Apple has officially introduced its latest M-series chips, the M6 and M5 Ultra, designed specifically for professionals seeking peak performance on macOS. These new chips excel in high-demand applications such as artificial intelligence modeling, 3D rendering, and advanced video editing, setting a new standard for computing power.
Apple M6
The M6 chip utilizes an advanced 2nm process, facilitating a more compact die while boosting power efficiency. This chip features a robust 12-core CPU, including 2 super cores, 4 performance cores, and 6 efficiency cores, thus delivering the world's fastest single-threaded performance. Impressively, the M6 achieves a multi-thread performance that is 1.2 times faster than its predecessor, the M5, and 2.4 times faster than the Apple M1.
On the graphics front, the M6 is equipped with a 12-core GPU with integrated Neural Accelerators. Apple's testing indicates that the M6 outperforms the M5 by 30% in peak GPU compute for AI tasks, and is 8 times faster than the M1. The GPU features advanced capabilities such as hardware-based ray tracing and Dynamic Caching.
Additionally, the M6 boasts an upgraded Neural Processing Unit (NPU) with a dual 16-core design offering double the peak compute for on-device AI workflows compared to the M5. With support for up to 32GB of unified memory at a speed of 170GB/s, the M6 is set to make waves in the new Mac mini.
Apple M5 Ultra
In conjunction with the M6, Apple has launched the M5 Ultra. This powerhouse leverages Apple’s UltraFusion interconnect technology to unite two dual-die M5 Max chips, marking it as the first M-series chip to adopt a quad-die architecture. Apple asserts that this is its most powerful chip to date.
The M5 Ultra can be configured with up to 36 CPU cores, composed of 12 super cores and 24 performance cores. Apple claims it delivers a 1.25 times higher single-threaded performance and 1.3 times greater multithread performance than the M3 Ultra chip.
Additionally, the GPU in the M5 Ultra can be expanded to 80 cores, alongside a configuration with up to 32 Neural Engine cores. According to Apple, this chip provides 4.3 times the peak AI compute performance relative to the M3 Ultra, and features double the video encode and decode blocks. This means it can effortlessly handle up to 33 streams of 8K ProRes video at 30 frames per second.
The M5 Ultra is also configurable with a staggering 512GB of unified memory at speeds of up to 1.2TB/s, making its debut in the newly announced Mac Studio.
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