Apple Mac Pro (M2 Ultra) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

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Mac Pro (M2 Ultra) compared with Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

	AppleMac Pro (M2 Ultra)	ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005)
Overview
Released
Released	June 2023	October 2005
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M2 Ultra	PowerPC G5 dual-core 2000 MHz (Power Mac Late 2005), PowerPC G5 dual-core 2300 MHz (Power Mac Late 2005) or 2 × PowerPC G5 dual-core 2500 MHz (Power Mac Late 2005)
CPU cores
CPU cores	24	2 or 4
Graphics
Graphics	60-core GPU or 76-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (128 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)
Memory
Memory	64 GB, 128 GB or 192 GB (better)	512 MB or 16 GB
Storage
Storage	1 TB to 8 TB (better)	160 GB to 250 GB
CPU
CPU	24-core CPU with 16 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores	Dual models have one physical dual-core PowerPC G5 at 2 or 2.3 GHz. Quad has two physical dual-core processors at 2.5 GHz, four cores in total. Each core has 1 MB L2 cache. Front-side bus per physical processor is 1, 1.15 or 1.25 GHz respectively. Macworld’s exact Quad review describes its liquid cooling.
GPU
GPU	60-core or 76-core GPU; additional graphics cards and MPX modules are not supported	Stock dual-core 2 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE with 128 MB GDDR SDRAM. Dual-core 2.3 GHz and Quad: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 with 256 MB GDDR SDRAM. Optional NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT 256 MB and Quadro FX 4500 512 MB; the Quadro occupies the graphics slot and adjacent x4 slot.
Memory type
Memory type	–	Stock 512 MB PC2-4200 DDR2 at 533 MHz, installed in matched pairs. Up to 16 GB supported; ECC configurations available from 1 GB. Rows retain the stock drive and graphics at base and maximum supported memory.
AI engine
AI engine	32-core Neural Engine	–
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	800 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	1 TB SSD, configurable to 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB; two internal SATA connectors up to 6 Gb/s	Stock 160 GB on dual-core 2 GHz and 250 GB on dual-core 2.3 GHz and Quad. 7200 rpm Serial ATA drives; two internal bays. Optional one or two 500 GB drives. One optical bay with 16x SuperDrive supporting dual-layer DVD+R recording.
Media engine
Media engine	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; two video decode engines, four video encode engines and four ProRes encode and decode engines	–
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	Six full-length PCIe 4.0 slots (two x16 and four x8); one half-length x4 PCIe 3.0 slot with Apple I/O card installed; up to 300 W auxiliary power through two 75 W six-pin and one 150 W eight-pin connectors	PCI Express: occupied x16 graphics slot, two open x4 slots and one open x8 slot. Older PCI and PCI-X expansion cards cannot be reused in these slots.
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	8 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-A, 2 × HDMI, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack	4 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	10 Gb/s (better)	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 8 (better)	Up to 2
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	–
Front ports
Front ports	Two Thunderbolt 4 ports on top of the tower or at the front of the rack enclosure	USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack.
Back ports
Back ports	Six Thunderbolt 4 ports with DisplayPort, USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; two USB-A up to 5 Gb/s; two HDMI; two 10 Gb Ethernet supporting 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 Gb/s; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support; additional internal USB-A up to 5 Gb/s	Three USB 2.0, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, optical Toslink input/output and analogue audio line-in/out. Four chassis USB 2.0 ports in total, plus two keyboard USB 1.1 ports. AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR are optional, with integrated antennas; built-in support does not mean modules are included.
External displays
External displays	Up to eight displays at 4K 60 Hz, six at 6K 60 Hz or three at 8K 60 Hz; each HDMI port supports one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz, with VRR, HDR and multichannel audio	Stock GeForce 6600 LE/6600 and optional 7800 GT have one single-link and one dual-link DVI port, supporting one 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display alongside a second display. Optional Quadro FX 4500 has two dual-link DVI outputs for two 30-inch displays and a stereo 3D connector. DVI-to-VGA adapter included.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; HDMI multichannel audio output	Built-in speaker and optical/analogue external audio connections.
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad, Magic Mouse; optional Magic Trackpad	Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension and DVI-to-VGA adapter.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	16.86 kg	–
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	218 × 450 × 529 mm	–
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Tower with feet is 529 × 218 × 450 mm and 16.86 kg; optional wheels increase height to 557 mm. Rack enclosure is 5U, 220.2 × 482 × 539.5 mm including handles (493.5 mm from fascia), and 17.21 kg; rack depth range 609.6–1,066.8 mm	–
Power supply
Power supply	Built-in; maximum continuous power 1,280 W at 108–125 V or 220–240 V, or 1,180 W at 100–107 V	–
Materials
Materials	70% recycled aluminium in the enclosure	Aluminium enclosure.
Colours
Colours	Silver	–
In the box
In the box	Mac Pro, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad, Magic Mouse, 2 m power lead, 1 m USB-C charge cable; rack mount rails included with the rack enclosure, shipped separately	Mac OS X Tiger and iLife ’05. Apple confirmed the dual-core 2 and 2.3 GHz models available on 19 October 2005, with Quad expected in early November. Macs Only reports its Quad shipped on 10 November and arrived on 11 November; these later Quad dates do not change the generation’s first sale. The exact specification sheet does not publish weight or dimensions.