Apple's M5 Pro and M5 Max pack 18 CPU cores, up to 40 GPU cores, and faster unified m

[harlan4096]

Fusion multi-die packaging and per-core neural accelerators target AI and graphics performance
 
Highly anticipated: Apple this week unveiled new MacBook Pro laptops powered by its latest M5 Pro and M5 Max processors, chips the company says deliver "the world's fastest CPU cores." The new SoCs also introduce next-generation GPUs with a neural accelerator embedded in each core, designed to boost on-device AI workloads.

While the base Apple M5 chip retains a conventional single-die design, the M5 Pro and M5 Max move to Apple's new Fusion architecture. The approach relies on advanced packaging to combine two dies into a single SoC, integrating the CPU, GPU, media engine, unified memory controller, neural engine, and Thunderbolt 5 support into one package.

Both the Pro and Max SoCs feature an 18-core CPU – up from the 14-core layout in the M4 Pro and the 16-core configuration in the M4 Max. Apple says six of those cores are "Super Cores," its new name for the big high-performance cores, while the remaining 12 are newly introduced "performance cores" that sit between the super and efficiency cores in size and speed.

Rather than a pure marketing tweak, this is Apple introducing three distinct CPU core designs in the M5 series: the former "performance cores" have been rebranded as super cores across the M5 lineup, the efficiency cores keep their old name, and M5 Pro/Max add a third, separate performance-core design focused on multi-threaded throughput and die density.

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