Apple says its new M5 chip delivers “the next big leap in AI performance”. The big announcement comes shortly after Apple’s very own Greg Joswiak teased the M5 MacBook Pro. But there’s more to unpack. The upgrade to next-gen M5 also brings along a new M5-powered iPad Pro and Vision Pro. The original Vision Pro headset was powered by M2.

That’s three new sets of M5 hardware hitting the market – and sooner than you may think. Apple has already started pre-orders for the new MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro; all will be widely available in one week’s time, on October 22.

Apple announces M5 MacBook Pro, M5 iPad Pro, and M5 Vision Pro

“M5 ushers in the next big leap in AI performance for Apple silicon. With the introduction of Neural Accelerators in the GPU, M5 delivers a huge boost to AI workloads. Combined with a big increase in graphics performance, the world's fastest CPU core, a faster Neural Engine, and even higher unified memory bandwidth, M5 brings far more performance and capabilities to MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Vision Pro.”

Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies

• MacBook Pro (14″) M5, starting from $1,599
• iPad Pro M5, starting from $999
• Apple Vision Pro M5, starting from $3,499

M5 is only coming to the 14-inch MacBook Pro. The M5 chip will be available in three different variations (16GB memory with 512GB storage, 16GB memory with 1TB storage, or 24GB memory with 1TB storage). The 16-inch model is left out of this initial wave of M5 products; instead, it continues to feature the M4 Pro and M4 Max processors. As for the iPad Pro, you can get the M5 chip in either the 11-inch or 13-inch variants.

The new M5 chip is built using third-generation 3nm technology. It has a 10-core GPU architecture with a Neural Accelerator in each core, designed to improve AI workloads. Apple claims a peak of 4x the GPU compute performance when compared to M4. Graphics performance enjoys a 45% uplift and includes third-generation ray tracing. The Neural Engine in M5 also enhances Apple Intelligence, speeding up on-device AI tools such as Image Playground.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.