Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max / M1 Ultra) vs Apple Mac Studio (M5 Max or M5 Ultra)

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Mac Studio (M1 Max / M1 Ultra) compared with Mac Studio (M5 Max or M5 Ultra)

	AppleMac Studio (M1 Max / M1 Ultra)	AppleMac Studio (M5 Max or M5 Ultra)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2022	September 2026
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M1 Max or Apple M1 Ultra	Apple M5 Max or Apple M5 Ultra
CPU cores
CPU cores	10 or 20	18, 30 or 36
Graphics
Graphics	24-core GPU, 32-core GPU, 48-core GPU or 64-core GPU	32-core GPU, 40-core GPU, 64-core GPU or 80-core GPU
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	22 TOPS	–
Memory
Memory	32 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB	36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB, 96 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 8 TB	512 GB to 16 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	M1 Max has 10 CPU cores (8 performance, 2 efficiency); M1 Ultra has 20 (16 performance, 4 efficiency)	M5 Max: 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores; M5 Ultra: 30-core CPU with 10 super cores and 20 performance cores, or 36-core CPU with 12 super cores and 24 performance cores
GPU
GPU	M1 Max has 24 or 32 GPU cores; M1 Ultra has 48 or 64	Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine (M1 Max); 32-core Neural Engine (M1 Ultra)	16-core Neural Engine (M5 Max); 32-core Neural Engine (M5 Ultra)
Memory type
Memory type	–	Apple’s current specification table lists 256GB and 512GB with the 36-core CPU / 80-core GPU M5 Ultra; its configure-to-order section only explicitly restricts 512GB. Current UK store configurator lists memory options up to 256GB, so the maker-confirmed 512GB option is not claimed as currently selectable there.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	400 GB/s (M1 Max); 800 GB/s (M1 Ultra)	M5 Max: 460GB/s with the 32-core GPU, 614GB/s with the 40-core GPU; M5 Ultra: 1.2TB/s
Storage type
Storage type	SSD; M1 Max starts at 512 GB, configurable to 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB; M1 Ultra starts at 1 TB with 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB options	SSD
Media engine
Media engine	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; M1 Max has one video decode, two video encode and two ProRes engines; M1 Ultra has two video decode, four video encode and four ProRes engines	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; AV1 decode; M5 Max: video decode engine, two video encode engines and two ProRes encode and decode engines; M5 Ultra: two video decode engines, four video encode engines and four ProRes encode and decode engines
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	4 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-C, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone jack	4 × Thunderbolt 5, 2 × USB-C, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	10 Gb/s	10 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 5	Up to 5
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6	Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.0	6
Front ports
Front ports	Two USB-C ports up to 10 Gb/s (M1 Max) or two Thunderbolt 4 ports up to 40 Gb/s (M1 Ultra); SDXC slot with UHS-II support	M5 Max: 2 × USB-C (up to 10Gb/s); M5 Ultra: 2 × Thunderbolt 5 (up to 120Gb/s); SDXC card slot (UHS-II)
Back ports
Back ports	Four Thunderbolt 4 ports with DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4 and 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; HDMI; 10 Gb Ethernet supporting 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 Gb/s; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support	4 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with Thunderbolt 5 and USB 4 (up to 120Gb/s), USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s) and DisplayPort 2.1; 2 × USB-A (USB 3, up to 5Gb/s); HDMI 2.1 with multichannel audio output; 10Gb Ethernet (RJ-45); 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
External displays
External displays	Four displays at up to 6K 60 Hz over USB-C and one at up to 4K 60 Hz over HDMI, simultaneously	M5 Max: up to five (four at up to 6K 60Hz or 4K 165Hz, plus a fifth at up to 5K 60Hz over HDMI), or three (two at up to 8K 60Hz, 5K 120Hz or 4K 240Hz, plus a third at up to 5K 60Hz over HDMI); M5 Ultra: up to eight at up to 6K 60Hz or 4K 165Hz, or four at up to 8K 60Hz, 5K 120Hz or 4K 240Hz; up to four over a single Thunderbolt port; VRR and HDR supported
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; HDMI multichannel audio output	Built-in speaker
Microphones
Microphones	–	None built in; Apple says an external microphone or headset is needed for calls
Design and power
Type
Type	Compact	Compact
Weight
Weight	2.7 kg	2.7 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	197 × 197 × 95 mm	197 × 197 × 95 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Weight is 2.7 kg with M1 Max or 3.6 kg with M1 Ultra; both enclosures are 197 × 197 × 95 mm	–
Power supply
Power supply	Built-in; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz; maximum continuous power 370 W	Built-in; 100–240V AC; 480W maximum continuous power
Power use
Power use	–	M5 Max with 32-core GPU, 36GB and 512GB: 7W idle, 200W maximum; M5 Ultra with 36-core CPU, 80-core GPU, 512GB memory and 16TB: 9W idle, 385W maximum (Apple wall-power test)
Noise
Noise	15 dBA sound pressure at idle and during Apple's wireless web test (M1 Ultra, operator position)	Declared to ECMA-109 as 1.5 B sound power and 7 dB sound pressure at the operator position, at idle and wireless web (M5 Ultra, 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU)
Materials
Materials	80% recycled aluminium enclosure	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 35% recycled content overall
Colours
Colours	Silver	Silver
In the box
In the box	Mac Studio, power lead	Mac Studio, power lead