Apple M5 Ultra 36 Cores: First Tests and Comparison with M5 Ultra 30 Cores

The Apple M5 Ultra 36 Cores is the higher-end M5 Ultra option for the 2026 Mac Studio. The chip includes 12 Super Cores and 24 Performance Cores, as well as an 80-core GPU. Unified memory bandwidth reaches 1.2 TB/s. The Mac Studio with the higher-end M5 Ultra starts at $6,799, while sales of retail systems will begin on September 22, 2026. Therefore, the benchmark results currently available should be considered preliminary.

How the 36-Core Version Differs from the M5 Ultra 30 Cores

Apple offers the M5 Ultra in two configurations. The base model has a 30-core CPU and a 64-core GPU, while the higher-end model has a 36-core CPU and an 80-core GPU.

The surcharge for the 36-core configuration is $1,300. The number of CPU cores increases by 20%, while the number of GPU cores increases by 25%. Maximum unified memory capacity rises from 256 to 512 GB.

Memory bandwidth is identical on both configurations at 1.2 TB/s.

Preliminary Benchmark Results

The first M5 Ultra results were published before Mac Studio retail shipments began. They make it possible to assess the difference between the two configurations, but do not yet reflect the performance of mass-produced retail systems.

• Starting price for the Mac Studio configuration with a 32-core M3 Ultra, 96 GB of memory, and a 1 TB SSD.

There are not yet enough comparable public PassMark, Blender, and 3DMark CPU Profile results for the 36-core M5 Ultra, so these tests are not included in the table.

How Much Faster the 36-Core Version Is

The main difference between the two M5 Ultra configurations appears in multithreaded workloads.

In Geekbench 6 Multi, the higher-end configuration scores 42327 points versus 39193 for the 30-core model. Its advantage is about 8%.

In Cinebench 2024 Multi, the processors score 3905 and 3701 points, respectively, a difference of about 6%.

Single-threaded results differ by less than 1% in Geekbench 6 and by approximately 1% in Cinebench 2024.

If CPU performance is the only consideration, the $1,300 premium provides a 6-8% improvement in current multithreaded tests. The higher-end configuration also includes an 80-core GPU and support for up to 512 GB of unified memory.

Comparison with the M3 Ultra

The difference compared with the M3 Ultra is considerably larger.

In Geekbench 6 Multi, the preliminary result for the M5 Ultra 36 Cores is 42327 points, compared with 28128 points for the M3 Ultra 32 Cores.

In Cinebench 2024 Multi, the scores are 3905 and 2753 points, respectively.

Apple claims up to a 1.3x increase in multithreaded CPU performance compared with the M3 Ultra, although some individual preliminary tests show a larger gain. The actual difference can be assessed more accurately once production Mac Studio systems become available.

Unified memory bandwidth has increased from 819 GB/s on the M3 Ultra to 1.2 TB/s on the M5 Ultra. This is important for rendering, processing large data sets, and running large AI models locally.

Where the 36-Core Version Has an Advantage

The M5 Ultra 36 Cores has a more noticeable advantage in highly parallel workloads, including CPU rendering, compiling large projects, high-resolution video processing, and engineering calculations.

For tasks that depend on the performance of one or several cores, the difference from the M5 Ultra 30 Cores is minimal.

The difference between the configurations becomes more important in workloads that use the CPU, GPU, and a large amount of memory simultaneously. In these cases, the 80-core graphics processor and support for 512 GB of unified memory may matter more than the additional six CPU cores.

Conclusion

The Apple M5 Ultra 36 Cores is the maximum M5 Ultra configuration for the 2026 Mac Studio. According to preliminary tests, it outperforms the 30-core version by approximately 6-8% in multithreaded CPU workloads, while single-threaded results differ by less than 1%.

The Mac Studio price increases from $5,499 to $6,799. In addition to the extra CPU cores, the higher-end configuration includes an 80-core GPU and support for up to 512 GB of unified memory.

Until results from production Mac Studio systems become available, the current M5 Ultra figures should be considered preliminary.