Today, Apple launched the latest entry in their M-series line of Apple silicon chips, the M5 chip. Here’s how it compares to the M4 chip.
Neural and AI performance
The biggest news with M5 is a huge leap in performance for AI and ML workflows. Like A19 and A19 Pro from the latest iPhone models, M5 features new Neural Accelerators that significantly boost performance in tasks using machine learning or artificial intelligence. Apple gives some examples:
Time to first token (LLM): 3.6x faster than M4
Time to enhance video in Topaz Video: 1.8x faster than M3
Time to render in Blender with ray tracing: 1.7x faster than M3
Time to enhance speech with AI in Premiere Pro: 2.9x faster than M3
Outside of the new Neural Accelerators, Apple says that M5 features an “improved 16-core Neural Engine”, which should also help with ML and AI tasks.
Memory bandwidth
Also like A19 and A19 Pro from the latest iPhone models, the M5 chip delivers increased memory bandwidth. It offers 153GB/s, a 27.5% improvement over the M4’s 120GB/s. While this can give a speed boost to any intense workflow, it particularly benefits generative AI tasks.
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