Abstract:
Apple releases a new generation of Mac Studio desktop workstations, with the core replacement being M5 Max and M5 Ultra The two chips still continue the compact body design and are aimed at professional users such as creative practitioners, AI developers, and data scientists. The new machine will be available for pre-order from now on and will be officially released on September 22, with a maximum price of The 512GB unified memory version will not be available until late October.
In terms of hardware specifications, the M5 Max version is equipped with an 18-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU. Each GPU core has a built-in neural network accelerator; M5 Ultra Raising the specifications to the highest 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU, the unified memory of the whole machine can be up to 512GB, and the memory bandwidth reaches 1.2TB/s. According to test data provided by Apple, the peak AI computing performance of M5 Ultra is up to 4.3 times that of M3 Ultra and 9.8 times higher than that of M1 Ultra; the graphics processing speed is up to 1.8 times higher than the previous generation, the CPU speed is up to 1.3 times higher, and the storage read and write speed is up to twice that of the old model.
This generation of Mac Studio has completed many connection specifications, adding WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6 for the first time, and upgraded Thunderbolt 5 on the interface, with a bandwidth of up to 120Gb/s, can be connected to high-speed storage and PCIe expansion chassis. Thunderbolt 5 also supports RDMA remote direct memory access, allowing multiple Mac Studio devices to form a cluster. After four devices form a cluster, the AI inference performance can reach up to 3 times that of a single device. The memory pool can be shared between multiple machines to facilitate the running of large computing tasks. The USBC interface has a new Genlock synchronization capability, which supports connecting to professional cameras for image capture. The entire machine can be connected to up to eight external monitors or four Studio Display XDRs.
In terms of AI capabilities, the new machine focuses on running large models locally on the device without relying on the cloud, so there is no problem of token consumption and rising cloud service costs. Apple provides Core AI, a new development framework, as well as the open source MLX machine learning framework, which, when paired with Xcode, covers the complete process of model experimentation, training and deployment, making it easier for developers to debug models and deploy large language models locally.
The M5 Max model has third-generation hardware ray tracing, and the media engine supports H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and AV1 hard codecs, and can handle 8K video material. Measured data provided by Apple shows that compared to the old M1 Max Mac Studio, LM Studio's large model prompt word processing speed is up to 10.7 times faster, Vincent diagram performance is improved by 7.4 times, Da Vinci Resolve's Magic Mask performance is improved by 5.3 times, and DNA sequencing recognition speed is increased by 3.5 times. Compared with M4 Max, the above items are improved by 3.9 times, 3.5 times, 3 times, and 1.9 times respectively.
The higher-positioned M5 Ultra version has twice the number of video codec units as M5 Max, and can play up to 33 8K ProRes 422 30fps simultaneously. Video streaming. Referring to the Apple test, compared with the M1 Ultra model, Foundry Nuke CopyCat ML training performance is improved by up to 15.4 times, LM Studio prompt word processing is 9.8 times faster, Vincent graph performance is improved by 8.2 times, and Redshift rendering performance is improved by 4.7 times. Compared with the M3 Ultra, the four data are improved by 3.3 times, 4 times, 4.3 times, and 1.7 times respectively.
In terms of software, the new Mac Studio is equipped with macOS 27 (Golden Gate) system. This version is now open for public beta testing and will be officially launched with free updates this fall. At the system level, AirDrop transmission and Safari loading speed have been optimized, the search indexing mechanism of Spotlight, photos, and emails has been reconstructed, the Liquid Glass visual effects have been optimized on the interface, toolbars, sidebars, and icons have been updated, and functional adjustments have been made to built-in applications such as maps, memos, and podcasts.
In terms of environmental design, 35% of the new Mac Studio is made of recycled materials, the shell is 100% recycled aluminum, and the magnets use 100% recycled rare earth elements; the product manufacturing process is used in the supply chain 40% renewable energy and all paper packaging uses recycled fiber.
In terms of price, the M5 Max version starts at 19,999 yuan in China and 18,399 yuan for education channels; the M5 Ultra version starts at 46,999 yuan in China and the education version is 43,599 yuan. The product is available for pre-order in more than 30 countries and regions. Users can use Apple's trade-in to offset the purchase cost, or purchase AppleCare+ to obtain services such as accidental damage and battery replacement.
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