Apple M5 Chip Shatters Records: See the Stunning Geekbench Results!

Two days after unveiling the 14-inch MacBook Pro M5, Apple has already distributed review units to tech journalists, and initial performance benchmarks for the new Apple M5 chip are starting to surface on Geekbench.

In terms of raw power, the M5 chip scores an average of 4,183 in single-core and 17,632 in multi-core tests. These results mark an improvement of +12% and +20% respectively over the previous generation’s M4 chip, which scored 3,738 in single-core and 14,726 in multi-core. In the multi-core category, the M5 chip surpasses the M3 Pro chip (15,257 points) and is nearing the performance of the 14-core M3 Max (18,933 points) and the M1 Ultra chips (18,405 points).

This is the first time an Apple Silicon chip has crossed the 4,000-point threshold in single-core performance, and it is actually the highest score ever recorded across all platforms on Geekbench 6. This bodes well for the spectacular performance expected from the upcoming M5 Pro and M5 Max chips (anticipated in MacBook Pro models by early 2026) and the M5 Ultra chip (hoped to be in Mac Studio and Mac Pro by next summer).

In terms of graphics, the M5 chip’s Metal test score impressively reached 76,432, compared to the M4 chip’s score of 57,369. This represents a 33% increase for this new GPU, positioning it between the M2 Pro chip (75,184 points) and the M3 Pro chip (79,151 points).

These scores come from standardized tests, which facilitate easy comparison between different chips but do not necessarily reflect specific usage that will vary according to software and user needs. For instance, the Metal score of the M3 Pro chip is only slightly higher than that of the M2 Pro, even though the M3 Pro introduces significant advancements like hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing.

The 20% improvement in CPU performance measured by Geekbench exceeds the 15% gain touted by Apple during the M5 chip presentation. This is also true for the GPU, with Apple promising overall performance improvements of about 30% (which can go up to 45% for Ray Tracing). An annual GPU performance increase of over 30% is notable, and it sets a promising outlook for the upcoming M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra chips, which are likely to set new benchmarks.