The Apple M5 Max (18-core) is a high-end system-on-a-chip (SoC) designed for premium laptops and launched in March 2026 along with the updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro lineup. According to Apple, the SoC uses the "Fusion Architecture", which uses a third-generation 3-nanometer process, and uses advanced packaging to combine two dies (processor and graphics) into a single chip (rumored to be from TSMC's SoIC-mH). Compared to the M5 Pro, the Max offers a significantly more powerful GPU and more memory bandwidth.
The M5 Max changes the naming conventions for the cores and has an 18-core CPU. It combines 6 "Super Cores" with up to 4.6 GHz, which have an improved cache hierarchy and increased front-end bandwidth (10-Wide architecture) and are said to deliver the world's fastest single-thread performance - with 12 "Performance Cores" with up to 4.4 GHz, which are optimized for energy-efficient multithreaded processing (7-Wide architecture and according to rumors about 70% of the performance). According to Apple, this new configuration leads to an up to 30% increase in multithreading performance for demanding professional workloads compared to the M4 Pro.
Compared to other SoCs, the 18-core M5 Max should be able to outperform the M4 Max with 16 cores and thus position itself in the top class of mobile SoCs. In terms of single-core performance, the M5-Pro should have comparable values to the M5, which, for example, topped our charts in Geekbench 6.5 Single (ahead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-96-100 and the M4 SoCs).
For graphics processing, the SoC scales to a next-generation 40-core GPU (or 32-core GPU). It has improved shader cores, second-generation dynamic caching and hardware-accelerated mesh shading.
The chip also offers a significant increase in AI performance. By integrating a faster 16-core neural engine and placing dedicated neural accelerators in each GPU core, the M5 Pro achieves four times the GPU computing power for AI compared to its predecessor.
The M5 Max supports up to 128 GB of unified memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of up to 614 GB/s. The SoC also includes the latest Media Engine from Apple(which supports hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC and AV1 decoding as well as ProRes encoding/decoding) and introduces native on-chip controllers for Thunderbolt 5.
The SoC is manufactured in the modern 3nm process at TSMC (N3P).
| Series | Apple M5 | ||||||||||||||||
Series: M5
| |||||||||||||||||
| Clock Rate | 3048 - 4608 MHz | ||||||||||||||||
| Level 2 Cache | 32 MB | ||||||||||||||||
| Level 3 Cache | 24 MB | ||||||||||||||||
| Number of Cores / Threads | 18 / 18 6 x 4.6 GHz Apple M5 S-Core 12 x 4.4 GHz Apple M5 P-Core | ||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturing Technology | 3 nm | ||||||||||||||||
| GPU | Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU | ||||||||||||||||
| 64 Bit | 64 Bit support | ||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | ARM | ||||||||||||||||
| Announcement Date | 03/03/2026 | ||||||||||||||||
| Product Link (external) | www.apple.com | ||||||||||||||||
- Average benchmark values
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2026 M5 Max: Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU, 14.20", 1.6 kg
External Review » Apple MacBook Pro 14 2026 M5 Max
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2026 M5 Max: Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU
External Review » Apple MacBook Pro 16 2026 M5 Max
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2026 M5 Max: Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU, 14.20", 1.6 kg
» Apple's MacBook Pro 14 M5 Max has its flaws, but is still almost unrivaled
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2026 M5 Max: Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU
» Apple's M5 Max in the MacBook Pro 16 is around 15 % faster compared to the MacBook Pro 14
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2026 M5 Max: Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU, 14.20", 1.6 kg
» Apple's MacBook Pro 14 cannot handle the M5 Max
» Apple tries to hide that the power adaptors of MacBook Pro models are insufficient
» Major weakness: Apple MacBook Neo battery life suffers from excessive cost cutting
» Mobile CPU Comparison
Comparison of all mobile CPU series
» Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist
Benchmarklist of all known CPUs that are used in laptops (desktop and laptop CPUs)
Add as a preferred source on Google
