M5 Studio coming in Spring 2026 according to Mark Gurman

[pshufd]

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also...

www.macrumors.com

Apple is developing new versions of the Mac Studio and Mac mini, with those machines likely to get M5 Pro and/or M5 Max chips as well. There are also two external displays that are in the works, at least one of which is a second-generation version of the Studio Display. It's possible that new displays could come out alongside upgraded desktop machines, but there is no word on when Apple plans to update the ‌Mac mini‌ and ‌Mac Studio‌.

I do not need an M4 Studio but might be interested in an M5 Studio next year. It depends on how well my software works on it. I'd love to be able to test on a system where I didn't have to buy it and return it though. Plenty of time before it arrives if I want to upgrade.

 

[Tdude96]

Assuming Apple follows their current pattern of releasing MBPs with the updated chip technology, followed some significant amount of time later with the Studio update to the same chip technology (excluding, of course, the most recent Studio Ultra chip which got refreshed with obsolete chip architecture), you should be able to get a good idea from other users how well the M5 Max handles your applications based on their experiences with the MacBook Pro M5 Max, unless what you use is super niche or home brewed.

 

[avro707]

I'd love to be able to test on a system where I didn't have to buy it and return it though. Plenty of time before it arrives if I want to upgrade.

Nikon had such a system with cameras and lenses for certain customers. I had access to it, could even borrow equipment if I needed it.

I cannot see Apple doing that same, they aren’t in the same price point of selling obscenely expensive cameras and lenses, and they let you do a return if I’m not mistaken within a short period of time at least with some devices.

 

[Tdude96]

Nikon had such a system with cameras and lenses for certain customers. I had access to it, could even borrow equipment if I needed it.

I cannot see Apple doing that same, they aren’t in the same price point of selling obscenely expensive cameras and lenses, and they let you do a return if I’m not mistaken within a short period of time at least with some devices.

Back when I was doing that work there were a couple local high-end camera shops that would lend good customers equipment to try before buying, or if they didn't have something I'd rent or borrow from someone. Nice way to try out options.

But yeah, I don't foresee Apple or Apple retailers doing that routinely for computers.

 

[Surenmunoo]

I think Apple releases a new Studio version every 2 years.

 

[Pezimak]

The REAL question is what will they do with the Ultra variant? As it seems they have not made an M4 Ultra, will they make an M5 version? I would imagine having 2 M5 chips stuck together would be quite the power house!

 

[maflynn]

I think the article only stated that apple is working on the studio, that doesn't mean we'll see it in 2026. We may but we may not.

The REAL question is what will they do with the Ultra variant?

Yeah, they skipped the M4, I'm expecting to see it for the M5, but maybe in 2027?

 

[JSRinUK]

I don’t understand why they’d be working on an M5 Max Studio given the M4 Max Studio is so new.

I see the appeal of an M5 Ultra Studio, given there was no M4 Ultra.

I’m definitely not the target for a new Studio (my M4 Max 128GB needs to see a minimum 3-years of life before I contemplate an upgrade), but if they bring out a 256GB unified RAM model for under £3,500? Well, then they’d have my interest.

An M5 mini as a light-use device might be tempting at around £500. No need to thrash the Studio for regular work. That might appeal to me.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

M5 looks to be accomplishing more, with more power.

MacBook Pro review: Apple’s most awkward laptop is the first to show off Apple M5

Apple M5 trades blows with Pro and Max chips from older generations.

arstechnica.com

If there’s a downside to the M5 in our testing, it’s that its performance improvements seem to come with increased power draw relative to the M4 when all the CPU cores are engaged in heavy lifting. According to macOS built-in powermetrics tool, the M5 drew an average 28 W of power in our Handbrake video encoding test, compared to around 17 W for the M4 running the same test.

 

[sevoneone]

Given the 5x improvement in workflows that can take advantage of the NPU and neural cores in the new GPU, Apple would be silly to not update the Mini and Studio as soon as possible. People that want a machine to run big LLM or generative models locally typically are not looking for a laptop.

Outside of AI, if M5 really closes the gap with Nvidia on ML and Neural powered video tools like Magic Mask, Face Refinement, Depth Mapping, Slow Motion with Frame generation and more in apps like Davinci Resolve. There is a big opening for Apple there, and customers that would sell their M3 Ultra for an M5 if it means a 3-5x boost in these workflows.

It also brings a crazy opportunity at the low end. If the base Mac mini can deliver the same performance as a $2,000 PC with an RTX 5060/70 with the benefits of unified memory... Minis could fly off the shelf.

 

[Tdude96]

A lot of that is on the developers to optimize for Apple Silicon to make full use of its capabilities. Many developers don't put resources towards that, unfortunately. It'd be nice if more did.