Apple’s M6 chip boosts core count and enhances AI processing power.

Apple has unveiled its latest M6 chip for Macs, alongside the M5 Ultra, touted as the “most powerful chip ever” for demanding tasks like 3D rendering and advanced AI model processing. The M6 marks Apple’s first foray into 2nm chip technology, promising enhanced performance and power efficiency, and features a Dual 16-core Neural Engine for on-device AI tasks.

The M6 boasts a 12-core CPU, an upgrade from the M5’s 10 cores, comprising two super cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. Apple has redefined its “super” core terminology, introducing a new type of performance core with the M5 Pro and M5 Max. The company claims this CPU delivers “the world’s fastest single-threaded performance” and offers up to 1.2 times faster multithreaded performance compared to the M5. Additionally, the M6 includes a 12-core GPU, an increase from the M5’s 10 cores, and features a Neural Accelerator for each core, supporting up to 32GB of unified memory.

The M5 Ultra leverages Apple’s UltraFusion interconnect technology to combine two dual-die M5 Max chips into a single quad-die architecture. It features a CPU with up to 36 cores, including 12 super cores and 24 performance cores, an 80-core GPU, and a 32-core Neural Engine. The M5 Ultra supports a massive 512GB of “high-bandwidth” unified memory, which, as with previous M series chips, cannot be upgraded post-purchase.

The M6 chip will debut in a new Mac Mini, while the M5 Ultra will be featured in a new Mac Studio. Preorders for both systems will start on Tuesday, with a release date set for September 22nd.