Apple releases M5 Pro and M5 Max chips with ‘super processor core’ for the first time

After releasing the M5 chip last October, Apple updated two more advanced models, the M5 Pro and M5 Max, for professional users. These are also two new processor options for the 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pro lines. Similar to the MacBook Air 2026, Apple also doubled the starting memory for Pro series models using the new chip to 1 TB.

The M5 Pro and M5 Max are both built on the new Fusion architecture, combining two third-generation 3 nm chips into a single chip using advanced packaging technology. Fusion architecture is considered a breakthrough for Apple Silicon chips because most previous chips used a single-chip design. The two paired chips will integrate CPU, GPU, Media Engine, Neural Engine, Unified Memory controller and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.

Both of Apple’s high-end chips have 18-core CPUs, compared to the 14 and 16 cores of the M4 Pro and M4 Max respectively. This CPU has 6 “super processing cores”, Apple’s new name for the highest performance cores, along with 12 performance cores focused on energy savings. The manufacturer says multi-threaded performance is 30% faster than M4 and 2.5 times faster than M1 Pro and M1 Max.

The M5 Pro has 20 GPU cores, while the M5 Max has double that at 40. Each GPU core on the new chip also includes a Neural Accelerator, which is said to deliver four times more AI computing performance than the M4 Pro and M4 Max. Apple claims overall graphics performance is 50% faster, ray-tracing tasks are improved 35% compared to the previous generation.

Other upgrades include a 16-core Neural Engine processor with faster memory connectivity, which helps speed up Apple Intelligence tasks on the device. The updated Media Engine adds hardware-accelerated AV1 decoding in addition to support for H.264, HEVC, and ProRes.

Devices using the M5 Pro chip will have a maximum RAM option of 64 GB (up from 48 GB on the M4 Pro), with a bandwidth of 307 GB/s while the M5 Max retains the maximum support of 128 GB but increases the bandwidth to 614 GB/s.

MacBook Pro 2026 has twice the read/write speed on SSD compared to M4, up to 14.5 GB/s. Devices using the M5 Pro have internal memory starting at 1 TB while the M5 Max starts at 2 TB. The N1 wireless network chip also brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 standards for higher speed and stability. The 16-inch version can operate continuously for up to 24 hours and can quickly charge 50% in 30 minutes when using a charger with a capacity of 96 W or higher.

Thunderbolt 5 technology is inherited from the M4 generation, but each port on the MacBook Pro 2026 will have its own controller on the chip, allowing all three ports to operate simultaneously with maximum bandwidth. As for external displays, the M5 Pro supports up to two high-resolution displays, while the M5 Max supports up to four.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro using the M5 Pro chip starts at 60 million VND, the M5 Max from 98 million VND, while the 16-inch version using the M5 Pro chip costs from 73 million VND and the version using the M5 Max chip from 105 million VND. The corresponding price for pupils, students, and people working in the education industry is 55,909 million VND; 89,829 million VND; 67,589 million VND and 96,919 million VND. There is no information on when it will be sold in Vietnam.