Early reviews, led by The Verge, hail the M5 Ultra Mac Studio for dramatic AI and graphics gains while warning its top configurations are extremely expensive. The Verge tested an M5 Ultra review unit with a 36-core CPU, 80-core GPU, 256 gigabytes of RAM, and 4 terabytes of storage that costs $12,299. Apple sells the M5 Ultra starting at $5,499 with a 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 96 gigabytes of memory, and 1 terabyte of storage, while the M5 Max model starts at $2,499 with an 18-core CPU and 32-core GPU. The Verge found the M5 Ultra about 30 percent faster than a similarly configured M3 Ultra on single-core and multicore CPU synthetic tests, with a roughly 30 percent uplift on some GPU OpenCL tests and a 63 percent improvement on a heavy GPU Cinebench render. Practical tasks reflected that headroom: a 4K Premiere export that yields a 1.7GB MP4 finished in about 40 seconds and Blender classroom renders completed unusually quickly. Reviewers from Engadget and MacStories similarly highlight the M5 Ultra as a tool for local AI development and demanding 3D visual effects work, but note the high price puts it beyond typical content-creation buyers.
