Mac Studio (M5 Max or M5 Ultra)

Released September 2026

The 2026 Mac Studio is Apple's most powerful desktop, a compact box with the M5 Max or M5 Ultra chip for professionals working on 3D, video, code and large on-device AI models who need lots of memory and Thunderbolt 5 ports.

Type: Compact
Processor: Apple M5 Max or Ultra
Memory: 36 GB – 512 GB
Storage: 512 GB – 16 TB
Screen: –
Weight: 2.7 kg

What reviewers say

Reviewers call it the fastest Mac yet, praising the compact design, cool and quiet running, plentiful Thunderbolt 5 ports and, in PCWorld's M5 Max test, a dramatically faster SSD; Tom's Hardware highlights the M5 Ultra's memory bandwidth for local AI. The common criticisms are the high price, expensive memory and storage upgrades, and that nothing can be upgraded later.

From pcworld.com, tomsguide.com and tomshardware.com

Product links

Specifications

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Performance

Processor: Apple M5 Max or Apple M5 Ultra
CPU cores: 18, 30 or 36
Graphics: 32-core GPU, 40-core GPU, 64-core GPU or 80-core GPU
Memory: 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB, 96 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB
Storage: 512 GB to 16 TB
CPU: 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: Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing
AI engine: 16-core Neural Engine (M5 Max); 32-core Neural Engine (M5 Ultra)
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: M5 Max: 460GB/s with the 32-core GPU, 614GB/s with the 40-core GPU; M5 Ultra: 1.2TB/s
Storage type: SSD
Media engine: 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: None built in

Connections

Ports: 4 × Thunderbolt 5, 2 × USB-C, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone jack
Ethernet: 10 Gb/s
External displays: Up to 5
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth: 6
Front ports: 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: 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: 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: Built-in speaker
Microphones: None built in; Apple says an external microphone or headset is needed for calls

Design and power

Type: Compact
Weight: 2.7 kg
Width × depth × height: 197 × 197 × 95 mm
Operating system: macOS
Power supply: Built-in; 100–240V AC; 480W maximum continuous power
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: 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: 100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 35% recycled content overall
Colours: Silver
In the box: Mac Studio, power lead

Configurations

Processor	Memory	Storage
Apple M5 Max, 32-core GPU	36 GB	512 GB
Apple M5 Max, 32-core GPU	36 GB	1 TB
Apple M5 Max, 32-core GPU	36 GB	2 TB
Apple M5 Max, 32-core GPU	36 GB	4 TB
Apple M5 Max, 32-core GPU	36 GB	8 TB
Apple M5 Max	48 GB	512 GB
Apple M5 Max	64 GB	512 GB
Apple M5 Max	128 GB	512 GB
Apple M5 Ultra, 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU	96 GB	1 TB
Apple M5 Ultra, 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU	96 GB	16 TB
Apple M5 Ultra, 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU	256 GB	1 TB
Apple M5 Ultra	96 GB	1 TB
Apple M5 Ultra, 36-core CPU, 80-core GPU	512 GB	16 TB

Pros and cons

Pros

M5 Ultra option with up to an 80-core GPU, 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s memory bandwidth
Four Thunderbolt 5 ports on the back (six in total with M5 Ultra), plus 10Gb Ethernet, HDMI 2.1 and a UHS-II SD card slot
Drives up to five external displays with M5 Max, or eight with M5 Ultra

Cons

The entry M5 Max with the 32-core GPU is limited to 36GB of memory
M5 Max models have 10Gb/s USB-C ports on the front rather than Thunderbolt 5
Only a basic built-in speaker, and no microphone

Closest rivals

Model	Type	Processor	Memory	Storage	Screen	Weight	Released
AppleMac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra)	Compact	Apple M4 Max or M3 Ultra	36 GB – 512 GB	512 GB – 16 TB	–	2.74 kg	Mar 2025
AppleMac Studio (M2 Max or M2 Ultra)	Compact	Apple M2 Max or Ultra	32 GB – 192 GB	512 GB – 8 TB	–	2.7 kg	Jun 2023
AppleMac mini (M6 or M5 Pro)	Compact	Apple M6 or M5 Pro	16 GB – 64 GB	256 GB – 8 TB	–	0.67 kg	Sept 2026