Apple released 18-core chips M5 Pro and M5 Max with record single-thread performance

Apple unveiled new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips

*The company announced the launch of 18‑core processors that will be used in the next MacBook Pro model.*

1. Technology and Architecture
ParameterDescriptionArchitectureFusion – combining two dies into one system: CPU, scalable GPU, unified memory controller, neural processor, and Thunderbolt 5. Process technology3‑nanometer cores6 “supercores” + 12 energy‑efficient multi‑threaded cores.
Performance* According to Apple, in professional workloads the M5 Pro/M5 Max chips are 30 % faster than the previous generation.

* Multi‑threaded efficiency is higher than that of the M1 Pro/M1 Max – up to 2.5×.

2. “Supercores” – industry leaders
* The fastest single‑threaded cores in the world thanks to:

* increased front‑end bandwidth,

* new cache hierarchy,

* improved branch prediction.

* Neural accelerators are included, operating on each of the 40‑core GPUs.

3. Graphics and AI
MetricM5 Pro / MaxComparisonPeak GPU power for AI> 4× higher than M4 Pro/M4 Max+6× higher than M1 ProRay tracing+35 % performance compared to M4 Pro/Max
*The “two‑generation” dynamic caching module and hardware rasterization acceleration raise graphics efficiency by 20 % over the M4 Pro and 2.2× higher than the M1 Pro.*

4. M5 Pro Model
* Intended for professionals: data modeling, audio engineers, students with large projects.

* Memory – up to 64 GB unified memory, bandwidth 307 GB/s.

* Multi‑threaded performance – +30 % compared to M4 Pro thanks to four additional cores.

* GPU performance – more than 4× higher than the M4 Pro; more than 6× higher than the M1 Pro.

5. M5 Max Model
* Intended for 3D animators, app developers and AI researchers.

* Memory – up to 128 GB unified memory, bandwidth 614 GB/s.

* Multi‑threaded performance – +15 % compared to M4 Max.

* GPU performance for AI – more than 4× higher than the previous generation; more than 6× higher than the M1 Max.

Conclusion
Apple introduced two new chips with impressive gains in single‑ and multi‑threaded performance, enhanced graphics and AI acceleration. The M5 Pro and M5 Max models target the most demanding professional tasks and deliver significant power increases over their predecessors.