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Should I upgrade my Mac Studio (M5 Max)?

under a year old · Runs macOS 27 Golden Gate, the current macOS

Quick look

Price
£2,4992Apple UK store
Chip
M5 Maxchip
CPU
18-coreCPU
GPU
32-coreGPU
Memory
36GBunified memory, base
Storage
512GBstorage, base
Released
22 September 20263ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 25 August 2026.
Security updates
Not available4Security updates

Each figure is from the source marked1 unless it carries its own number.

Software support

Security updates
Not available4
macOS
macOS 27 Golden Gate, the current macOS

Nothing newer in the line yet

We hold no Apple UK store price for a newer Mac in the Mac Studio M5 Max’s line and tier. When we read one it appears here beside the Mac Studio M5 Max.

Specifications

Body

Dimensions
95 x 197 x 197 mm
Weight
2.7 kg
Colours
Silver
Ports
Four Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports, two USB 3 (USB-A) ports (up to 5Gb/s), HDMI 2.1 port, 10Gb Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone jack; on front (M5 Max): two USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s), SDXC card slot (UHS-II)
Thunderbolt ports
4
Thunderbolt version
Thunderbolt 5
USB-A ports
2
HDMI
HDMI 2.1 port
SD card slot
Yes
Headphone jack
Yes

Chip and memory

Chip
Apple M5 Max chip
Apple silicon
Yes
CPU cores
18
Super cores
65
Performance cores
125
GPU cores
32
Neural Engine cores
16
Chip options
M5 Max with 18-core CPU and 32-core GPU, or M5 Max with 18-core CPU and 40-core GPU5
Memory (base)
36GB
Memory (maximum)
128GB5
Memory options
36GB; 48GB, 64GB or 128GB (40-core GPU)5
Memory bandwidth
460 GB/s
Storage (base)
512GB
Storage (maximum)
8TB5
Storage options
512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB5
Media engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginetwo video encode enginestwo ProRes encode and decode enginesAV1 decode

Battery and power

Maximum continuous power
480 W

Connectivity

Wi-Fi
Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be)
Bluetooth
6
Ethernet
10Gb Ethernet (Nbase-T Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb and 10Gb Ethernet using RJ-45 connector)
External displays (base)
5

Camera and audio

Speakers
Built-in speaker6

Platform

Newest macOS
macOS 27 Golden Gate7
Model identifier
Mac17,148
Part numbers
MHL64xx/A9
Model year
202610

A desktop Mac has no built-in display, battery or camera, so those rows do not apply.

Software support

Feature updates until
Not available4
Security updates until
Not available4
Basis
our inference from history11

The rest of the range at the price

Macs from other lines with a price read from Apple’s UK store, released within a year of the Mac Studio M5 Max and priced within a quarter of its £2,499 at Apple’s UK price as read on 22 September 2026, nearest price first. Each links to its side-by-side table.

Trade-in and used prices

CeX pays, grade A
£1,690 cash / £1,813 voucher12Base configuration
CeX sells, grade A
£2,45012Base configuration

More

Sources

  1. Apple UK — Mac Studio Technical Specifications · Default for Mac Studio (M5 Max) · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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  2. Apple UK store — Mac Studio M5 Max, 18-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 36GB, 512GB — From £2,499 · Apple’s figure · read 22 Sep 2026

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  3. Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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  4. Apple publishes no date for the end of updates, and this site does not guess one. Checked: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026

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  5. Apple UK — Mac Studio Technical Specifications · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  6. Apple UK — Mac Studio Technical Specifications · Apple’s figure · read 9 Oct 2026

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  7. Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers · Apple’s figure · read 22 Sep 2026

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  8. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  9. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026

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  10. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model · Apple’s figure · read 9 Oct 2026

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  11. Apple’s macOS 27 Golden Gate compatibility list names this Mac. endoflife.date says Apple usually provides security updates for the latest three macOS releases, but that this isn’t consistently applied; Apple publishes no end date. Source: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026

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  12. CeX — Trade-in, Grade A, cash · third-party figure · read 3 Nov 2026

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Not published by Apple

Mac Studio (M5 Max). Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: memory upgradeable by user, storage upgradeable by user, microphones, the macOS it shipped with. Geekbench 7: the Mac chart has no entry for this Mac, so no figures are shown (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (M5 Max or M5 Ultra) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model, read 9 Oct 2026.

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