KEY SPECS
Mac Studio M5 Max & M5 Ultra: Key specs at a glance
Compare the key performance, memory, AI and connectivity features.
The new Mac Studio is available with M5 Max or the all-new M5 Ultra, delivering powerful performance for professional creative workflows, software development, AI research and demanding on-device workloads.
| Feature |
Mac Studio with M5 Max
|
Mac Studio with M5 Ultra
|
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Up to 18-core CPU | Up to 36-core CPU |
| GPU | Up to 40-core GPU | Up to 80-core GPU |
| AI performance | Up to 3.9x faster AI performance than M4 Max | Up to 4.3x faster peak AI compute than M3 Ultra |
| Graphics | Up to 50% faster GPU performance than the previous generation | Up to 1.8x faster graphics than M3 Ultra |
| Neural Accelerators | Built into every GPU core | Built into every GPU core |
| Unified memory | Up to 128GB | Up to 512GB |
| Memory bandwidth | Up to 614GB/s | Up to 1.2TB/s |
| Wireless connectivity |
Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 6 |
Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 6 |
| Thunderbolt |
Thunderbolt 5 Up to 120Gb/s |
Thunderbolt 5 Up to 120Gb/s |
| External displays | Support for up to 8 displays | Support for up to 8 displays |
| Storage | Up to 2x faster SSD performance | Up to 2x faster SSD performance |
| Availability | 22 September 2026 | |
Apple has unveiled the new Mac Studio, bringing the power of M5 Max and the all-new M5 Ultra to its compact professional desktop. Designed for people who need serious performance without sacrificing valuable desk space, the new Mac Studio delivers a huge leap forward in AI, graphics and overall performance while retaining the compact design it’s known for.
With up to 4.3x faster AI performance, 2x faster storage, 1.8x faster graphics and 1.3x faster CPU performance, Mac Studio is built to take on demanding workloads with ease. From video production and software development to AI research, 3D workflows and data-intensive projects, it has the power to keep up when your workload gets serious.
Mac Studio with M5 Max features an 18-core CPU, up to a 40-core GPU with Neural Accelerators and up to 128GB of unified memory. And for workflows that demand even more, M5 Ultra pushes performance further with up to a 36-core CPU, an 80-core GPU and an impressive 512GB of unified memory, giving professionals the ability to run large language models directly on their Mac.
It’s not just what's inside that has been upgraded. Mac Studio now features Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 alongside Thunderbolt 5, making it ready for high-speed external storage, PCIe expansion systems and a wide range of professional peripherals. Multiple Mac Studio systems can even be connected to deliver up to 3x faster distributed AI inference compared with a single system.
Pair Mac Studio with Studio Display or Studio Display XDR and the latest macOS, and you have a powerful professional setup that can handle ambitious creative and technical projects while taking up surprisingly little space.
“With the powerful M5 Max and the incredible capabilities of M5 Ultra, Mac Studio ushers in a new era of desktop computing, delivering huge performance gains for pro workloads and AI inference with frontier-class models. By integrating Neural Accelerators directly into the GPU and offering massive amounts of high-bandwidth unified memory, the new Mac Studio is our most powerful Mac ever."
Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer.
Mac Studio with M5 Max and the new M5 Ultra delivers a major boost in AI and graphics performance, with powerful CPUs and GPUs, built-in Neural Accelerators and increased unified memory bandwidth for demanding workflows.
A Major Boost for AI Performance
Mac Studio is designed to handle demanding AI workloads, with M5 Max and M5 Ultra bringing a significant leap in on-device performance. Neural Accelerators built into each GPU core help speed up AI processing, while M5 Max delivers up to 3.9x faster AI performance than the previous generation.
For even more demanding workloads, M5 Ultra delivers up to 4.3x the peak AI performance of M3 Ultra, with up to 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth. That means you can run large AI models directly on your Mac, without relying as heavily on cloud services or sending data off-device.
Mac Studio can also scale beyond a single system. Using Thunderbolt 5 and RDMA, multiple Mac Studio systems can be connected to share AI workloads and memory. A cluster of four systems can deliver up to 3x faster AI inference than a single Mac Studio.
For developers and AI researchers, Mac Studio also works with Apple's growing range of machine-learning tools, including Core AI and the open-source MLX framework. Together with macOS and Xcode, they provide a complete environment for experimenting with, training and deploying AI models directly on Mac.
With the new Mac Studio, developers can build and test projects faster in Xcode, while using on-device coding agents to streamline development workflows.
Mac Studio with M5 Max - Serious Performance for Professional Workflows
Mac Studio with M5 Max is built for professionals who need serious performance without sacrificing desk space. Whether you're developing software, producing music, editing photography or working with 3D and motion graphics, its 18-core CPU delivers the power needed to keep demanding workflows moving.
The up-to-40-core GPU with Neural Accelerators is up to 50% faster than the previous generation, helping with graphics-intensive tasks such as game development, complex 3D scenes and real-time rendering. With up to 614GB/s of unified memory bandwidth, M5 Max also provides fast on-device AI performance for running LLMs, generating images and video, and handling other demanding workloads.
For 3D and visual work, third-generation hardware-accelerated ray tracing delivers more realistic lighting, reflections and shadows, while enhanced shader cores help keep real-time previews smooth and speed up rendering.
Video professionals also benefit from the updated Media Engine, with hardware-accelerated support for H.264, HEVC, ProRes and AV1. This makes Mac Studio well suited to working with high-resolution footage, including uncompressed 8K video and multiple video streams.
Compared with M4 Max, Mac Studio with M5 Max delivers up to 3x faster Magic Mask performance in Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio and up to 1.4x faster scene rendering in Maxon Redshift, helping creative workflows move faster.
M5 Max - the bottom line:
- Up to 10.7x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Max, and 3.9x faster than M4 Max.
- Up to 7.4x faster text-to-image performance when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 3.5x faster than M4 Max.
- Up to 5.3x faster Magic Mask performance in Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 3x faster than M4 Max.
- Up to 3.5x faster basecalling for DNA sequencing in Oxford Nanopore MinKNOW when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 1.9x faster than M4 Max.
Mac Studio with M5 Ultra - Maximum Performance for the Most Demanding Workloads
Mac Studio with M5 Ultra is built for professionals working with the most demanding workloads, from 8K video and complex VFX to large-scale data analysis and local AI. With up to a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU, it delivers the kind of performance needed to tackle intensive tasks on a single machine.
The CPU provides up to 1.3x faster multithreaded performance than M3 Ultra, while the GPU is up to 1.8x faster for graphics-intensive workflows. M5 Ultra also introduces Neural Accelerators to the Ultra chip for the first time, delivering up to 4.3x the peak AI compute performance of M3 Ultra.
With up to 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth, Mac Studio can handle large AI models and demanding datasets directly on the device. Developers can run AI coding agents faster, while creative professionals can generate images, work with complex 3D scenes and process demanding projects without relying on cloud computing.
The Media Engine has also been upgraded with twice the video encode and decode blocks of M5 Max. This gives Mac Studio the ability to handle up to 33 simultaneous streams of 8K ProRes 422 at 30 fps, making it a powerful choice for professional video production and other high-bandwidth workflows.
Mac Studio with M5 Ultra can handle up to 33 simultaneous streams of 8K ProRes 422 at 30fps, giving video professionals the power to work with multiple high-resolution streams at once.
M5 Ultra - the bottom line:
- Up to 15.4x faster CopyCat ML training performance in Foundry Nuke when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 3.3x faster than M3 Ultra.
- Up to 9.8x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 4x faster than M3 Ultra.
- Up to 8.2x faster text-to-image performance when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 4.3x faster than M3 Ultra.
- Up to 4.7x faster scene rendering performance in Maxon Redshift when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 1.7x faster than M3 Ultra.
Fast Storage and Professional Connectivity
The new Mac Studio combines faster storage with a wide range of connectivity options for professional workflows. Its next-generation SSD architecture, built on PCIe Gen 6, delivers up to 2x faster storage performance, helping large projects, files and AI models load more quickly.
Thunderbolt 5 provides up to 120Gb/s of bandwidth, making it easy to connect high-performance displays, external storage, PCIe expansion chassis and other professional peripherals.
Wireless connectivity gets an upgrade too, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 built in for faster, more reliable connections. Mac Studio also supports genlock over USB-C, allowing precise synchronisation between displays and professional camera setups, including iPhone 17 Pro.
For professionals who need plenty of screen space, Mac Studio supports up to eight displays, including up to four Studio Display XDR monitors running at full 5K resolution and 120Hz.
Mac Studio offers extensive connectivity for professional setups, with up to six Thunderbolt 5 ports, support for up to eight displays, plus Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 for fast, reliable wireless connections.
Mac Studio and the Environment
Mac Studio has been designed with Apple’s environmental goals in mind, using recycled materials and renewable energy throughout its production. It contains 35% recycled content overall, including 100% recycled aluminium in the enclosure and recycled rare earth elements in all magnets.
Manufacturing uses 40% renewable energy across the supply chain, while Mac Studio is also designed to meet Apple’s standards for energy efficiency and safer materials, and whats more, its packaging is made entirely from fibre, making it easy to recycle at home.