Apple M5 chip performance benchmarks and thermal reports emerge

Early performance data for the Apple M5 Ultra chip has emerged via Geekbench 7. The processor, appearing in a test machine identified as Mac17,15, achieved a Metal GPU score of 360,019. This represents a 41% increase over the M3 Ultra. While the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 maintains a higher overall score of 438,758, the M5 Ultra outperformed the RTX 5080 in specific sub-tests, including Horizon Detection, Photo Filter, Video Filter, RAW, and Particle Physics.

Separately, reports from Australia highlight thermal management issues with the MacBook Pro M5 Max. A user reported that the 14-inch chassis struggles to dissipate heat during intensive AI tasks, leading to significant thermal throttling. After two defective units were provided, the consumer is seeking compensation under the Australian Consumer Law, particularly as Apple has since increased the retail price of the same configuration.