Apple has recently launched new MacBook series products. These products are equipped with different versions of M5 chips. The type and number of cores contained in each chip are also different, and Apple has also added performance cores in the middle layer. In an exclusive interview with German technology media Mac&i, Apple explained the division method of M5 chip cores. Each core is used for different task scenarios, which is the main reason why Apple re-divided core types.

M5 series core naming and architecture changes:

  • Super Core: Originally known as the Performance Core, the Super Core is used to provide the ultimate single-threaded performance

  • Performance Core: This is Apple’s new middle-tier core starting from M5, optimized for multi-threaded tasks

  • Efficiency Core: Retaining the original design, the Efficiency Core focuses on background tasks and low-power consumption scenarios. It is also the most energy-efficient microarchitecture.

Apple said in the interview that the newly added middle-layer performance core is not a simple increase in clock frequency, but a completely customized micro-architecture. Its efficiency is even higher than Apple's original efficiency core, but it also performs very well in multi-threaded tasks.

Renaming cores (and adding new performance cores) is also to clearly express the unique performance characteristics of each core in Apple's M-series chips and avoid users confusing the optimization direction in different scenarios.

Super core and performance core:

The fastest super core does not just rely on higher frequency. Apple achieves the highest performance through deeply customized micro-architecture, and the new performance core fills the gap between multi-threaded efficiency and single-core ultimate performance in previous architectures, making the chip more capable in complex and professional workflows.

Number of cores in different M5 configurations:

  • Standard M5 chip: only energy efficiency cores and super cores, no performance cores

  • M5 Pro chip: It also contains super core, performance core and energy efficiency core. The specific number of cores varies depending on the configuration.

  • M5 Max chip: It also contains super core, performance core and energy efficiency core. The specific number of cores varies depending on the configuration.