Apple introduces M5 Pro and M5 Max chips powered by new Fusion Architecture

Apple on Tuesday unveiled the newest additions to its M-series chip lineup, introducing the M5 Pro and M5 Max, which power the latest MacBook Pro models.

The company says both chips are built around its new Fusion Architecture, an advanced design that combines two dies into a single high-performance system-on-a-chip (SoC). That integrated system includes a high-powered CPU, a scalable GPU, a Media Engine, a unified memory controller, a Neural Engine, and support for Thunderbolt 5.

Both chips feature an 18-core CPU, an upgrade from the 14-core CPU in the M4 Pro and the 16-core CPU in the M4 Max.

The CPU now includes six “super cores,” Apple’s term for its highest-performance cores, along with 12 newly designed performance cores. Altogether, Apple says the CPU can improve performance by up to 30% for professional workloads.

“The GPU scales up the next-generation architecture introduced in M5 to an up-to-40-core GPU,” Apple said in a press release. “With a Neural Accelerator in each GPU core and higher unified memory bandwidth, M5 Pro and M5 Max are over 4x the peak GPU compute for AI compared to the previous generation.”

Overall graphics performance is up to 20% faster, and ray-tracing workloads are improved by up to 35%.

The M5 Pro supports up to 64GB of unified memory, up from 48GB on the M4 Pro, and offers 307GB/s of memory bandwidth. The M5 Max continues to support up to 128GB of unified memory, with bandwidth increased to 614GB/s.

Apple says the M5 Pro is intended for professional users such as data modellers, post-production sound designers, and STEM students who need strong CPU and GPU capabilities, along with large amounts of unified memory,y for demanding projects and workloads.

The M5 Max, meanwhile, is aimed at pro users such as 3D animators, app developers, and AI researchers running workloads that require the highest possible GPU compute power and maximum unified memory bandwidth, according to Apple.

The new MacBook Pro lineup will be available for preorder starting tomorrow, with availability beginning March 11.