Apple's M5 series chips debut with a "three-layer core" architecture, introducing a new "super core"

K-LinePoet · 2026-03-30T01:37:03+00:00

Apple introduces the all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, featuring three different CPU core architectures: efficiency cores, performance cores, and super cores, thereby improving energy efficiency. The new naming system renames the original performance cores as super cores. The base model M5 is equipped with 6 efficiency cores and 4 super cores, while the M5 Pro and M5 Max have up to 12 performance cores.

K-LinePoet

2026-03-30 01:37:03

Abstract generation in progress

IT Home reported on March 5 that the tech media 9to5Mac published a blog post yesterday (March 4) stating that Apple has launched the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, breaking the conventional “dual-core” architecture by introducing three different types of CPU cores to the M5 series chips.

The reason Apple’s self-developed Apple Silicon chips have excellent power efficiency is due to the efficient balancing of “Efficiency cores” and “Performance cores,” with the former handling everyday lightweight tasks to extend battery life, while the latter is used for high-load scenarios.

Under the new naming system, Apple has officially renamed the original “Performance cores” to “Super Cores” and has assigned the name “Performance Core” to the newly added mid-tier cores. IT Home provides a comparison of the relevant names below:

Old Name	New Name
Efficiency	Efficiency
–	Performance
Performance	Super

To facilitate public understanding, the media pointed out that these three types of cores actually correspond to the three levels of “Efficiency,” “Balanced,” and “Performance,” but the official final naming rules are “Efficiency Core,” “Performance Core,” and “Super Core.”

Source John Gruber later confirmed the specific specifications of each chip with Apple. The data shows that the base model M5 chip maintains the overall architecture, equipped with 6 Efficiency cores and 4 Super Cores (i.e., the original Performance cores):

	Efficiency	Performance	Super
M5	6	—	4
M5 Pro	—	10	5
M5 Pro	—	12	6
M5 Max	—	12	6

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