M5 Ultra Mac Studio reviews: local AI powerhouse

In addition to the new M6 Mac mini (9to5Mac review), early impressions of the most powerful Mac Studio are out ahead of tomorrow’s release as well. Here’s what reviewers are saying about the upgraded M5 Ultra Mac Studio so far.

M5 Ultra Mac Studio reviews

First up, Federico Viticci at MacStories put the new machine through its paces with a local AI test that really shows off the power of Apple’s most capable desktop Mac:

For the past few days, I’ve been testing the (currently) top-of-the-line M5 Ultra Mac Studio with 256 GB of RAM.

I’ll cut to the chase: the M5 Ultra Mac Studio is a dream machine for local AI agents. This computer makes it possible to run personal assistants powered by local models with great performance and no additional cloud costs.

If you want to use AI models without footing the bill for token costs or relying on the cloud, the M5 Ultra Mac Studio sounds like the right tool for the job:

If you’ve been skeptical of testing OpenClaw or Hermes Agent with local models because they’d never be even remotely near the intelligence and speed of cloud ones, this Mac will change your mind about that.

Since last Thursday, I’ve been comparing this Mac Studio to its predecessor, the M3 Ultra with 512 GB of RAM, as well as my own desktop gaming PC with an RTX 5090 inside. For its size, price, thermal performance – not to mention Apple’s approach to unified memory – the M5 Ultra Mac Studio has fundamentally changed how I think about models running locally and what they can enable now. 

If there’s just one Mac Studio review you read, this looks like the one to choose. Read Viticci’s review in full, animated charts and all, at MacStories.

See also: Engadget, Macworld, CNET, The Verge, Tom’s Hardware, and PCMag.

M5 Ultra Mac Studio videos

And for the video-viewing crowd, here are some clips to enjoy:

Both the M6 Mac mini and M5 Max/M5 Ultra Mac Studio start shipping tomorrow.

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