# Apple announces the M5 Ultra Mac Studio with up to 512GB of RAM

> Source: <https://www.macworld.com/article/3220024/apple-announces-the-m5-ultra-mac-studio-with-up-to-512gb-of-ram.html>
> Published: 2026-08-25 14:06:04+00:00

While all eyes are on the upcoming iPhone event, Apple threw us a curveball Tuesday morning with a rare August launch of an [updated Mac Studio](https://www.macworld.com/article/2973459/2026-mac-studio-m5-release-date-specs-price-rumors.html) with the all-new M5 Ultra processor.

The new Mac Studio is visually identical to the previous model but has major upgrades inside. Instead of the M4 Max and M3 Ultra, you can now buy a Mac Studio with an M5 Max or M5 Ultra processor, with up to a whopping 512GB of RAM. Here are the specs Apple is offering for the two chips:

| Mac Studio (M5 Max) | Mac Studio (M5 Ultra) | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores | 30-core/36-core CPU with 10/12 super cores and 20/24 performance cores |
| GPU | 32-core/40-core | 64-core/80-core |
| Neural Engine | 16-core | 32-core |
| Memory | 36GB/48GB/64GB/128GB | 96GB/256GB/512GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 460GB/s | 1.2TB/s |
| Video encode engines | Two | Four |
| ProRes engines | Two | Four |
| Other features | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW; Neural Accelerators; Hardware-accelerated ray tracing; AV1 decode | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW; Neural Accelerators; Hardware-accelerated ray tracing; AV1 decode |

While the M5 Ultra is still double the capability of the M5 Max, Apple touts its “next-generation UltraFusion technology to form a quad-die architecture for the first time in an M-series chip.” The previous UltraFusion interconnector linked two Max dies over 10,000 high-speed connections that offer low latency and high bandwidth. It was [previously reported](https://www.extremetech.com/computing/apple-has-silently-removed-the-ultrafusion-interconnect-on-m3-max) that Apple was working to create a new version of the Ultra chip with more advanced UltraFusion architecture.

Apple is leaning hard into AI and calls the M5 Ultra Mac Studio “a game changer for AI workloads” and says “AI coding agents process significantly faster, image generation tools can render creations in an instant, and enterprise teams can cluster multiple systems to scale performance to new heights.”

In addition to the new chips, the Mac Studio now has an N1 chip to bring Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, as well as “a next-generation SSD architecture built on PCIe Gen 6.” We already [praised the MacBook Pro](https://www.macworld.com/article/3081408/m5-max-16-inch-macbook-pro-review.html) for its super-fast storage speeds, and Apple now claims the new SSDs deliver “industry-leading read and write speeds for rapid project loading, file transfers, and loading huge LLMs.”

Now for the not-so-good news. While the M5 Max model starts at the same $2,499 as the post-price-hike M4 Max, the M5 Ultra Mac Studio now starts at $5,499, an increase of another $200 over the previous price hike. That means you’re paying $1,500 more than if you bought an M3 Ultra Mac Studio before June. You’re also paying more for storage and RAM, so get ready to shell out well over 20 grand for a fully loaded model (which won’t be available until October). The most expensive M5 Ultra you can get now, with 256GB of RAM and 16TB of storage, costs $18,299.

The M5 Mac Studio is [available for pre-order now](https://apple.sjv.io/c/321564/435031/7613?subid1=rss&u=https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-studio) but won’t begin shipping until September 22.