CPU: M5 Ultra reaches 36 cores and offers up to 1.3× higher multi-thread performance than M3 Ultra.
GPU: M5 Ultra keeps 80 GPU cores but adds newer graphics hardware for up to 1.8× faster graphics in selected tests.
AI & Memory: AI compute can reach 4.3× M3 Ultra levels, while memory bandwidth rises from 819GB/s to 1.2TB/s
The M5 Ultra marks a major shift for Apple’s top desktop chip. The jump from M3 Ultra to M5 Ultra does not rely on a simple rise in CPU or GPU core counts. Apple has kept the maximum GPU count at 80 and unified memory at 512GB, yet the new chip brings much higher AI compute, faster graphics, more CPU performance, and 50 percent more memory bandwidth. The biggest gain sits in AI, where M5 Ultra can reach up to 4.3 times the peak AI compute performance of M3 Ultra.
M3 Ultra offers up to a 32-core CPU, with 24 performance cores and eight efficiency cores. M5 Ultra raises the ceiling to 36 cores, with 12 super cores and 24 performance cores. Apple claims up to 1.3 times higher multi-thread performance than M3 Ultra. That marks a gain of about 30 percent for heavy multi-core work.
The CPU change matters for tasks such as code builds, data analysis, simulations, and other workloads that rely on many CPU cores. The raw core count rises by only 12.5 percent, yet the wider performance gap shows that M5 Ultra gains more from its newer CPU design than from extra cores alone. Apple’s current figures put the CPU among the strongest parts of the upgrade.
Both chips can reach 80 GPU cores, so the M5 Ultra does not offer a higher core count in this area. The major change sits inside those cores. M5 Ultra adds a Neural Accelerator to every GPU core, a feature that did not exist on the Ultra chip in M3 Ultra. Apple also adds second-generation Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and third-generation ray tracing.
Apple claims up to 40 percent higher graphics performance than M3 Ultra at the chip level. Its Mac Studio results show up to 1.8 times faster graphics in selected workloads. Redshift scene render performance reaches up to 1.7 times the M3 Ultra result, while Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing reaches up to 1.8 times the M3 Ultra result. These figures show how the newer GPU design can deliver a much larger gain than the unchanged 80-core count suggests.
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AI stands out as the clearest reason to choose M5 Ultra over M3 Ultra. The new Neural Accelerators sit inside all 80 GPU cores and help the chip handle matrix math at a much higher rate.
Apple claims up to 4.3 times the peak AI compute performance of M3 Ultra in Mac Studio tests. A separate chip specification gives M5 Ultra up to 4.5 times the peak GPU AI compute of M3 Ultra.
Real workload figures show the same trend. LM Studio delivers up to 4 times faster large language model prompt processing than M3 Ultra. Foundry Nuke CopyCat machine learning training reaches up to 3.3 times the M3 Ultra result. Text-to-image work reaches up to 4.3 times the M3 Ultra result. Maxon Redshift scene render performance reaches up to 1.7 times the M3 Ultra figure.
M5 Ultra does not raise the maximum unified memory capacity. Both M3 Ultra and M5 Ultra support up to 512GB. That matters for large local AI models, huge datasets, and professional applications that need a very large shared memory pool.
The major memory gain comes from bandwidth. M3 Ultra offers 819GB/s, while M5 Ultra reaches 1.2TB/s. That equals about 46.5 percent more bandwidth, which Apple describes as 50 percent higher. More bandwidth lets the chip move data at a much faster rate between memory and the compute units. This can help AI models, large datasets, graphics tasks, and other memory-heavy workloads.
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M5 Ultra is not a simple M3 Ultra with more cores. The CPU rises from 32 to 36 cores, while the GPU stays at 80 cores. Memory capacity also stays at 512GB. The real shift comes from the new GPU architecture, Neural Accelerators, higher memory bandwidth, newer ray tracing, and stronger AI hardware.
For CPU-heavy work, the gain can reach 1.3 times. Graphics can reach 1.8 times in selected Mac Studio tests. AI can reach 4.3 times the M3 Ultra level, while memory bandwidth rises from 819GB/s to 1.2TB/s. That makes M5 Ultra a much larger step for AI and memory-heavy professional workloads than the core-count figures alone suggest.
The result gives M5 Ultra a clear purpose: local AI at a scale that previously required far more specialized hardware. With 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s bandwidth, the chip can handle huge models and datasets on one desktop system. For professional AI, graphics, video, and advanced compute, that combination gives M5 Ultra its strongest advantage over M3 Ultra.
1. How many CPU cores does M5 Ultra have?
M5 Ultra has up to 36 CPU cores, compared with 32 cores on M3 Ultra.
2. Does M5 Ultra have more GPU cores than M3 Ultra?
No. Both chips support up to 80 GPU cores, but M5 Ultra adds Neural Accelerators to every GPU core and newer graphics technology.
3. How much faster is M5 Ultra for AI?
Apple claims up to 4.3× higher AI compute performance than M3 Ultra in selected Mac Studio workloads.
4. Does M5 Ultra support more memory?
No. Both M5 Ultra and M3 Ultra support up to 512GB of unified memory.
5. How much higher is M5 Ultra memory bandwidth?
M5 Ultra reaches 1.2TB/s, up from 819GB/s on M3 Ultra, which represents about a 46.5% increase.