With the Apple M4 series chips now powering the latest Macs, the tech world is already buzzing with rumors about the next generation. Renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has shared the first insights into the upcoming Apple M5 chips, which are expected to deliver significant improvements in performance, efficiency, and AI capabilities.
Apple M5 Chips: Mass Production Timeline
The production timeline for the Apple M5 series has been outlined as follows:
- M5 (Standard): Mass production begins in H1 2025.
- M5 Pro and M5 Max: Production starts in H2 2025.
- M5 Ultra: Expected to enter production in 2026.
These chips will be fabricated on TSMC’s N3P node (3nm), which promises a 5-10% reduction in power consumption and a 5% performance gain over the M4 series’ N3E process.
Advanced SoIC-mH Design for Pro, Max, and Ultra Chips
Kuo reports that Apple will implement a “server-grade System-on-Integrated-Chips-molding-Horizontal (SoIC-mH)” design for the M5 Pro, Max, and Ultra variants. This advanced design is said to:
- Use 30-50% less space compared to conventional SoC designs.
- Improve thermal performance, reducing the risk of throttling.
These innovations are expected to enhance the overall efficiency and durability of Apple’s high-performance chips.
Apple is rumored to separate the CPU and GPU designs in the M5 series, a move that could unlock greater performance potential. This separation is anticipated to provide a significant boost to AI processing tasks, aligning with the growing importance of AI-driven applications in modern computing.
What to Expect from the Apple M5 Series
The Apple M5 series is shaping up to deliver groundbreaking performance, particularly in:
- Energy efficiency: Leveraging TSMC’s N3P node for optimized power consumption.
- Thermal management: Enhanced by the compact and efficient SoIC-mH design.
- AI capabilities: Focused improvements in AI task handling and performance.
Pokdepinion: Looks like we’re going to see yet another huge upgrade from Apple, which is great since the leap from M3 to M4 has already been quite pleasing as is. I just hope we get more GPU cores across the board.
