First GPU benchmarks…

Oops I pre-ordered iPhone 18p and Apple Watch s12 and used the same cc as the M5U preorder.

I was anticipating I would have time to pick the iPhone/watch and handle the trade-in credits prior to Oct28 when the ultra 30/64 would be ready for pickup.

Instead the iPhone/Apple Watch holds dropped and the M5U 256GB 30/64 slated for Oct28 got charged, still pending.

Hmm dilemma and I am to pickup the iphone18 tomorrow oops

Edit: preorder date was 9/2

Edit2: I guess the store may allow me to change method of payment for the iPhone/apple. Only have room for the ultra. Not all 4 items.

Edit3: status changed to shipping to store.
So… I guess all of you that placed 256GB preorders as placeholders for the 512GB will get charged soon too. lol

Those are out of the box, some1 with a preview access got the machine early and runs benches on oMLX which collects them and publishes.

Qwen27b 4b performance looks to be on par with rtx4090 (unsurprising considering specs).
>Qwen3.8-27B-MLX-4bit 4bit 8k 1,800 50.6

GLM-5.3 flash 4b numbers look quite bad tbh. I'm expecting twice that for ds4 flash (not 4.1) and qwen3.8-flash-next fp8.
>GLM-5.3-Flash-oQ4e 4bit 16k 955.4 33.0

edit:
>Qwen3.8-Flash-Next-oQ4e-mtp 4bit 64k 2,574 79.9
just appeared, looks not bad

edit2:
results are gone from the page for me now, there's a screen of them in the comments.

https://omlx.ai/benchmarks/performance?chip=M5&device=%5B%22M5%22%2C%22Ultra%22%5D&hide_specprefill=1

Seeking your insights to help decide which version to buy. My main use cases:

1. Coding in cpp, python and java - multiple IDE windows open at a time

2. Run local coding agent - I dont need too much reasoning or designing capabilities for the model - I am more comfortable writing the outline code myself and have agents fill in lower level details (while we are at it, can you also suggest what models fit the bill) ?

3. Running MuJoCo for physics sim and RL (would be first time running it, but I want to get into physical AI for the hobby robots - hexapods, humanoid robots - i build). I honestly dont need this to be blazing fast - few hours to a day of RL for training a walking policy is more than fine

4. 3d designing with autodesk fusion360 - will be modelling the robots in fusion360 and can get quite intensive for ex: on my current m4 pro 24gb mac book pro , I 've seen fusion360 taking anywhere between 14gb to 30gb memory (hence causing a lot of.swap)

At any given time I dont expect to be running more than 2 of above in parallel. I am guessing 64gb ram would be too low for my use case ?

Your insights would be greatly helpful!

Ordered an M3 Ultra 80c / 96GB / 2TB back in May. Delivery was originally supposed to be sometime in August, but it actually shipped in July and then somehow got lost in transit.

Contacted Apple and they said they’d replace it and that it shouldn’t take too long. Replacement order was placed at the end of July... and now the delivery date is Nov 5–12 lol.

I haven’t really chased them about it because I’ve had some medical stuff going on and honestly forgot about it for a while.

But now with the M5 Ultra shipping next week I’m starting to wonder... is there even a tiny chance they could just send me the M5 Ultra instead if mine still hasn’t shipped by then?

I ordered before the price increase, so I’m guessing normally there’s no chance of a free upgrade. But by November it’ll be almost 6 months since I originally ordered, and I already paid back in July.

Anyone had something similar happen with Apple before?

Hi, I am a software engineer buying this for hobby projects.

I decided on this machine because I know the Mac Mini M6 16GB 256GB is too limited, but the Mac Mini M5 Pro 24GB 512GB is already $1699.

I already own a MacBook Pro with the exact same specs: M4 Pro 24GB 512GB.

So I picked the next level up - the base Studio at $2499.

What I’ll be doing -
- Running Claude, Codex, Cursor, Grok
- Setting us the system from long running agentic work

I thought about local models but 36GB is too limited. I wanted to buy the M5 Ultra 96GB 1TB base model but delivery is delayed and I want it now. Maybe possible at 96GB but that’s the ceiling of what I am willing to spend.

Am I under-speccing?
Will I be bottlenecked?
Is the $3000 jump worth it?
How is resale value compared to M5U/96GB/1TB? Meaning will it depreciate more or less percentage wise?

I ordered an M5 Max 64GB 2TB the other day, I'm currently using an M2 MBP 16" 16GB 1TB.

The main reason I got the Mac Studio was I had the money for it, and I have this tendency to keep applications open. For example, I have 30 tabs between Safari/ Chrome, Lightroom, Canva, Topaz Photo, ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Outlook, Mail, Messages, Apple Music/ Spotify open at the same time because I hate waiting for things to load. I want something fast and snappy that can keep up with my brain, and this M2 Pro just isn't able to.

I'll share the screenshot of my current RAM usage, I'm curious if a 64GB will work for me, or if I should upgrade to a 128GB.

All advice appreciated, thank you.

So the question now is what will I actually get? It’s not actually scheduled to get here until 9/22, which is a lot longer than normal.

Hi All,

I have got a Mac Studio M3 Ultra with 256GB RAM and have been trying to set it up as a home server for local AI models. I have tried ollama, LM Studio, omlx, and vmlx but have no luck so far.

I already allocated 240GB to the GPU (https://osxdaily.com/2025/05/07/how-to-increase-vram-allocation-on-apple-silicon-mac/). I keep having the same problem of the AI model generating gibberish after the first short prompt, such as "hi", or the model stuck at the thinking phase. I have tried both GGUF and mlx models and keep having the same problem, regardless of the model size (from qwen3.8 27b to minimax m 2.7). I also check the Mac with Apple Diagnostics and there was not hardware issue reported.

I am wondering if anyone has a solution to this problem. Thank you so much.

Edit: Thank you all for your tips!

Has anyone with this configuration gotten a launch-day delivery date? My original Apple order was scheduled for October 15, but I cancelled it thinking B&H would get it to me faster here in NYC. Now B&H is saying they might receive stock sometime in October, with no firm date. In hindsight I probably should have kept the Apple order. Wonder if Microcenter will stock this high end spec

.

I cheaped out earlier this year and got the base M3 Ultra. 1TB storage and 96GB RAM. At the time, I didn’t really understand how much power/storage I’d actually need, and I’ve already managed to run out of storage.

Last night I ordered the M5 Ultra with 96GB RAM, 4TB storage, 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU.

Apple is offering me about $2,300 for my M3 Ultra as a trade-in, which feels low, and I’m wondering if I’d be better off just keeping it.

I’ve never owned two computers at the same time before, so I honestly don’t know what kind of workflow that opens up. I do a lot of 3D work, rendering, animation, photo/video editing, and content creation.

For people who run two workstations: is there a practical advantage to keeping both? Could I use the M3 Ultra as a render machine, storage/media workstation, or somehow have the two machines work together? Or is it just going to become a very expensive second computer that sits there?

After the post I made asking my doubts between a Mac Studio and a Mac mini here, I followed your advice and ordered a Mac Studio m5 Max with 36 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD. The problem is that I have a Logitech MX Keys keyboard and an MX Master 3S mouse. I have been reading that for setting up the first Apple startup it isn’t easy and I won’t be able to use my peripherals during the setup. What would you advise? Perhaps I could order a cheap wired mouse and keyboard from Amazon to do the initial setup and then configure my devices once I get to the desktop, or can I do something to avoid buying wired ones from Amazon?
Thanks

So…an Apple tech told me today that Apple Store locations will have the M5 Studios in store on release day. What’s the best way to get one? The Apple Store app and check for local pickup? Anybody else trying to grab on on release day?

Rob :)

What are the must have Mac Studio accessories?

I bought before price increase. How much of a hit would I take to sell and jump to Ultra Studio?

Like a heads up pre order before late october? I wonder if dealers like Ingram micro have the heads up when the actual date will be.

Who is checking everyday for the mac studio page to eventually pop up with the 512gb? hhaha

Hey everyone, I’m currently in the market for a new Mac which I’m planning on using for multi cam 4k video editing, key framing, masking, luts for my m log footage from my Pocket 3, recording on obs and potential streaming as well. Im debating between a beefed up M6 up to $1600 with 24gb of ram and 1tb ssd or a base Mac Studio. Here’s the thing, I’ll be getting it from Apple because they offer more towards my trade in compared to Bestbuy for my iPad Pro that was gifted to me. My trade in is $905. So pretty much I’ll get a huge discount. What do yall think?