Home > CPU Comparison > M5 (10-Core) or M3 Pro: what's better?

Apple M5 (10-Core) vs M3 Pro

81 out of 100
Apple M5 (10-Core)
VS
72 out of 100
Apple M3 Pro
Apple M5 (10-Core)
Apple M3 Pro

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 4.61 GHz Apple M5 (10-Core) with 10-cores against the 4.05 GHz M3 Pro with 12-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (2)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Key Differences

What are the key differences between Pro and (10-Core)
Advantages of Apple M5 (10-Core)
  • Newer - released 2 years later
  • 35% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 4276 vs 3163 points
Advantages of Apple M3 Pro
  • More powerful Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core) integrated graphics: 6.4 vs 4.1 TFLOPS
  • Has 2 more physical cores
  • Supports up to 36 GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
M5 (10-Core)
vs
M3 Pro

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
M5 (10-Core) +45%
208
M3 Pro
143
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
M5 (10-Core) +12%
1183
M3 Pro
1059
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 4456 -
Cinebench Scores (113th and 141st place)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
M5 (10-Core) +35%
4276
M3 Pro
3163
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
M5 (10-Core) +15%
17862
M3 Pro
15512
File compression 1790 MB/sec 1560 MB/sec
Clang compilation 138 Klines/sec 132.6 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 427.3 pages/sec 382.9 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 430.7 Mpixels/sec 393.2 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 421.1 pages/sec 301 pages/sec
Background blur 78.7 images/sec 61.4 images/sec
Photo processing 156.2 images/sec 144.1 images/sec
Ray tracing 21.6 Mpixels/sec 19.7 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 991 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
M5 (10-Core) +36%
5762
M3 Pro
4247
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
M5 (10-Core) +11%
26779
M3 Pro
24046
Integer math 56.9 GOps/sec 55.9 GOps/sec
Floating point math 75.6 GOps/sec 64.8 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 301M Primes/sec 240M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 35.6M Strings/sec 35.2M Strings/sec
Data encryption 17.1 GBytes/sec 14.4 GBytes/sec
Data compression 296.6 MBytes/sec 288.5 MBytes/sec
Physics 3199 Frames/sec 2060 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 15.1B Matrices/sec 14.1B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 507 & 1204 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
M5 (10-Core) +21%
275.89
M3 Pro
228.7

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 43.8 PPW 35.3 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 661.6 PPW 517.1 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 991.8 PPW 801.5 PPW
Blender / Watt 10.22 PPW 7.62 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M5 (10-Core)
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-07-29 -> knotp37Cinebench 20260 / 3841
πŸ“˜ 2026-07-05 -> maheshkondrajuGeekbench 6 CPU4224 / 17165
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-27 -> RennsportGeekbench 6 CPU4289 / 18011
Add View all (3)
Apple M3 Pro
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-01-25 (Kirich)Geekbench 6 CPU3198 / 14601
πŸ“˜ 2026-01-25 (Kirich)Cinebench 2024150 / 946
Add View all (2)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Apple M5 (10-Core) and M3 Pro

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Released October 15, 2025 October 30, 2023
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv9 ARMv8
Codename Apple M5 Apple M3
Model number T8142 -
Integrated GPU Apple M5 GPU (10-core) Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core)
Rival Equivalent - Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) -
Successor - - Apple M5 Pro (18-Core)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 4 6
P-Threads 4 6
Base Frequency (P) 4.61 GHz 4.05 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 6 6
E-Threads 6 6
Base Frequency (E) 3.0 GHz 2.75 GHz
Total
Total Cores 10 12
Total Threads 10 12
Bus Frequency 100 MHz -
Multiplier 46x 40x
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 22MB (shared) 16MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors 28 billions 37 billions
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
TDP (PL1) 27 W 30 W
Socket Apple M-Socket Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature 100Β°C 100Β°C
Die Size 157.48 mmΒ² -
Laptop processors ranking (21st and 44th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Apple M5 GPU (10-core) Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core)
GPU Base Clock - 500 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1620 MHz 1380 MHz
Shading Units 1280 2304
TMUs 80 144
ROPs 40 72
Execution Units 160 288
TGP - 30 W
iGPU FLOPS
M5 (10-Core)
4.1 TFLOPS
M3 Pro +56%
6.4 TFLOPS
More info: Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core) compared to M5 GPU (10-Core)

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5X-9600 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 32 GB 36 GB
Memory Channels 8 12
Max. Memory Bandwidth 153.6 GB/s 153.6 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

PCI Express Version - 4.0

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
172 (57.3%)
128 (42.7%)
Total votes: 300

Competitors

1. Apple M5 (10-Core) vs Apple M5 Pro (15-Core)
2. Apple M5 (10-Core) vs Apple M6 (12-Core) (2)
3. Apple M5 (10-Core) vs Apple M4 Pro (12-Core)
4. Apple M5 (10-Core) vs Apple M1 Pro
5. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M3
6. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M4 (10-Core)
7. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M2 Pro
8. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M1 Max
9. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M4 Pro (14-Core)
10. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M4 Pro (12-Core)
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M3 Pro or M5 (10-Core)?
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Avatar
nima koleini March 21, 2026 at 10:40 AM
YES you are CORRECT, HEIL PRO SUPREMACY. No macbook air will ever be able to COMPETE with the VALOUR of the glorious M3 PRO.
+3 Reply
Avatar
Sotiris Ploumbis February 27, 2026 at 02:28 PM
NO! This is incorrect, the M3 PRO, is BETTER than the M5 because it is PRO.
+21 Reply
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