multiple 4k or higher monitors. The M4 fan didn't spin up even during encoding with Handbrake.

Mac OS has certain distinct advantages over windows. Updates are better, you don't have to deal with drivers. Safari is the best browser. The privacy experience is profound.

So to summarize, why are people still buying Intel/AMD PCs? Probably gaming. I'm not a gamer, so that was not an issue for me. Apple could use a good external graphics chip to go on the next M chip package. When they do, if it's as good as a 5070 (a typical mid-high-end Appleish target) it will start to broadside Nvidia, AMD and Intel on the client side.
You should use QuickSync for transcode or VCE both will be faster than M4
 
You should use QuickSync for transcode or VCE both will be faster than M4
Makes a big difference in quality though. Not saying M4 is better or anything, it's not clear cut in the differences in speed between the processors because the software encoder used, how much RAM you have, etc., have a huge impact on the encoding speeds, not to mention all the individual parameters you can tinker with, so the results benb provides above is pretty meaningless, but the consensus is using hardware encoding on handbrake is guaranteed to provide lower visual quality. Having said that, for the average person out there, the amount of reduction in visual quality is not a big deal. Frankly, any PC today at that price point it sufficient for every day use, whether it be Mac or PC or whatever, we have so much cheap computing available, money would be better spent on more storage.
 
So to summarize, why are people still buying Intel/AMD PCs?
User experience (Macs can't be customized nearly as well), software and hardware lack of choice, COST (if you compare apples to apples, Macs are always 20-50% more expensive). The user experience is just atrocious. I was forced to work with Macs for science and after half a year, I insisted on getting a Windows machine, because I got my work done in half the time compared to the mac. There are many more things than core thread performances, usability reigns supreme if you have to get real work done.
 
I use an Ultra 7 Intel based laptop, which I love and use for researching, writing, emailing, Zooming, and administering SemiWiki. Very light, touchscreen, battery lasts a full day. I have an iPad Pro with an M4 which is awesome for reading, videos, browsing, and navigating (air and sea), and an iPhone 16 Pro for everything else. My screentime is ridiculous since I work and play in front of a screen. I generally buy the latest and greatest tech but I see no need to upgrade this year. Next year the iPhone 18 will have N2 silicon which will be cool.

I considered buying a Mac last year but the price was daunting and my wife refused to switch since she was PC based at work. Don't want a mixed marriage.

My next big purchase will be a new TV. It has been 10 years since we upgraded. We have a Samsung Smart TV that is not so smart anymore. Suggestions? I need a 70" diagonal screen size. My wife and I stream quite a bit during the week so I want something with a nice picture and good quality sound.
 
I use an Ultra 7 Intel based laptop, which I love and use for researching, writing, emailing, Zooming, and administering SemiWiki. Very light, touchscreen, battery lasts a full day. I have an iPad Pro with an M4 which is awesome for reading, videos, browsing, and navigating (air and sea), and an iPhone 16 Pro for everything else. My screentime is ridiculous since I work and play in front of a screen. I generally buy the latest and greatest tech but I see no need to upgrade this year. Next year the iPhone 18 will have N2 silicon which will be cool.
I finally got my wife off of her iPhone 13, which was at the point where it needed a new battery. We got his & her iPhone 17s. Far better overall battery life, and she spends half her work day talking on it. The 17 isn't much of an improvement over my old 14 Pro, but the display is better. I think there's a lot of people like us who have been postponing an upgrade too long, and decided the 17 looked good enough, based on the sales numbers exceeding expectations.
I considered buying a Mac last year but the price was daunting and my wife refused to switch since she was PC based at work. Don't want a mixed marriage.
I'm in a mixed marriage. It's not that bad. ;)
My next big purchase will be a new TV. It has been 10 years since we upgraded. We have a Samsung Smart TV that is not so smart anymore. Suggestions? I need a 70" diagonal screen size. My wife and I stream quite a bit during the week so I want something with a nice picture and good quality sound.
I recommend the 77" Sony OLED. They have the best processor, and OLED is the best display technology:

 
The TV market is in an awful state of flux. The Chinese have went into OLED like they did for LCD and the prices for those are crashing down.

I would wait until prices go down further before buying unless you really need an OLED TV.
I suspect the Koreans will just move further into QD-OLED to escape the bloodbath.
 
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My next big purchase will be a new TV. It has been 10 years since we upgraded. We have a Samsung Smart TV that is not so smart anymore. Suggestions? I need a 70" diagonal screen size. My wife and I stream quite a bit during the week so I want something with a nice picture and good quality sound.

For whatever TVs you are considering - check this site first to see how they handle "burn in" over time:


Modern OLEDs have two achilles heels currently - 1. burn in from static images (i.e. the "CNN" logo test), and 2. not as bright as other displays (such as IPS).

For #1 - you usually won't see the obvious sign of a logo like Plasmas or really old TVs, but the screen will lose brightness (more quickly than usual), and have other artifacts over time to cover the effect up as the TVs implement mitigations.

For #2 - Apple "solved" this with it's Tandem OLED in the latest iPads (basically double the OLED), and LG and others are currently in the process of fixing the brightness gap for TVs and monitors, with much brighter panels on this year and next year's roadmap. (Note don't rely upon people subjectively saying "my OLED is just as bright as my old TV", as old TVs become dimmer over time.. )
 
Because I want a 32GB/4TB system that I can afford. (I am typing this on a Zen-4 8-core (mini) PC driving 3 monitors)
I'll add here too - I use my RTX 4090 mostly for gaming, but I also run some apps on it too (AI LLMs, encoding/transcoding, etc). The PCIe add-on card situation for ARM Macs is.. ugly.

Otherwise, a 13" iPad Pro with Magic keyboard replaces my need for any laptop - Mac or PC.
 
For whatever TVs you are considering - check this site first to see how they handle "burn in" over time:


Modern OLEDs have two achilles heels currently - 1. burn in from static images (i.e. the "CNN" logo test), and 2. not as bright as other displays (such as IPS).
My son has an LG OLED that's several years old, and no burn in or dimming that's noticeable. Its excellent picture quality annoys me every time I see it, as compared to our circa-2015 70" LCD Vizio that just refuses to die.

CNN? 🤮
For #1 - you usually won't see the obvious sign of a logo like Plasmas or really old TVs, but the screen will lose brightness (more quickly than usual), and have other artifacts over time to cover the effect up as the TVs implement mitigations.

For #2 - Apple "solved" this with it's Tandem OLED in the latest iPads (basically double the OLED), and LG and others are currently in the process of fixing the brightness gap for TVs and monitors, with much brighter panels on this year and next year's roadmap. (Note don't rely upon people subjectively saying "my OLED is just as bright as my old TV", as old TVs become dimmer over time.. )
Again, no lack of brightness noticed on my son's LG, and the room isn't darkened while he watches sports, which seems like every hour I'm in his home.

Do you own an OLED TV which has substantially darkened?
 
OLED has organic dyes and those wear out over time especially with exposure to ambient light. They fix this by having backup pixels. As older pixels degrade the new ones activate. As for the low brightness in high sunlit ambient areas that is fixed by adding a pure white pixel element. Not just red green and blue. Typically the blue pixels last the least, followed by green, and red is the longest lasting. Another fix is adding quantum dots as those lead to higher light emissions per pixel.

If you are that scared about the degradation in organic LEDs get QD-LCD or MiniLED or something.
 
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