News in Short
- Apple has launched the new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra.
- The M5 Ultra delivers up to 4.3x faster AI performance than M3 Ultra.
- The desktop supports up to 512GB unified memory and 1.2TB/s memory bandwidth.
- Multiple Mac Studio systems can be clustered for faster AI inference.
- The new model adds Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
- Mac Studio supports up to eight displays.
Apple has launched its new Mac Studio with the M5 Max and all-new M5 Ultra chips, putting a stronger focus on on-device AI performance. The company claims the latest Mac Studio delivers up to 4.3x faster AI performance compared with the previous-generation M3 Ultra, while offering up to 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth.
The new desktop is aimed at professionals working with AI models, software development, video production, 3D rendering and other demanding workloads. Apple has also upgraded the machine’s graphics, storage and connectivity while retaining its compact desktop design.
Mac Studio Gets Up to 4.3x Faster AI Performance
The biggest upgrade with the new Mac Studio is its focus on running AI workloads locally. Apple’s M5 Max features Neural Accelerators built into each GPU core, while the M5 Ultra brings Neural Accelerators to the Ultra chip for the first time.
Apple says the Mac Studio with M5 Max delivers up to 3.9x faster AI performance than the previous generation. The M5 Ultra, meanwhile, offers up to 4.3x the peak AI compute performance of M3 Ultra and up to 9.8x that of M1 Ultra.
The M5 Ultra configuration can be equipped with up to 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth, allowing users to run large language models entirely on the device. Apple says this can help users avoid relying on cloud-based AI processing for certain workloads.
Multiple Mac Studio systems can also be connected using Thunderbolt 5 and RDMA. Apple claims that a cluster of four Mac Studio systems can deliver up to 3x faster AI inference than a single system.
Mac Studio With M5 Max, M5 Ultra Specifications
The Mac Studio with M5 Max features an 18-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU, along with up to 128GB of unified memory. Apple says its GPU is up to 50 percent faster than the previous generation.
The M5 Ultra version goes up to a 36-core CPU and an 80-core GPU, with up to 512GB of unified memory. It also offers up to 1.8x faster graphics performance than the previous generation.
For AI developers, Apple is also highlighting its Core AI framework and MLX machine learning framework. These are designed to help developers run, train and fine-tune AI models locally on Apple silicon.
Apple says the M5 Max Mac Studio can deliver up to 10.7x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio compared with the M1 Max version, while the M5 Ultra can deliver up to 9.8x faster LLM prompt processing compared with M1 Ultra.
Faster Graphics and Storage
Beyond AI, the new Mac Studio is designed for demanding creative workloads. The M5 Max includes third-generation hardware-accelerated ray tracing and enhanced shader cores for 3D, VFX and design applications.
The M5 Ultra gets up to 1.8x faster graphics performance and twice the video encode and decode blocks of the M5 Max. Apple says it can simultaneously play up to 33 streams of 8K ProRes 422 at 30fps.
Storage performance is also claimed to be up to twice as fast, thanks to a next-generation SSD architecture based on PCIe Gen 6.
Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7 and Support for Up to Eight Displays
The new Mac Studio gets up to six Thunderbolt 5 ports, with bandwidth of up to 120Gbps. This allows users to connect high-speed external storage, displays and PCIe expansion chassis.
Wireless connectivity has also been upgraded with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The desktop can support up to eight displays, including up to four Studio Display XDR monitors at 5K resolution and 120Hz.
macOS 27 and Apple Intelligence
The new Mac Studio will run macOS 27, which brings Apple’s next-generation Apple Intelligence features. These include Siri AI, expanded systemwide AI capabilities, Visual Intelligence and new AI-powered functionality across apps.
Apple says Siri AI will be able to use personal context to help users find information across messages, emails and photos, while users can also interact with content on their displays through Visual Intelligence.
