Apple M5 (9 Cores) vs Apple M5 (10 Cores)

Apple M5 (9 Cores)

The Apple M5 with 9 cores is a slimmed-down version of the M5 SoC for tablets, notebooks and PCs. It will probably be presented in October 2025 and offers 9 of the 10 ARM-compatible cores. The cores should be similar to those in the Apple A19 Pro and are divided into two clusters. 3 large performance cores and 6 smaller efficiency cores.

According to initial leaks, the single-core performance is excellent and is at the top of all tested devices in Geekbench 6.5. Due to the 9 cores, the multi-core performance is one of the best but still remarkable for a tablet CPU.

The integrated M5 GPU also makes great strides in performance and can keep up with the old 16-core version of the M1 Pro in initial benchmarks (Geekbench Metal).

Apple M5 (10 Cores)

The Apple M5 with 10 cores is an SoC (System on a Chip) for tablets, notebooks and PCs. It was presented on October 15, 2025 and offers all 10 ARM-compatible cores. The cores should be similar to those in the Apple A19 Pro and are divided into two clusters. 4 large performance cores clocked at up to 4.4 GHz and 6 smaller efficiency cores.

According to initial leaks, the single-core performance is excellent and is at the top of all tested devices in Geekbench 6.5.

The integrated M5 GPU also makes great strides in performance and can keep up with the old 16-core version of the M1 Pro in initial benchmarks (Geekbench Metal).

Apple the M1 Pro uses a further improved 16-core NPU which, together with the new Tensor cores in the GPU, contributes to a significant improvement in AI performance.

According to Apple, the chip is manufactured in the modern 3rd generation 3nm process (probably N3P at TSMC like the A19 Pro).