Apple M6 and M5 Ultra
Apple (MacRumors M5 Ultra and M6, Hacker News):
M6 is built using cutting-edge 2 nm process technology, packing greater transistor density into a smaller die for a major leap in performance and power efficiency. M6 also introduces a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, providing up to 2x the peak compute over previous generations to make on-device AI workflows run even faster. System frameworks can automatically utilize both engines simultaneously, enabling applications to see faster model execution.
M6 has a brand-new 12-core CPU complex — two more cores than M5 — that consists of 2 super cores, 4 performance cores, and 6 efficiency cores. It delivers the world’s fastest single-threaded performance and up to 1.2x faster multithreaded performance as compared to M5, and up to 2.4x faster than M1.
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M5 Ultra uses UltraFusion to connect two dual-die M5 Max chips to form the quad-die architecture — a first for Apple silicon. UltraFusion increases the inter-die bandwidth to over 4.4TB/s and the connection density by over 6x. Together, these ultra-low-latency, high-bandwidth interconnects allow the four dies to behave as a single unified processor. M5 Ultra also features a large up-to-36-core CPU consisting of 12 super cores and 24 performance cores, delivering up to 1.25x higher single-threaded performance and up to 1.3x higher multithreaded performance than M3 Ultra.
M5 Ultra features a next-generation GPU with up to 80 cores, incorporating a Neural Accelerator in each core to offer up to 4.5x the peak GPU compute for AI compared to M3 Ultra and over 6x more than M1 Ultra.
It was not long ago all the illustrations in an M chip press release were graphs showing it flouncing the competition. Now it’s just random screenshots of desktops. Skimming this I didn’t see a single claim of performance advantages over competitors. The massive thing Apple still needs to solve is making sure customers don’t miss being able to plug the latest greatest GPU into their tower, they should not be resting on their laurels.
I’m so old I remember when Apple PR benchmarks were all like “Photoshop Gaussian Blur in only 48 seconds!”
Previously:
Update (2026-08-26): Hartley Charlton:
The most significant architectural change is in the CPU. The M5 splits its ten cores into performance and efficiency groups, which is an arrangement Apple silicon has used since the M1. The M6 adds a third tier called “super cores,” which handle single-threaded workloads and which Apple says give the chip the world’s fastest single-threaded performance.
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Apple did not publish real-world benchmarks comparing the M6 to the M5 directly, instead framing its Mac mini figures against the M4 and M1 models[…]
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Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in July that Apple has no plans to release “M6 Pro,” “M6 Max,” or “M6 Ultra” chips, having decided to accelerate development of the AI-optimized M7 generation.
As with previous Ultra generations, the M5 Ultra combines two M5 Max chips, but since they’re dual-die chips, the result is Apple silicon’s first quad-die architecture. (The M3 Ultra connected two single-die M3 Max chips.) There’s no practical benefit to users in a quad-die architecture, but it’s a huge win for Apple. The larger the die, the more difficult and expensive it is to manufacture because a defect can ruin the entire die. Dividing the design into smaller dies can substantially improve manufacturing yield and reduce costs.
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The M5 Ultra dispenses with efficiency cores entirely, devoting all CPU resources to super and performance cores.
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"The massive thing Apple still needs to solve is making sure customers don’t miss being able to plug the latest greatest GPU into their tower, they should not be resting on their laurels."
Oh sweet summer child, the POINT of Apple's entire Apple Silicon strategy is to eliminate plugging a GPU into a Mac, so that the machine you buy can never become more powerful, or more capable (or have a more extended relevant operational lifespan) than the specification you pay Apple to provide.
They have been very assiduous to this end, and now after happily trundling along the conveyor belt, the users are turning the corner to realise there's a waiting air-hammer built into the new paradigm.
The answer to users “limited” to the compute provided by a single Mac is the ability to cluster Macs with Thunderbolt 5 to pool unified memory to run massive AI models locally with high power efficiency.
