Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
vs
Apple M3 Ultra
vs
CPU Comparison Result
Below are the results of a comparison of
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
and
Apple M3 Ultra
processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.
Advantages
- Newer Launch Date: March 2026 (March 2026 vs March 2025)
- More Total Cores: 32 (18 vs 32)
Basic
Apple
Label Name
Apple
March 2026
Launch Date
March 2025
Laptop
Platform
Desktop
Apple custom ARM architecture
CPU Architecture
Apple M3 performance cores + efficiency cores
Apple M5 Max
CPU Name
Apple M3 Ultra
Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU
Model Name
Apple M3 Ultra
TSMC N3P
Foundry
TSMC
M5 Max
Generation
Apple M3 series
CPU Specifications
-
Interconnect Bandwidth
Over 2.5 TB/s
Apple Fusion Architecture
Interconnect Technology
UltraFusion
4.38 GHz
Performance-core Multi-Core Max Frequency
-
4.61 GHz
Super-core Max Frequency
-
18
Total Cores
Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).
32
18
Total Threads
32
12
Performance-cores
24
-
Efficient-cores
8
6
Super-cores
-
4.61 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency
-
-
Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency
2.75 GHz
-
Instruction Set Extensions
NEON
-
Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency
4.05 GHz
-
Extended Instruction Set
ARMv8.6-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 clusters: 72 MB total; E-core clusters: 8 MB total
-
L3 Cache
96 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.
3 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.
ARMv8.6-A
-
Transistor Count
184 billion
Memory Specifications
-
Memory Bus Width
1024-bit
LPDDR5X unified memory
Memory Type
Unified LPDDR5-6400
-
LPDDR5 Speed
LPDDR5-6400
128 GB
Max Memory Size
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
512 GB
-
Memory Channels
The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.
8
614 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).
819 GB/s
9600 MT/s
Maximum Memory Speed
6400 MT/s
GPU Specifications
Thunderbolt / DisplayPort 2.1 over USB-C; HDMI
External Display Standard
Thunderbolt 5, DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1
Apple M5 Max 40-core GPU
GPU Name
Apple M3 Ultra GPU
Supported
Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
-
Up to four external displays: four displays up to 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz; or two displays up to 8K at 60Hz, 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Max External Display Resolution
Up to eight 6K 60Hz displays or four 8K 60Hz displays; HDMI up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 240Hz
-
Video Concurrency
Up to 24 streams of 8K ProRes 422 video
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed
Video Decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1 decode
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 and AV1 decode
-
GPU Max Dynamic Frequency
1400 MHz
-
Graphics Base Frequency
Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.
390 MHz
40
Graphics Core Count
80
Up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Max Resolution
-
-
Number of Displays Supported
Up to 8 displays
Metal
GPU APIs
Metal, OpenCL
-
Graphics Performance
Up to 28.4 TFLOPS FP32
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; AV1 decode
Media Engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, and AV1 decode
1
Video Decode Engines
2
2
Video Encode Engines
4
2
ProRes Encode/Decode Engines
4
-
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
32-core Apple Neural Engine
16
Neural Engine Core Count
32
16-core Neural Engine
NPU Name
Apple Neural Engine
-
NPU Performance
36 TOPS
Connectivity
Supported
Bluetooth Support
Yes
6
Bluetooth Version
Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
Wi-Fi Standard
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Apple N1 wireless networking chip
Wireless System
-
Interfaces and Ports
Thunderbolt 5
Thunderbolt Support
Yes, Thunderbolt 5 up to 120 Gb/s
USB 4 up to 120Gb/s
USB Version
USB4
Supported
USB4 Support
Yes, USB4 up to 120 Gb/s via Thunderbolt 5 ports
Miscellaneous
-
Hardware-Verified Secure Boot
Yes, Apple silicon secure boot chain of trust
Memory Integrity Enforcement
Runtime Anti-Exploitation
Hardware-verified secure boot and runtime anti-exploitation technologies
Benchmarks
Cinebench R23 Single Core
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
2532
+29%
Apple M3 Ultra
1968
Cinebench R23 Multi Core
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
32197
Apple M3 Ultra
37200
+16%
Geekbench 6 Single Core
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
4281
+34%
Apple M3 Ultra
3201
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
29226
+5%
Apple M3 Ultra
27835
Passmark CPU Single Core
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
5947
+18%
Apple M3 Ultra
5054
Passmark CPU Multi Core
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
57701
Apple M3 Ultra
72912
+26%
Cinebench 2024 Single Core
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
201
+42%
Apple M3 Ultra
142
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
2255
Apple M3 Ultra
2520
+12%
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