The first, unverified Geekbench 7 result for Apple’s new M5 Ultra chip has surfaced, pointing to the chip being Apple’s fastest yet by a wide margin. The score comes from the highest-end configuration with a 36-core CPU, the same chip landing in the new Mac Studio next week. Apple never released an M4 Ultra chip, so the M5 Ultra is being measured directly against the previous M3 Ultra.
Here is the full result for the 36-core M5 Ultra:
- Single-core CPU score: 3,774
- Multi-core CPU score: 52,516
For comparison, the 32-core M3 Ultra averages a single-core score of 2,920 and a multi-core score of 39,059 on Geekbench 7. That puts the M5 Ultra roughly 30% faster single-core and roughly 35% faster multi-core than the M3 Ultra, based on this one result.
Apple said the M5 Ultra delivers up to 1.25x faster single-threaded CPU performance and up to 1.3x faster multi-threaded CPU performance compared to the M3 Ultra. This early Geekbench result roughly matches those numbers, and edges past them on the multi-core side.
Geekbench results vary from unit to unit, so expect the average to shift slightly as more M5 Ultra scores get submitted over the coming weeks.
The M5 Ultra Tops Every Chip in Apple’s Current Lineup
Multi-core CPU scores across Apple’s chip lineup, based on Geekbench 7 (via MacRumors):
| Chip | Multi-Core Score |
|---|---|
| M5 Ultra | 52,516 |
| M3 Ultra | 39,059 |
| M5 Max | 35,119 |
| M5 Pro | 33,593 |
| M4 Max | 29,047 |
| M2 Ultra | 28,789 |
| M4 Pro | 24,894 |
| M3 Max | 24,649 |
| M1 Ultra | 23,328 |
| M6 | 22,783 |
| M5 | 17,948 |
| M2 Max | 17,387 |
| M3 Pro | 16,880 |
| M2 Pro | 16,725 |
| M4 | 15,477 |
| M1 Max | 14,299 |
| M1 Pro | 13,914 |
| M3 | 11,650 |
| M2 | 9,809 |
| M1 | 8,582 |
The M5 Ultra beats the original M1 Ultra by up to 2.25x and outpaces the base M1 chip by up to 6x.
GPU Numbers Are Still Missing
No GPU benchmark for the M5 Ultra has shown up in the Geekbench database yet. Given how much of the Mac Studio’s pitch to creative and AI workloads rests on GPU muscle, that score will matter just as much as the CPU result once it lands.
Our Take
A 30 to 35% jump over the M3 Ultra on a single Geekbench listing is a strong start, and it tracks with what Apple advertised on stage. I would still hold off on reading too much into one unverified score. Geekbench results from pre-release units can run hot or cold depending on thermal conditions and background load, so the real story lands once dozens of Mac Studio owners start submitting their own numbers next week.
The Mac Studio with the 36-core M5 Ultra chip starts at $6,799 in the United States and launches on Tuesday, September 22.
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