In the first instalment, we compared M5 Ultra with M3 Ultra. This time the question is more practical: which desktop in Apple’s August 2026 lineup fits which job, and what does it cost in Türkiye?
Three candidates: Mac mini with M6 or M5 Pro starts at 60,000 TL and 115,000 TL, respectively, according to LOG. Mac Studio with M5 Max has an 18-core CPU, 32- or 40-core GPU, 36–128 GB memory and 614 GB/s bandwidth; it starts at $2,499 in the U.S. and 168,000 TL in Türkiye. M5 Ultra Mac Studio has a 30- or 36-core CPU, 64- or 80-core GPU, 96–512 GB memory and 1.2 TB/s bandwidth; it starts at $5,499 in the U.S. and 370,000 TL in Türkiye.
The practical gap between Max and Ultra: Macworld’s M5 Max Mac Studio test (18-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 128 GB) recorded 3,782 single-core and 35,658 multi-core in Geekbench 7, plus 22,438 in Cinebench 2024 GPU. The first M5 Ultra Geekbench result was 52,516 multi-core: about 47% above Max, while single-core results were essentially tied (3,774 vs. 3,782). Ultra’s advantages are core count, a 512 GB memory ceiling versus 128 GB, bandwidth of 1.2 TB/s versus 614 GB/s and its media engine. Apple says Ultra can handle 33 simultaneous 8K ProRes streams, twice as many as Max.
M5 Max vs M4 Max: In Macworld’s test, M5 Max was 23% higher in Geekbench multi-core and 33% faster in Cinebench GPU. 4K ProRes export fell from 31 seconds to 28 seconds, a 10% improvement. The largest difference was SSD speed: 2.67× faster reads and 2.18× faster writes. For video editing, the gain was modest; large project and file transfers showed more difference.
Which one is for whom? Apple positions M5 Max for music, photography, software development, design, 3D and video editing, as well as running mid-sized language models locally. M5 Ultra is aimed at multiple 8K video streams, visual effects, simulation and training or running large language models locally; its 512 GB memory ceiling is especially relevant to large models. Macworld cautions that M3 Ultra owners will not get faster performance in every task by moving to M5 Max: M5 Max led in Cinebench GPU, while M3 Ultra remained ahead in multi-core rendering and Metal compute.
The price reality: Apple raised Mac Studio’s starting price by $500 in June 2026 and increased M3 Ultra by $1,300, citing memory costs. M5 Ultra adds another $200. In Türkiye, the starting price gap between Max and Ultra is 202,000 TL , enough for two base Max systems at the Ultra’s starting price. That premium is most defensible for workloads that exceed 128 GB or require multiple 8K streams. The next instalment examines what 96, 256 and 512 GB mean for local AI.
Verified: Configurations, U.S. prices, Macworld M5 Max benchmark results and June price rises: Macworld. M5 Ultra Geekbench: MacRumors. Türkiye prices: LOG. The 33-stream 8K claim: 9to5Mac. Uncertainty: The 47% Ultra–Max gap compares single results from different sources, not tests conducted side by side in the same lab. Mac mini M6 and M5 Pro core counts were not clear in the reviewed sources. Not available: Apple Türkiye’s official pricing page was not directly checked; independent Mac mini benchmarks were not available.
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