Apple’s M5 chip officially comes to the 14-Inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro

Apple’s M4 rollout last year was understated. There was no big keynote, just a week of announcements that slipped quietly into the news cycle.

This year, Apple has followed a similar playbook and has repeated the same low-key approach. Without a live event, the company today announced M5, its next-generation Apple silicon chip, alongside updated versions of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Vision Pro, all available for pre-order now.

But while the launch may have been quiet, what the M5 represents isn’t. Apple says the new M5 chip is built for AI and is meant to power the next generation of on-device intelligence. For a company that’s consistently delivered an abysmal performace in the AI race, it is brazenly positioning M5 silicon as the backbone of its AI strategy.

To understand what exactly the M5 bring to the table, let’s break down what Apple says this new chip can do.

M5: Built for the AI Era

According to its Newsroom update, Apple describes M5 as “the next big leap in AI performance for Apple silicon.” Built using third-generation 3-nanometer technology, M5 brings major improvement to nearly every part of the chip; CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, and memory architecture.

At its core, M5 introduces a 10-core GPU with a Neural Accelerator in each core, enabling GPU-based AI workloads to run dramatically faster, delivering over 4× the peak GPU compute performance for AI compared to M4, 6x compared to M1, and up to 45% higher graphics performance overall.

The new 10-core CPU combines up to four performance cores and six efficiency cores, achieving up to 15% faster multithreaded performance than M4. Apple says the M5 features the world’s fastest performance core while maintaining industry-leading power efficiency.

Beyond raw CPU and GPU upgrades, Apple is centering its AI ambitions on a redesigned 16-core Neural Engine in the M5 chip, which it says optimized for AI-powered tasks and Apple Intelligence features. Complementing this, the M5 delivers nearly 30% higher unified memory bandwidth at 153GB/s, enabling the chip to handle larger on-device AI models, streamline multitasking, and accelerate performance in demanding creative workflows. The M5 can also be configured with up to 32GB of unified memory, giving professionals greater flexibility for intensive workloads.

Apple also says the M5’s power-efficient design contributes to lower energy use across the MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro product lines, helping reduce overall product emissions.

New M5 Powered Devices

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Vision Pro are the first products to feature M5.

/1. MacBook Pro (14-inch)

Now powered by M5, the 14-inch MacBook Pro takes full advantage of the M5 chip’s performance and AI gains.

With the new GPU architecture and Neural Accelerators, apps that rely on Apple frameworks like Metal, Core ML, and Tensor APIs see immediate improvements in speed and responsiveness. Developers can now build and run advanced AI models directly on-device, while creative professionals gain faster rendering times in applications such as Final Cut Pro and Blender.

Additionally, it says the next-generation GPU, enhanced shader cores, second-generation dynamic caching, and third-generation ray-tracing engine on M5 bring more realistic visuals, faster rendering times, and smoother gameplay in titles like Cyberpunk 2077.

/2. iPad Pro

The iPad Pro, Apple's flagship tablet also gains the same M5 chip, delivering stronger AI and graphics performance.

Apple highlights that creative and AI-driven workflows — such as image generation in apps like Draw Things or local large-language-model processing via webAI — now run dramatically faster thanks to the Neural Accelerators built into every GPU core.

It also claims, the M5 also enhances the iPad Pro’s creative capabilities. With increased unified memory bandwidth and faster ray tracing, the device supports smoother real-time rendering, improved performance in 3D design apps, and better frame rates for gaming

/3. Apple Vision Pro

The headset also receives the M5 upgrade, giving the spatial computing headset a meaningful performance boost. Apple says the new chip allows the Vision Pro to render 10% more pixels on its micro-OLED displays and achieve refresh rates up to 120Hz, improving clarity and reducing motion blur.

It also claims AI-powered features like Persona generation and spatial scene reconstruction now process more quickly and efficiently, powered by M5’s enhanced Neural Engine. The update also brings a new Dual Knit Band for comfort and a Space Black finish, adding minor but practical design refinements to the headset’s hardware.

Conlcusion

Apple’s M5 chip marks a clear focus on on-device AI performance, not just raw speed. With faster CPU and GPU cores, a Neural Engine built for Apple Intelligence, and a redesigned GPU optimized for AI workloads, M5 sets the stage for Apple’s next phase of silicon development.

The new MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with M5 are available for pre-order today.