Apple M5 Max vs. M5 Ultra Mac Studio: Ports, Displays, Cores and Memory Bandwidth
Apple’s M5 Max and M5 Ultra Mac Studio models share nearly all of the same ports. On the back, both include four 120Gbps Thunderbolt 5 ports, a 10Gbps Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and two 5Gbps USB-A ports.
Both Mac Studio models also feature a UHS-II SD card reader on the front. The M5 Max adds two 10Gbps USB-C ports, while the M5 Ultra includes two additional 120Gbps Thunderbolt 5 ports.
M5 Max and M5 Ultra external display support
The M5 Ultra’s additional power also expands its external display support. The M5 Max supports up to five external displays, while the M5 Ultra supports up to eight. However, the exact number of displays depends on the resolution and refresh rate used.
View support details for M5 Max and M5 Ultra Mac Studio.
Credit: Apple
Apple M5 Max improvements over the M4 Max
The M5 Max specifications are already known, and Apple has been shipping the chip in MacBook Pro models since March. Compared with the previous-generation M4 Max, the M5 Max introduces new “super” cores in the CPU and increases maximum memory bandwidth from 546GB/s to 614GB/s.
The M5 Max retains 40 GPU cores, but new neural accelerators built into each GPU core improve performance for machine learning and AI-assisted technologies such as MetalFX upscaling and frame generation.
Apple M5 Ultra specifications and architecture
The M5 Ultra is different for several reasons. Because there was no M4 Ultra, the M5 Ultra effectively represents a two-generation processor jump, even though it is only one product generation newer.
| Model | CPU S/P/E cores | GPU cores | RAM options | Memory bandwidth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple M5 Ultra (low) | 10S/20P | 64 | 96GB/256GB | 1,228.8GB/s |
| Apple M5 Ultra (high) | 12S/24P | 80 | 96GB/256GB/512GB (planned) | 1,228.8GB/s |
| Apple M3 Ultra (high) | 24P/8E | 80 | 128GB/256GB/512GB | 819.2GB/s |
| Apple M2 Ultra (high) | 16P/8E | 76 | Up to 192GB | 819.2GB/s |
| Apple M1 Ultra (high) | 16P/4E | 32 | Up to 128GB | 819.2GB/s |
The M1 Ultra, M2 Ultra, and M3 Ultra are essentially two Max chips joined by a high-speed interconnect. This design provides many of the benefits of a large chip while avoiding the manufacturing difficulties of producing one giant chip.
The M5 Ultra follows the same basic approach, combining two M5 Max chips. It includes up to 12 Super CPU cores, up to 24 performance cores, up to 80 GPU cores, 32 Neural Engine cores, two video decode engines, and four encode engines.
Its memory bandwidth exceeds 1.2TB/s, doubling the key specifications of the M5 Max.
Source: arstechnica.com