Apple announces the M6 and M5 Ultra processors, bringing faster performance and stronger AI compute to the Mac mini and Mac Studio. The new chips mark Apple’s biggest leap in desktop power.
The M6 is Apple’s first 2 nm chip. It has a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU with Neural Accelerators. Single-threaded performance is the fastest yet, while multithreaded speeds are up to 1.2x faster than M5 and 2.4x faster than M1.
AI compute is 30% faster than M5 and eight times faster than M1. It supports up to 32GB unified memory with 170GB/s bandwidth. Apple designed it for everyday users, developers, and AI hobbyists who need strong on-device AI.
The M5 Ultra is Apple’s most powerful chip so far. It uses a quad-die design that links two dual-die M5 Max chips with UltraFusion. It packs up to a 36-core CPU, 80-core GPU, and a 32-core Neural Engine. Single-threaded tasks run 1.25x faster than M3 Ultra, while multithreaded workloads are 1.3x faster.
GPU compute for AI is 4.5x faster than M3 Ultra and six times faster than M1 Ultra. It supports up to 512GB unified memory with 1.2TB/s bandwidth. The chip is built for pros handling large AI models, graphics, and video editing.
Apple’s developer tools, including Core AI, Core ML, Metal, and Xcode, are tuned for these processors. This lets developers run and fine-tune big AI models locally with Apple Intelligence.
Also Read: iPhone 18 series to get price hikes as memory costs rise
The M6 focuses on speed and efficiency, while the M5 Ultra is made for heavy workloads. The new Mac mini and Mac Studio with these chips are now part of Apple’s desktop lineup.
