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Title: Apple Launches New M5 Chips, MacBook Pro, and First New Monitors In
Years

Link: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/26/03/03/163...

Today, Apple updated the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air with support for its new
M5 chips. It also unveiled a pair of all-new Studio Display XDR monitors.
Longtime Slashdot reader jizmonkey shares details about the M5 Pro and M5 Max
chips, which look to be fairly major updates from the previous generation:
Apple announced its newest CPUs today, which it claims has the fastest single-
threaded performance in the world. Both the M5 Pro and M5 Max have eighteen-
core designs, versus twelve or fourteen in the M4 Pro and fourteen or sixteen
in the M4 Max. However, the number of higher-performing cores has been
reduced significantly. In the older M4 designs, the chips had eight, ten, or
twelve "performance" cores and four "efficiency" cores. In the M5 design,
there are now only six higher-performing cores (now called "super" cores) and
twelve lower-performing cores (now called "performance" cores). [Apple
positions this "reduction" as a redesigned architecture with new core types.]
The maximum amount of RAM remains the same at 128GB for the M5 Max (64GB for
the M5 Pro), and GPU performance has increased. [The M5 Pro features up to a
20-core GPU, while the M5 Max scales up to 40 cores, each equipped with a
Neural Accelerator. Apple also says the new architecture delivers over 4x
peak GPU compute for AI compared to the previous generation, along with up to
35 percent faster performance in ray-traced graphics workloads.] Laptops with
the new chips are available to order starting tomorrow and will be delivered
starting March 11. As for the new XDR monitors, MacRumors highlights some of
the key features in its reporting: Apple today introduced an all-new Studio
Display XDR monitor with a 27-inch screen, mini-LED backlighting, 5K
resolution, peak brightness of 2,000 nits for HDR content, up to a 120Hz
refresh rate, Thunderbolt 5, and more. The new Studio Display XDR replaces
Apple's former Pro Display XDR, which has been discontinued. Going forward,
there are now two Studio Display models. Both new Studio Display models have
the same overall design as the original model. Both models have a 12-
megapixel Center Stage camera, but it now supports Desk View on the new
models. Both models also feature an upgraded six-speaker system, with Apple
advertising "30 percent deeper bass" compared to the previous model. Only the
higher-end Studio Display XDR received a 120Hz refresh rate, mini-LED
backlighting, increased brightness, and faster 140W pass-through charging.
The regular Studio Display still has a 60Hz refresh rate and up to 600 nits
of brightness. Both models have 27-inch displays with a 5K resolution. The
new Studio Displays can be pre-ordered starting Wednesday, March 4, ahead of
a Wednesday, March 11 launch. In the U.S., the regular Studio Display
continues to start at $1,599, while the Studio Display XDR starts at $3,299.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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