Apple plans to bring the M5 Ultra chip to the Mac lineup next year, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The high-end chip will reportedly debut in the next Mac Studio, joining the M5 Max as part of Apple’s 2025 desktop lineup.
In its current generation, Apple skipped an Ultra-tier chip for the M4 family, offering users a choice between the M4 Max and the older M3 Ultra in the latest Mac Studio. That mix of two different generations caused some confusion for pro users deciding between power and price. The upcoming M5 series looks set to fix that, offering a consistent lineup across models.
M5 Ultra to power next Mac Studio
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple is working on both M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips for the 2025 Mac Studio refresh. The report didn’t mention any other Macs using the M5 Ultra, but Apple could extend the chip to the Mac Pro in the future. Gurman had previously hinted at a new Mac Pro coming sometime after 2025, possibly with M5 Ultra as its top configuration.
For now, the Mac Studio remains Apple’s main desktop for professionals who need more power than the MacBook Pro offers but don’t want to step up to the Mac Pro. The addition of the M5 Ultra would bring significant performance gains, especially for video editing, 3D rendering, and machine learning workloads.
Apple’s broader Mac roadmap
Alongside the M5 Ultra, Apple is reportedly preparing several M5-based Macs, including new M5 and M5 Pro Mac mini models and M5-powered MacBook Air and MacBook Pro refreshes. The company is also testing a low-cost MacBook designed to compete with Chromebooks and entry-level Windows PCs, a major strategic move to expand its Mac user base.
If Apple’s schedule holds, the M5 Ultra could mark the company’s return to a unified chip generation across its desktop lineup, avoiding the generation gap that frustrated many pro users this year.
