Apple’s upcoming M5 Ultra processor has surfaced on Geekbench 7, revealing a 36‑core configuration in the next‑gen Mac Studio. With 256GB of unified memory, the chip reached 52,516 points in multi‑core testing, putting it in the same range as AMD’s high‑end workstation CPUs.

The benchmark listing (via Wccftech) identifies a 36-core layout comprising 12 super cores and 24 P-cores running at a peak clock frequency of 4.6GHz. Running macOS 27.0, the platform posted 3,774 points in the single-core test and 52,516 in the multi-core one. This aligns with Apple’s internal performance claims of up to 1.3x higher multi-threaded CPU output compared to the M3 Ultra.

In Geekbench 7’s database, the score places the M5 Ultra close to AMD’s workstation‑class Threadripper Pro parts. A 64‑core 9985WX submission reached 56,118 points, while a 96‑core 9995WX run landed at 50,911. As always, individual Geekbench submissions vary, so these numbers shouldn’t be taken as representative averages.

Geekbench is a short cross-platform benchmark rather than a sustained workstation load test, so these scores don't indicate definitive superiority in long-term multi-threaded tasks.

KitGuru says: Short benchmarks don’t tell the full story for sustained workloads, but seeing Apple’s 36‑core M5 Ultra land in the same performance bracket as much higher‑core‑count Threadripper processors is certainly notable.

The post Apple’s 36-core M5 Ultra rivals Threadripper in Geekbench 7 test first appeared on KitGuru.

When Apple unveiled the M5 Ultra chip in August, many expected reduced lead times for the Mac Studio, premised on the belief that the supply chain-savvy tech behemoth would manage to produce the compute platform in sufficient quantities to meet the oncoming demand. That was not to be, however, as the latest snapshot shows those lead times extending into the new year. Apple's M5 Ultra Mac Studio is currently witnessing lead times of 16 to 18 weeks Back in April, Apple pulled the base variant of the Mac mini, which sported the M4 chip, 16GB RAM, 256GB of storage, and a […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/the-lead-times-for-apples-m5-max-mac-studio-now-extend-all-the-way-to-january-2027-leaving-orders-stranded/

While the average consumer has been literally priced out of the market, courtesy of the rampant memory 'chipflation,' machines that are suitable for AI workloads are selling like hotcakes, as can be gleaned from a new report that suggests OpenAI is gobbling up thousands of Apple Mac mini and Mac Studio devices, while a separate tidbit suggests that the NVIDIA RTX Spark chips are already in short supply ahead of their debut within PCs this fall! AI labs and enterprises are apparently going after any reasonably competent compute-capable machine, including Apple Mac mini and Mac Studio devices, as well as […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/openai-hoarding-tens-of-thousands-of-apple-mac-mini-and-mac-studio-devices-as-asus-and-msi-burn-through-their-entire-first-batch-of-nvidia-rtx-spark-chip-and-beg-for-more/

Apple launched the Apple Mac Mini M6 and Mac Studio M5 Ultra for those looking to do local AI with Apple's unified memory

The post Apple Mac Studio M5 Ultra and Mac Mini M6 Launched appeared first on ServeTheHome.

The base model of the Mac Mini comes with 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and costs $899.

Apple has reportedly cancelled its upcoming M6 Pro and M6 Max processors, shifting its strategy to leap directly to the next-generation M7 family for higher-end Macs. Apple will now focus on the base M6 chip before jumping straight to the M7 family of chips next year.

The report comes from Mark Gurman (Bloomberg), who notes that Apple is currently testing the base M6 SoC in the base MacBook Pro model, focusing on CPU microarchitecture and NPU improvements for local AI processing. Memory bandwidth is getting an upgrade to around 200GB/s, up from 123GB/s on the current base M5. The integrated GPU also sees a 20% increase in core count, bringing it to 12 GPU cores.

This would mark the first generation in which Apple will skip the Pro and Max variants. Instead, those higher-end tiers will supposedly debut with the M7 series as part of a complete SoC overhaul focused on local AI. The base M7 processor should arrive in H1 2027 with roughly 240GB/s of bandwidth, serving as Apple's first Intel-manufactured design built on the 18A-P node. Expect the M7 Pro and M7 Max to follow in late 2027, followed by an M7 Ultra for the Mac Studio in 2028.

Meanwhile, the report claims Apple is testing an M5 Ultra SoC for an upcoming Mac Studio update. This high-end configuration features about 36 CPU cores, 80 GPU cores, and approximately 768GB of memory, designed for local AI workloads and professional content creation.

KitGuru says: Do you think Apple will skip the higher tiers of the M6 series? 

The post Apple reportedly cancels M6 Pro and M6 Max to focus on M7 chips first appeared on KitGuru.

The M5 family is missing one member that’ll eventually power the updated Mac Studio’s innards, and that’s the M5 Ultra. With the launch expected later this year, Apple will finally bring its most powerful workstation-class silicon to the masses, and even though it won’t be cheap, we’re looking forward to its release. Unfortunately, as far as design changes go, the new Mac Studio will look similar to its predecessors, but Apple won’t keep this trend going with the M7 Ultra, as the latter’s higher power requirements will necessitate a major change. Internal upgrades, such as a bigger heatsink is expected […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/m7-ultra-mac-studio-redesign-expected-in-2028-due-to-high-power-requirements/

Apple has succumbed to the inevitable by hiking the prices of most of its products in one fell swoop, leading to aberrant pricing outcomes, such as the one pertaining to the M3 Ultra chip-equipped Mac Studio (16TB) and its sole 96GB unified memory variant, which now sells for over $14,000. Apple's highest-end, 96GB unified memory variant of the M3 Ultra chip-equipped Mac Studio now retails for $14,299 Apple laid the groundwork for these sweeping price hikes a few days back, when Tim Cook had declared that memory prices had become "unsustainable," and that "unavoidable" price hikes were coming. As we […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apples-most-expensive-mac-will-now-set-you-back-by-14399-and-it-only-has-96gb-of-unified-memory/

Apple was, until recently, the last bastion of price stability, even as a tsunami of memory-induced price hikes has continued to sweep across wide swathes of the global consumer electronics sphere. Alas! No longer. Apple now appears to have surrendered to the inevitable price hikes after trying to swim against the tide for a few quarters. Apple's Tim Cook had warned that the June-ending quarter would see a "substantial" increase in memory costs, and now the company appears to be capitulating to the inevitable price hikes Apple's Tim Cook has just declared to the Wall Street Journal that price increases […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apples-tim-cook-cries-out-that-memory-prices-have-become-unsustainable-warns-that-unavoidable-price-hikes-are-coming/

Apple’s unified memory architecture has made its Mac Studio and Mac mini computers into agentic AI powerhouses, with users able to automate their tasks thanks to the use of local models that help simplify their daily tasks. One person in particular believed there was little benefit to storing his entire family’s memories on cloud-based services like Google Drive, which is why he resorted to running everything on his compact workstation, calling it the “Mac Merlin.” Here’s how he made everything possible. Thanks to the Mac Studio’s 64GB of unified memory paired with open-source AI models and an external storage backup, […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/mac-studio-runs-local-ai-models-to-keep-family-memories-running-at-12w/

Another day and another Apple Mac configuration appears to have been pulled, all in a bid to conserve precious memory resources for Apple's upcoming M5-based Mac Studio and Mac mini devices. Just days after pulling the base M4 Mac mini, Apple has narrowed the M3 Ultra Mac Studio configurator to the lone 96GB memory option First, Apple increased their lead times. And now, entire memory configurations for the Mac Studio and Mac mini devices are going offline. Just last week, Apple pulled the base variant of the Mac mini, which sported the M4 chip, 16GB RAM, 256GB of storage, and a […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apple-m3-ultra-mac-studio-only-available-in-the-96gb-memory-configuration-now-as-apple-hoards-memory-for-m5-based-macs/

Apple said it will be supply-constrained on Mac mini, Studio, and Neo in the next quarter, too.

Apple’s sold-out Mac mini is spawning marked-up eBay listings as demand surges for the compact desktop, now favored for running local AI models and tools.

The demand for Apple Macs is off the proverbial rocker right now, so much so that people are apparently managing to sell specific Mac Studio versions for an insane $25,000 on websites that specialize in retailing used products. People are paying insane premiums for used M3 Ultra 512GB Apple Mac Studio devices when you can still get 256GB variants from Apple at a fraction of those list prices As is evident from the above X post, the 512GB variants of the M3 Ultra Apple Mac Studio devices are currently going for as much as $25,000 on websites that specialize in […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apple-m3-ultra-based-mac-studio-devices-now-going-for-as-much-as-25000-as-shortages-trigger-a-buying-frenzy/

The increased high-bandwidth memory requirement of Large Language Models is why Apple and its Mac Studio lineup have gained significant traction while also targeting the workstation market, where consumers demanded the absolute best in raw compute and graphics performance, but in a package that wouldn’t take up any room. Unfortunately, a decent chunk of revenue will be lost as Apple attempts to steer past the DRAM shortage, with a new report stating that the refreshed Mac Studio isn’t going to launch as early as expected. With older M3 Ultra and M4 Max options belonging to the Mac Studio unavailable, the […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/m5-ultra-mac-studio-delayed-to-q4-2026-apple-llm-revenue-to-suffer/

We reported earlier today that the lead times for new Apple Mac mini and Mac Studio devices are now extending well into H2 2026. Interestingly, Apple's planned obsolescence for the M4 chip-based products might have something to do with these stretched shipment timelines, with the ongoing memory-driven upheaval playing little to no role in this calculus. It's not just memory-driven upheaval that is preventing you from getting your hands on new Apple Mac mini and Mac Studio devices If you try to order a new Mac mini or Mac Studio device from Apple today, chances are you likely won't be […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apple-is-trying-to-phase-out-m4-chip-based-products-which-is-why-you-cant-get-your-hands-on-mac-mini-and-mac-studio-devices-right-now/

You know with absolute conviction that the ongoing memory crisis is holding no prisoners when even tech titans such as Apple face substantial upheaval, which is currently most evident within the insanely extended lead times for certain memory configurations of the Mac mini and Mac Studio. Lead times for Apple Mac mini and Mac Studio now extend well into the second half of the ongoing year As is evident from the snippets in the X post above, some configurations of the Apple Mac mini are now shipping in August if you order today, while the lead times for the Mac […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apple-mac-mini-and-mac-studio-contending-with-insane-shipping-times-as-orders-get-pushed-out-to-august-september/

The M5 Pro and M5 Max launched earlier this month, leaving only the M5 Ultra, which is due for a release in the first half of this year. With Apple running out of time with the impending announcement of its most powerful silicon, it had to make some critical decisions on whether its workstation-class chipset would only be found in both the Mac Studio and Mac Pro, or just one of them. In the end, a new report states that Apple has officially thrown in the towel for its Mac Pro, marking the end of the tower form factor and ushering […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/mac-studio-is-the-new-mac-pro-apple-discontinues-tower-workstation/