Apple has launched the new Mac Studio in India with the M5 Max and the all-new M5 Ultra chips, alongside the new Mac mini. The compact desktop brings Apple’s latest silicon with upgrades to AI performance, graphics, storage and connectivity.
Mac Studio with M5 Max
The M5 Max features an 18-core CPU with six super cores and 12 performance cores, an up-to-40-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and up to 128GB of unified memory with up to 614GB/s bandwidth. Apple says it delivers up to 3.9x faster AI performance and up to 50% faster GPU performance than the previous generation.
It also includes third-generation hardware-accelerated ray tracing, enhanced shader cores and a Media Engine supporting hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and AV1 decoding. This supports uncompressed 8K footage and multiple video streams.
Apple’s performance claims include:
- Up to 10.7x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio than M1 Max and 3.9x faster than M4 Max.
- Up to 7.4x faster text-to-image performance than M1 Max and 3.5x faster than M4 Max.
- Up to 5.3x faster Magic Mask performance in DaVinci Resolve Studio than M1 Max and 3x faster than M4 Max.
- Up to 3.5x faster DNA sequencing basecalling in Oxford Nanopore MinKNOW than M1 Max and 1.9x faster than M4 Max.
Mac Studio with M5 Ultra
The M5 Ultra comes with up to a 36-core CPU with 12 super cores and 24 performance cores, an up-to-80-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and up to 512GB of unified memory with 1.2TB/s bandwidth.
Apple says the M5 Ultra delivers up to 4.3x the peak AI compute performance of M3 Ultra and 9.8x that of M1 Ultra. Graphics performance is up to 1.8x faster than the previous generation, while multithreaded CPU performance is up to 1.3x higher than M3 Ultra.
Its Media Engine has twice as many video encode and decode blocks as the M5 Max and supports up to 33 streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30fps.
Apple’s performance claims include:
- Up to 15.4x faster CopyCat ML training in Foundry Nuke than M1 Ultra and 3.3x faster than M3 Ultra.
- Up to 9.8x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio than M1 Ultra and 4x faster than M3 Ultra.
- Up to 8.2x faster text-to-image performance than M1 Ultra and 4.3x faster than M3 Ultra.
- Up to 4.7x faster scene rendering in Maxon Redshift than M1 Ultra and 1.7x faster than M3 Ultra.
AI, storage and connectivity
The Mac Studio supports Core AI, Apple’s framework for building, running and deploying AI models on Apple silicon. It uses the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine and unified memory, allowing developers to run full-scale LLMs locally and integrate custom models into apps. Apple’s open-source MLX framework supports running, training and fine-tuning models locally, while Xcode and other AI tools support development workflows.
Multiple Mac Studio systems can be connected using Thunderbolt 5 and RDMA to create a shared memory pool for larger AI models. Apple says a cluster of four systems can deliver up to 3x faster AI inference than a single system.
Key connectivity features include:
- Storage: PCIe Gen 6-based SSD architecture with up to 2x faster storage performance.
- Thunderbolt 5: Up to 120Gb/s bandwidth for external storage, displays and PCIe expansion chassis.
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 through Apple’s N1 chip.
- Genlock: USB-C genlock support for synchronising displays with professional camera capture, including iPhone 17 Pro setups.
- Displays: Support for up to eight displays, including up to four Studio Display XDR monitors at full 5K resolution and 120Hz.
The new Mac Studio supports the upcoming macOS 27 (Golden Gate), including Siri AI and Apple Intelligence features. It also gets macOS 27 improvements to performance, search and the Liquid Glass interface.
Environmental features
The Mac Studio contains 35% recycled content, including 100% recycled aluminium in the enclosure and 100% recycled rare earth elements in its magnets. Apple says 40% renewable energy is used across its manufacturing supply chain.
The packaging is 100% fibre-based and recyclable at home. The Mac Studio is also part of Apple’s plan to make its entire business carbon neutral by 2030.
Pricing and availability
- Mac Studio with M5 Max: Starts at Rs. 2,79,900 ($2,499 in the US); Rs. 2,56,900 ($2,299 in the US) for education
- Mac Studio with M5 Ultra: Starts at Rs. 6,29,900 ($5,499 in the US); Rs. 5,84,900 ($5,099 in the US) for education
- 512GB unified memory configuration: Available from late October
Pre-orders open today (August 25), across 30 countries and regions, including India, through the Apple Store online and Apple Store app. The new Mac Studio will be available from September 22 through Apple Store locations and Apple Authorised Resellers.