Apple’s 36-core M5 Ultra rivals Threadripper in Geekbench 7 test

Apple’s upcoming M5 Ultra processor has surfaced on Geekbench 7, revealing a 36‑core configuration in the next‑gen Mac Studio. With 256GB of unified memory, the chip reached 52,516 points in multi‑core testing, putting it in the same range as AMD’s high‑end workstation CPUs.

The benchmark listing (via Wccftech) identifies a 36-core layout comprising 12 super cores and 24 P-cores running at a peak clock frequency of 4.6GHz. Running macOS 27.0, the platform posted 3,774 points in the single-core test and 52,516 in the multi-core one. This aligns with Apple’s internal performance claims of up to 1.3x higher multi-threaded CPU output compared to the M3 Ultra.

In Geekbench 7’s database, the score places the M5 Ultra close to AMD’s workstation‑class Threadripper Pro parts. A 64‑core 9985WX submission reached 56,118 points, while a 96‑core 9995WX run landed at 50,911. As always, individual Geekbench submissions vary, so these numbers shouldn’t be taken as representative averages.

Geekbench is a short cross-platform benchmark rather than a sustained workstation load test, so these scores don't indicate definitive superiority in long-term multi-threaded tasks.

KitGuru says: Short benchmarks don’t tell the full story for sustained workloads, but seeing Apple’s 36‑core M5 Ultra land in the same performance bracket as much higher‑core‑count Threadripper processors is certainly notable.

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