Kuo: Apple M5 Pro, Max and Ultra chips will offer server-grade performance

With the Apple M4 series chips already out on the latest Macs, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is now offering a fresh first set of rumors for the M5 generation which are expected to enter mass production in the first half of 2025. The M5 chips will be fabbed on TSMC’s N3P node (3nm), which promises 5 to 10% less power draw than the M4 generation’s N3E process while delivering a 5% performance gain from the production process.

The vanilla Apple M5 chip is expected to enter mass production in H1 2025, followed by the M5 Pro/Max in H2 and the M5 Ultra in 2026. According to Kuo, Apple will employ a “server-grade” System-on-Integrated-Chips-molding-Horizontal (SoIC-mH) design with the M5 Pro/Max and Ultra chips. This type of design uses 30-50% less space than a conventional system on a chip, which should translate to improved thermal performance and less throttling.

In addition, Apple is expected to separate its CPU and GPU designs on the M5 series, which should translate to greater performance gains. The M5 series is expected to offer a substantial boost for AI tasks.