Following the launch of Apple’s M5 in new iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, and Vision Pro models last month, analysts are already making predictions about the higher-end versions of the chip still to come. Specifically, we can expect a Mac Studio equipped with an extremely powerful M5 Ultra at some point in 2026.
In an article mostly focusing on Apple’s plans to enter the low-cost laptop market, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman briefly mentions a swathe of other Mac launch plans, ranging from Mac mini models with the M5 and M5 Pro chips to Mac Studios with the M5 Max and M5 Ultra. The M5 Pro, Max, and Ultra don’t yet officially exist; Apple has so far released the plain M5 only.
This might seem like an obvious progression—for the first three M-class chips, after all, Apple dutifully followed the base model with Pro, Max, and Ultra variants for higher performance in its premium Macs and other products—but that system has recently been thrown in doubt. With the M5 cycle underway, we still haven’t had an M4 Ultra, just the standard, Pro, and Max variants of that chip. And while it still could arrive (the M3 Ultra came out as late as this spring, long after the baseline M4), there are a variety of reasons why it probably won’t.
Gurman says the M5 Ultra will make its debut in the Mac Studio, but the chip has a good chance of appearing later in an updated Mac Pro. The current Mac Pro comes with a surprisingly outdated M2 Ultra despite its $6,999 price tag. We’ve assumed for some time that the next Mac Pro would jump two generations to the M4 Ultra, but with that chip now looking unlikely to ever appear, Apple may decide to wait slightly longer and go all the way to an M5 Ultra for the sake of future-proofing.
The precise timing of all this is unclear, but we can make some educated guesses. At present, we’re still on the standard M5, and we can expect the M5 Pro and Max to arrive in the MacBook Pro before the Ultra. We could get those in the spring of 2026, leaving the M5 Ultra to appear in the summer (potentially at WWDC) or fall.
Author: David Price, Editor, Macworld
David has been writing about technology for well over two decades, and got on board the Apple hype train when covering the original iPhone launch in 2007. He is an enthusiastic Apple Watch evangelist and feels that the HomePod is misunderstood.