running AI models

It was “sung” that Apple would present its new Apple M5 sooner rather than later, and we already have it with us. The chip represents a notable qualitative leap judging by its specification sheet, and there are improvements in all sections. The surprise is that where a real change is seen is in its GPU, which is now much more powerful and is clearly prepared to be able to work with AI models in a much more striking way.

Apple M5. Apple’s new SoC makes use of third-generation 3nm photolithography. There are therefore no major changes in the manufacturing process, which is surely more efficient and reliable. Even so, the changes in the chip are notable everywhere. To start, the CPU has six high-efficiency cores and four high-performance cores. According to Apple, this CPU offers 15% more multicore performance than the M4.

Working with local AI models thanks to apps like LM Studio is going to be much more feasible thanks to these Apple M5s.

A GPU with a lot of potential for AI. If there is a standout element in this SoC, it is the GPU, which in the M5 has 10 cores, each of them including a Neural Accelerator. According to Apple, this allows AI workloads to run “dramatically faster”, and promises performance of more than four times that achieved with the Apple M4. There are also improvements in the bandwidth of the unified memory, which is now 30% higher and reaches 153 GB/s, something especially crucial for using AI models locally. These chips allow for configurations with up to 32 GB of unified memory: the figure is not particularly high, but we will undoubtedly see an M5 Pro and an M5 Max with much more room for maneuver in this section.

And also to play. There is a lot of good news in this GPU for those who plan to take advantage of it to work with local AI models, but there are also improvements for video games. Graphics performance is up to 45% higher than the M4 GPUs, and we also have third-generation ray tracing technology.

The neural motor is strengthened. The new Neural Engine has 16 cores and combines, according to Apple, a mix of efficiency and performance. This means that, for example, the new Vision Pro, which also includes this chip, can transform 2D photos into spatial images in the Photos application easily and quickly.

Prepared for the future of Apple Intelligence. Apple Intelligence may not be a notable artificial intelligence platform today, but it is clear that Apple is preparing its devices for a scenario in which being able to run AI models locally (and privately) is the norm. The recent iPhone 17 also made a striking leap in these capabilities with the A19/A19 Pro, and now we see the same movement with these M5s that put all the focus on AI.

Waiting for the M5 Pro/Max/Ultra?. These chips can already be found in the first products that use them: the new 14-inch MacBook Pro, the iPad Pro and the Vision Pro (2025). It is to be expected that Apple will soon present more powerful versions of the recently launched M5, because that is what it has done in previous generations.

• Last year he launched the Apple M4 in May and M4 Pro/Max at the end of October. So five months passed.
• In the previous generation the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max were launched in October 2023, and the M3 Ultra appeared much later, in March 2025.

The M4s have not seen (at least, for now) an Ultra version, but Apple may end up doing something similar to what it did with the M3s. If they follow the previous scheme, the M5 Pro/Max would be announced in February or early March, and more or less around those dates a hypothetical M4 Ultra could appear. Rumors suggest, however, that these chips would arrive later, in mid-2026.

Future teams. Meanwhile, yes, we can now enjoy the first devices that have these chips. It is also expected that Apple will offer new devices with the M5 chip in the middle of next year: that is when the Mac mini with M5, the iMac with M5 and the Mac Studio M5 and on the other hand the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro/Max are expected to arrive.

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