Apple M6 12 Cores
vs
Apple M5 (8-core GPU)
vs
CPU Comparison Result
Below are the results of a comparison of
Apple M6 12 Cores
and
Apple M5 (8-core GPU)
processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.
Advantages
- More Total Cores: 12 (12 vs 10)
- Higher Technology: 2 nm (2 nm vs Third-generation 3 nm)
- Newer Launch Date: August 2026 (August 2026 vs March 2026)
- Higher Memory Type: LPDDR5X unified memory (Unified memory vs LPDDR5X unified memory)
Basic
Apple
Label Name
Apple
August 2026
Launch Date
March 2026
Laptop
Platform
Laptop
-
CPU Architecture
Apple custom ARM architecture
Apple M6
CPU Name
Apple M5
Apple M6 12 Cores
Model Name
Apple M5 8-Core GPU
TSMC N2
Foundry
TSMC N3P
M6
Generation
M5
CPU Specifications
4.61 GHz
Performance-core Multi-Core Max Frequency
-
4.80 GHz
Super-core Max Frequency
4.61 GHz
12
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
12
Total Threads
10
4
Performance-cores
-
6
Efficient-cores
6
2
Super-cores
4
-
Max Turbo Frequency
4.61 GHz
3.20 GHz
Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency
3.05 GHz
2 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.
Third-generation 3 nm
Memory Specifications
Unified memory
Memory Type
LPDDR5X unified memory
10667 MT/s
LPDDR5 Speed
-
32 GB
Max Memory Size
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
32 GB
170 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).
153 GB/s
-
Maximum Memory Speed
9600 MT/s
GPU Specifications
DisplayPort 1.4 over Thunderbolt 4; HDMI
External Display Standard
Thunderbolt / DisplayPort 1.4 over USB-C
Apple M6 12-core GPU
GPU Name
Apple M5 8-core GPU
Supported
Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
Supported
Up to 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Max External Display Resolution
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
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1
Video Decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
Video Encode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed
12
Graphics Core Count
8
Up to 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Max Resolution
Up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz
3
Number of Displays Supported
-
-
GPU APIs
Metal
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; AV1 decode
Media Engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; AV1 decode
1
Video Decode Engines
1
1
Video Encode Engines
1
1
ProRes Encode/Decode Engines
1
AI Specifications
Dual 16-core Neural Engine; Neural Accelerators in each GPU core
AI Engine
Apple Neural Engine with Neural Accelerators in GPU cores
32
Neural Engine Core Count
16
Dual 16-core Neural Engine
NPU Name
16-core Neural Engine
Connectivity
-
Bluetooth Support
Supported
-
Bluetooth Version
6
-
Wi-Fi Standard
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
Interfaces and Ports
Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt Support
Thunderbolt 4
-
USB Version
USB 4 up to 40Gb/s
Supported
USB4 Support
Supported
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 Single Core
Apple M6 12 Cores
4698
+12%
Apple M5 (8-core GPU)
4185
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Apple M6 12 Cores
21302
+25%
Apple M5 (8-core GPU)
17072
Geekbench 7 Single Core
Apple M6 12 Cores
4077
+10%
Apple M5 (8-core GPU)
3703
Geekbench 7 Multi Core
Apple M6 12 Cores
22392
+20%
Apple M5 (8-core GPU)
18638
Cinebench 2024 Single Core
Apple M6 12 Cores
221
+11%
Apple M5 (8-core GPU)
200
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
Apple M6 12 Cores
1468
+53%
Apple M5 (8-core GPU)
957
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