Apple M5 official: 5th gen chip brings more AI power, improved GPU, and more

Apple M5 powers the latest MacBook Pro 14", iPad Pro and the Apple Vision Pro. Here's what it brings to the table.

Apple's 5th generation chipset is out, and it is called the Apple M5, following the Apple M1, M2, M3, and M4 from last year. Now, in 2025, we get the M5. This year, Apple is making big claims about Artificial Intelligence, with up to four times the peak GPU compute performance compared to the M4, featuring a next-generation GPU, improved neural engines, higher memory bandwidth, and upgrades across the board. More importantly, this latest chipset debuts with the 14-inch MacBook Pro as well as the iPad Pro featuring the M5.

Apple M5 chip. (Apple)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

Read moreRead less

Apple M5: Key Features

The M5 is based on Apple’s 3nm technology and features a next-generation 10-core GPU, with each core having a neural accelerator. This brings improved GPU-based AI workload efficiency and allows it to run faster, with over four times the peak GPU compute performance compared to last year’s M4 chip. Apple also claims that this new GPU introduces third-generation ray tracing, delivering 45% higher graphics performance compared to the M4.

On the CPU side, there is a 10-core setup consisting of six efficiency cores and four performance cores, and overall, they are claimed to deliver 15% faster multi-threaded performance compared to the last-generation M4. The M5 also gets a 16-core Neural Engine, along with a 30% increase in unified memory bandwidth, reaching 153 Gbps.

There’s more. Apple says there are big benefits when it comes to AI-driven workflows, including running diffusion models in apps like DrawThings or even large language models locally using platforms like WebAI. The new Neural Engine allows faster AI task processing, enabling improved AI performance. Apple gives the example of AI-powered features on the Apple Vision Pro, which, incidentally, also gets the M5, allowing it to transform 2D photos into spatial scenes inside the Photos app much faster. Overall, the M5 also delivers better on-device AI performance and ensures faster operation of Apple Intelligence models.

MOBILE FINDER: iPhone 17 LATEST Price