Apple Unveils M5 Chip With Next-Generation GPU

[deconstruct60]

I assumed it would have Thunderbolt 5 ports (and Wi-Fi 7) but I guess that eats away at the profits.

apple has 'trapped' Wi-Fi 7 into their N1 chip. It isn't so much profits more so than where production and how many changes would ripple into the MacBook Pro at the moment.

Thunderbolt 5 isn't 'free' in terms of space. The plain Mn is the smallest die.

Likewise on AV1 encode... I think it's going to be an important feature, and the M6 may be a larger jump next year.

Ditto. encode takes die space. I wouldn't hold my breath. There are lots of other functions units on the plain Mn die competing for area/space and the die size is relatively fixed.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

The biggest upgrade to processors since processing began being processed by a processor.

Woodchucks enter the chat!

 

[chucker23n1]

apple has 'trapped' Wi-Fi 7 into their N1 chip. It isn't so much profits more so than where production and how many changes would ripple into the MacBook Pro at the moment.

Sure, but that does raise the question why the Macs still don't have cellular, and don't use C- and N-series chips. The MacBook Air logic board is at this point so similar to the iPad Pro's, and yet…

Thunderbolt 5 isn't 'free' in terms of space. The plain Mn is the smallest die.

Yeah, I imagine Tb5 in non-Pro Mn is strictly waiting for a smaller controller to arrive.

 

[netsped]

Kind of lame that they are now selling products with 3 different chip generations at the same time. They should focus on product features and innovation instead of their obsession on doing yearly chips and software upgrades.

 

[JohnC1959]

I assumed it would have Thunderbolt 5 ports (and Wi-Fi 7) but I guess that eats away at the profits.

Likewise on AV1 encode... I think it's going to be an important feature, and the M6 may be a larger jump next year.

Just guessing here, but I wonder if Apple decided to simply swap an M5 for the M4 in the existing design. This lets them focus chip manufacturing on just the M5 and phase out the M4 while otherwise not requiring the expense and risk of other enhancements. This may have been done with the knowledge that they are already in the process of a more major update for 2026.

 

[deconstruct60]

Sure, but that does raise the question why the Macs still don't have cellular, and don't use C- and N-series chips. The MacBook Air logic board is at this point so similar to the iPad Pro's, and yet…

maybe a bit similar in the middle of the logic board but not at the edges. Each Type-C port needs a PHYS port/power management chip. (the one-port-wonder Macbook was edge space limited into being one port. Between hinge mechasim from 'above' and battery incrusion from 'below' there was no room for second port) The MBP has three Type Connectors and iPad has one. Similar issue in other direction where cellular has SIM port soaking up edge space and MBP does not ( or has SDHC card).

Apple's modem doesn't seem to support physical SIM cards, but still have slippery slope of antennas for celluar junction points and routing. I think some folks are expecting the modems to. get merged into the main SoC and "it is just free" addition. I suspect that isn't going to come any time soon. Plug you iPhone into the MBP , use it for power supplement, and use phone as a hotspot is likely the path Apple expects most folks to take.


N-series first gen chips may have problems generic 'Wi-FI 7' label doesn't necessarily mean meeting substantive speed improvements at the top end. ( C1/X ignore mm-Wave. The number of vendors selling $600+ routers with all the bells and whistles of Wi-FI 7 turned on are likely going to be more widespread and harder to ignore. ) . Apple's chip only goes to 160MHz channel width (theoretical max of 7 is 320MHz). Max channel width of 6E is 160MHz. Not being outpaced here. The N1 is more of a 'battery saver' move than a additional performance move. MBP's batteries are bigger. Wi-FI probably isn't one of the top 3 (or 4) drainers of battery when system under load.

Apple eventually will want more economies of scale in deployment for N-series, but it probably isn't bringing a whole lot to the laptops this first generation. At some point too I suspect Apple is going to deepend the moat around their ecosystem with some proprietary aspects they add to N-series. (and again it is too early to deeply leverage that for the laptops at this point. )