{
  "id": 3281216,
  "title": "Apple debuts its ‘most powerful chip ever’ in M5 Ultra and M6",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/apple-debuts-its-most-powerful-chip-ever-in-m5-ultra-and-m6",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-25T14:10:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechCrunch",
    "slug": "techcrunch",
    "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/25/apple-debuts-its-most-powerful-chip-ever-in-m5-ultra-and-m6/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Apple unveiled two new processors on Tuesday, featuring the M5 Ultra and M6 chips in its latest Mac Mini and Mac Studio models. Apple claims the M5 Ultra is its \"most powerful chip ever,\" as it combines two dual-die M5 Max chips into a quad-die design, making it ideal for heavy AI workloads. The chip boasts a CPU with up to 36 cores, a GPU with up to 80 cores, and 1.2 TB/s of unified memory bandwidth - 50% more than the previous M3 Ultra released around a year and a half ago.\n\nThe M5 Ultra is tailored for professionals engaged in CPU-intensive tasks such as 3D rendering, visual effects, and running large AI models. However, Apple's M6 chip is aimed at everyday users. Using a 2 nm process, the M6 combines an enhanced CPU complex, two extra CPU and GPU cores, a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, and increased unified memory bandwidth, enabling it to handle workloads with impressive energy efficiency. Sri Santhanam, Apple's vice president of Silicon Engineering, explained that the M6 chip's 12-core CPU complex delivers nearly a 30% boost in GPU compute for AI compared to the M5, enhancing the speed of on-device Large Language Model (LLM) processing.\n\nApple emphasizes that developers can now run and fine-tune large AI models locally on their Mac, leveraging Apple's developer tools and frameworks to automatically optimize performance across the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine. This enables the use of Apple Foundation Models, App Intents to access Apple Intelligence features, and personalized AI models, allowing developers to build and execute powerful AI workloads entirely on-device. While Apple has been behind its competitors in developing proprietary AI models, the upcoming Siri upgrade, powered by Google's Gemini, could potentially change this. Apple's focus on on-device AI workloads could be where it differentiates itself, offering developers a more secure and controlled environment for experimenting with new AI tools.",
  "summary": "Apple unveils these new processors alongside an updated Mac Mini and Mac Studio.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 9,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Indian Express",
        "title": "Huawei puts a wider screen on a non-foldable ahead of Apple’s iPhone Ultra debut",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/huawei-puts-a-wider-screen-on-a-non-foldable-ahead-of-apples-iphone",
        "published": "2026-08-25T11:26:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "9to5Mac",
        "title": "Apple unveils new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/apple-unveils-new-mac-studio-with-m5-max-and-m5-ultra",
        "published": "2026-08-25T13:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Tom's Guide",
        "title": "Apple just announced the new Mac Studio with M5 Ultra — and it will be a local AI powerhouse",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/apple-just-announced-the-new-mac-studio-with-m5-ultra-and-it-will-be",
        "published": "2026-08-25T13:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Six Colors",
        "title": "Apple unveils M6, M5 Ultra chips and updates its desktop Macs",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/apple-unveils-m6-m5-ultra-chips-and-updates-its-desktop-macs",
        "published": "2026-08-25T13:00:45.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Techmeme",
        "title": "Apple says M5 Ultra uses a quad-die 3nm architecture, \"a first for Apple silicon\", with inter-die bandwidth of 4.4TB/s+ and up to a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU (Steve Dent/Engadget)",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/apple-says-m5-ultra-uses-a-quad-die-3nm-architecture-a-first-for",
        "published": "2026-08-25T13:22:32.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Tom's Hardware",
        "title": "Apple launches new M6 and M5 Ultra Apple silicon chips — debuting in new Mac Mini and Mac Studio",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/apple-launches-new-m6-and-m5-ultra-apple-silicon-chips-debuting-in",
        "published": "2026-08-25T13:26:19.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "SCMP Tech",
        "title": "Divergent results for Apple suppliers highlight memory price squeeze ahead of new iPhone",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/divergent-results-for-apple-suppliers-highlight-memory-price-squeeze",
        "published": "2026-08-25T13:30:06.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "XDA Developers",
        "title": "Apple's new M5 Ultra Mac Studio packs its \"most powerful chip ever,\" while the Mac mini jumps to M6",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/apples-new-m5-ultra-mac-studio-packs-its-most-powerful-chip-ever",
        "published": "2026-08-25T15:00:38.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}