Apple M5 10 Cores
vs
Apple M1 Max

vs

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Apple M5 10 Cores and Apple M1 Max processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.

Advantages

  • Higher Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 4.61 GHz (4.61 GHz vs 3.228 GHz)
  • Higher Technology: Third-generation 3 nm (Third-generation 3 nm vs 5 nm)
  • Newer Launch Date: October 2025 (October 2025 vs October 2021)

Basic

Apple
Label Name
Apple
October 2025
Launch Date
October 2021
Laptop
Platform
Laptop
Apple custom ARM architecture
CPU Architecture
Apple Firestorm + Apple Icestorm
Apple M5
CPU Name
Apple M1 Max
Apple M5 10-Core
Model Name
Apple M1 Max
TSMC N3P
Foundry
TSMC
M5
Generation
Apple M1 series

CPU Specifications

10
Total Cores
Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).
10
10
Total Threads
10
4
Performance-cores
8
6
Efficient-cores
2
4.61 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency
-
3.05 GHz
Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency
2.064 GHz
-
Instruction Set Extensions
NEON
4.61 GHz
Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency
3.228 GHz
-
Extended Instruction Set
ARMv8-A, NEON
-
L1 Cache
P-cores: 192 KB instruction + 128 KB data per core; E-cores: 128 KB instruction + 64 KB data per core
-
L2 Cache
P-core cluster: 24 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB
-
L3 Cache
48 MB system level cache
Third-generation 3 nm
Technology
Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.
5 nm
-
Instruction Set
An instruction set architecture (ISA) defines the instructions a processor can execute. Common architectures include x86-64, ARM and RISC-V. The ISA determines software compatibility, while optional instruction extensions add specialized capabilities.
ARMv8-A
-
Transistor Count
57 billion

Memory Specifications

-
Memory Bus Width
512-bit
LPDDR5X unified memory
Memory Type
Unified LPDDR5-6400
-
LPDDR5 Speed
LPDDR5-6400
32 GB
Max Memory Size
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
64 GB
153 GB/s
Max Memory Bandwidth
Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).
400 GB/s
9600 MT/s
Maximum Memory Speed
6400 MT/s

GPU Specifications

Thunderbolt / DisplayPort over USB-C; HDMI
External Display Standard
Thunderbolt 4, HDMI
Apple M5 10-core GPU
GPU Name
Apple M1 Max GPU
Supported
Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
-
Up to two external displays: two 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz; or one 8K at 60Hz, 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Max External Display Resolution
Up to three 6K 60Hz displays plus one 4K 60Hz display
-
Video Concurrency
Multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed
Video Decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed
Video Encode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
-
Video Processing Unit
Apple media engine with ProRes acceleration
-
GPU Max Dynamic Frequency
1296 MHz
-
Graphics Base Frequency
Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.
389 MHz
10
Graphics Core Count
32
Up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Max Resolution
-
-
Number of Displays Supported
Up to 4 external displays
Metal
GPU APIs
Metal, OpenCL
-
Graphics Performance
Up to 10.4 TFLOPS FP32
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; AV1 decode
Media Engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
1
Video Decode Engines
1
1
Video Encode Engines
2
1
ProRes Encode/Decode Engines
2
-
OpenCL Support
OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for heterogeneous parallel programming.
Yes

AI Specifications

Apple Neural Engine with Neural Accelerators in GPU cores
AI Engine
16-core Apple Neural Engine
16
Neural Engine Core Count
16
16-core Neural Engine
NPU Name
Apple Neural Engine
-
NPU Performance
11 TOPS INT8

Connectivity

Supported
Bluetooth Support
Yes
-
Bluetooth Version
Bluetooth 5.0
-
Wi-Fi Standard
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)

Interfaces and Ports

Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt Support
Yes, Thunderbolt 4 up to 40 Gb/s
USB 4 up to 40Gb/s
USB Version
USB4
Supported
USB4 Support
Yes, USB4 up to 40 Gb/s

Miscellaneous

-
Hardware-Verified Secure Boot
Yes, Apple silicon secure boot chain of trust
-
Image Signal Processor
Apple image signal processor
-
Runtime Anti-Exploitation
Kernel Integrity Protection, Pointer Authentication Codes, Fast Permission Restrictions

Benchmarks

Cinebench R23 Single Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
2459 +60%
Apple M1 Max
1534
Cinebench R23 Multi Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
15893 +28%
Apple M1 Max
12402
Geekbench 6 Single Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
4228 +78%
Apple M1 Max
2376
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
17314 +41%
Apple M1 Max
12280
Geekbench 5 Single Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
2974 +67%
Apple M1 Max
1785
Geekbench 5 Multi Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
15736 +24%
Apple M1 Max
12697
Passmark CPU Single Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
5749 +50%
Apple M1 Max
3831
Passmark CPU Multi Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
26996 +22%
Apple M1 Max
22160
Cinebench 2024 Single Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
200 +79%
Apple M1 Max
112
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
Apple M5 10 Cores
1030 +29%
Apple M1 Max
796
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Apple M5 10 Cores
6139 +36%
Apple M1 Max
4514
Blender
Apple M5 10 Cores
377 +96%
Apple M1 Max
192