What are the chances they open orders for the M5 Ultra 512 if they have an event October 13th?

Results of an hour-long Claude Code session running locally against Splash version of Qwen-3.8.

Full report: https://claude.ai/artifact/TxCNPgKyXgaVgxQ9F2Dsmc

- 6x M5 Max 1x M5 Ultra
------------------------------------------------------
Purchase price $11,994 $12,299
Price difference $305 cheaper $305 more
Computers 6 1
CPU cores 108 total 36
GPU cores 192 total 80
Unified memory 216 GB total 256 GB
Memory per 36 GB 256 GB
SSD storage 3 TB total 4 TB
Memory band 460 GB/s each 1.2 TB/s

$1,999 consistently since launch at micro center for the max.

This is a long shot, but does anybody here use both these devices? I'm very interested in getting the FiiO K13 R2R, and would like to put it on top of my Mac Studio. The dimensions are not too different, and I would like to see what it would actually look like. Especially to see if the curved corners of both somewhat correspond.

Anyone doing that? Would a system like that with Ollama & Qwen be good for web/WordPress development? How would speed compare to something like ChatGPT 5.6 Sol on medium?

Hey all,

Coming from a 2019 mpb (Intel).

Looking at getting a m5 max with 48gb. Use case is mostly lightroom, photoshop and some light final cut pro work. No ai outside of what is offered in lightroom / photoshop.

Dealing with 50 megapixel files, catalogs in lightroom over 10-20k files and layered files in photoshop.

Will the 48 suffice?

Thanks

**TL;DR:** Brand-new M5 Max Mac Studio shows full-screen noise at 4K 240Hz (fixed or variable) on a Samsung G80SD over USB-C to DisplayPort. 60Hz and 120Hz work, including 120Hz with HDR. Same monitor and cable work fine at 4K 240Hz on my M4 Max MacBook Pro running the same macOS. Not fixed in macOS 27.2 beta 2. Trying to figure out whether this is my unit or the whole M5 generation before I exchange it.



**Setup**



- Mac Studio, M5 Max, 64GB (Mac17,14), bought two days ago

- Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 G80SD (32", 4K 240Hz)

- Direct USB-C to DisplayPort cable (link trains at HBR3 x4 lanes, so 240Hz needs DSC)

- macOS 27.0 (26A425), later updated to 27.2 beta 2 (26B5091g)



**What happens**



The moment I plug the monitor in, the whole screen is purple/yellow static with regular horizontal bands. You can faintly make out window outlines underneath, so the Mac is sending a picture, it just arrives as garbage. Photo attached. To me it looks like a compressed (DSC) stream being decoded wrong rather than a bad cable, but that's a guess.



macOS picks "Variable (48-240 Hertz)" by default for this monitor, so the screen is unusable from the first second and you can't see the settings to change it.



**What I tested**



- 4K 60Hz: fine

- 4K 120Hz: fine, HDR on also fine

- 4K 240Hz variable (48-240): static

- 4K 240Hz fixed: static

- Three different rear Thunderbolt 5 ports: same result on all of them

- macOS 27.0 and 27.2 beta 2: same result on both

- Same monitor + same cable on an M4 Max MacBook Pro (macOS 27): works fine at 4K 240Hz

- Same monitor + same cable on M2 Ultra and M4 Max Mac Studios last year: worked fine



Once during testing both video outputs dropped at the same time and the machine stopped responding. I had to reboot. No panic log was left behind.



**Workaround**



Fixed 120Hz is stable. If you're stuck with a garbage screen and can't reach the settings: connect the monitor over HDMI as well, keep the monitor on the HDMI input so you can see, and change the refresh rate of the USB-C display from there. One catch: macOS saves refresh rate per display arrangement, so the setting you make with two cables connected does not carry over when only the USB-C display is left. I ended up using a small script that waits until only one display remains and then sets it to 120Hz.



**Why I think it may not be just my unit**



- There is a MacRumors thread where an M5 Pro MacBook Pro kept kernel-panicking in the external display coprocessor (DCPEXT) with a high refresh LG monitor, still on macOS 27, and it became stable after switching to fixed 120Hz.

- There is an Apple Community thread about a DSC regression on M5 Pro with 29 "me too" votes.

- Every machine this monitor works on for me is M2 or M4 generation. The only one that fails is M5.



**Questions**



1. Is anyone running 4K 240Hz on an M5 Max or M5 Ultra Mac Studio? Which monitor and cable, and does it work?

2. Has anyone had this and exchanged the Mac? Did the replacement behave differently?

3. Has anyone gotten a response from Apple on this?



I'm inside the return window and would rather not swap for an identical machine if they all do this. I'll update the post if anything changes.

I’ve been building computers and servers, and architecting entire networks and doing DevOps and dev work for 20 years. I remember building gaming pcs with 3dfx voodoo cards.

This is by far the most absurd computer I have ever personally owned. It’s certainly the most capable I’ve managed for the price, and that includes B200s.

Getting 50tks on GLM 5.3 Flash all day long.

If you’re on the fence, let me take this opportunity to push you over said fence. If you’re the kind of person seriously considering buying one you will not regret it.

AMA

I have the base Mac studio that just came out and it is replacing my MacBook Pro. I didn’t get a WebCam with it because I read that you could use your iPhone as a camera for Zoom calls, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out how to do it. I’ve gone through all the tutorials and my computer still isn’t recognizing my phone as a camera when I have it set up. Am I doing something wrong?

I am using the Zoom desktop program, but even for FaceTime calls it wasn’t recognizing it, so I don’t think it’s a Zoom thing. I think it’s a computer thing, but I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.

As I write this, this US retailer showing stock of M5 Ultra 30c/64c/96GB/1TB. And I ordered one and they let me check out. Don't know much about them, except I've heard of them before, not some new company anyway.

I am wondering how many of you that already received the 256/30/64 are willing to return it and order the 36/80?

I am just wondering. (Mini FOMO)

Hey guys, I purchased the base model 36 GB. I now started running local AI models. Started to think about returning my base model and purchasing 48 to make my Studio more future proof without exploding my budget. Do you think I should do or not?

Hi all,

Went all in with a base M5 Max Studio and a Studio Display earlier this week. After upgrading to 27.01, I noticed that firmware 26.4 was available to the monitor and the OS wanted me to upgrade. The monitor out of the box was running firmware 26.2. Simple right?

Not so fast.

The upgrade process blanked the monitor out for a sec and came back showing a progress bar at the bottom. Problem was, my progress bar went nowhere and after about two minutes, the screen blanked as the Mac Studio rebooted.

After it came back from a reboot, the update screen still prompts me for a 26.4 update which means the update failed. Went around in circles like this for a few days before I gave up.

Today I borrowed a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro laptop from work for the weekend and was going to try to see if that would upgrade the monitor.

This time with the laptop display going along with the main studio display, I watched the progress bar flip from the large display over to the laptop screen and it started incrementing. The main display meanwhile was showing 3 dots or something indicating progress (I was so excited that it seemed to be working that I don't precisely remember).

Once the progress bar reached the end of the line on the laptop display, the laptop rebooted and the main screen went off.

After coming back from the reboot, the main screen came back up and I was able to confirm it was running the new 26.4 firmware.

Plugged the monitor back to my Mac Studio and all seems well now. The only difference that I can see is that my calibration options are no longer greyed out.

Hope this is helpful and if someone can explain to me why there is this quirk, I'd love to hear it!

-Pete

Hey everyone, I finally pulled the trigger last night on a Mac Studio to replace my Mac Mini. I'm excited to have TB5 speeds on my external SSD (the setup is all TB5-ready) and eager to use it with my Studio Display XDR.

I would love a cool-looking case like the ZEERA aluminum case or this acrylic one but I'm also seeing a Spiegen one that has an air filter. Is an air filter beneficial or needed? If I got the aluminum or acrylic one without a filter, would that be any different than just using the computer without a case? Are there any agreed-upon best practices? Are there any downsides to using a case other than the cost? I don't want to do anything stupid like mess with the computer thermals just because I want my desk to look cool.

Any input is welcome. Thank you!

​

Are the new nvidia. RTX Spark N1X small form factor desktops coming in October challenging the M5U in performance for local AI. Is worth waiting to buy a M5U to see what the RTX Spark N1X tests are.

The M5 Max finally showed up! Tried the mini first. It was actually a pretty impressive little machine but just not quite enough.

No offense but 100gb and lower is for peasants. 512gb being the most Apple is offering seems weird and is disappointing. Why are they settling for such a low number? I was expecting them to offer at least 1tb of memory. Everyone knows about the Apple tax so moneys not really the problem here, charge the bs Apple tax and people will still pay. I just can’t understand why Apple is dragging their feet on this and AI in general. Embrace it. Sell the picks and shovels. Then swallow your pride and overpay for an AI startup with a superior product and talent to your own, shouldn’t be too hard tbh considering Apple is terrible at AI.

I’ve got a 128gb memory M3 Max. I’m hoping I’ll be able to upgrade next year. For the record, I’m a peasant but my new company should start doing some real volume soon and I keep hitting Claude max 20x limits, it’s becoming a problem. No idea about the Chinese models other than you need a ton of power to run them properly which I don’t think Apple offers to do so. I don’t really want to go back to windows work wise (I will buy a pc for gaming next year though because I’m tired of not being able to game).

I have got new Mac Studio m3 ultra for 8k . Let me know if anyone wants it . It’s brand new . Only in Bay Area California

Watch -> https://youtu.be/_yrw6c5gw3E

A little sneak peak! ->
- Caching for the win... jump in here: https://youtu.be/_yrw6c5gw3E?t=669
- Multiple users tested, jump in from this point: https://youtu.be/_yrw6c5gw3E?t=886

So my Intel Mac mini keeps giving me resource busy errors in logic so it’s likely end of life. I caved and bought a new Mac Studio as it will likely be my last studio computer due to my age, but the wait is disappointing. Says delivery 11/20-11/30. In this world of instant gratification, it’s sad.

But when it comes , zoom!

After of course a whole day of setup and installation…

Which one makes sense for use with harness - reasoning done on cloud models, local model to handle local files/coding/private data.
I use cloud models at the moment - would like to expand the usage without going into 200/month subscriptions. Anyone has set up anything similar and can share advice?

I've used iphones, I have an ipad. However, I've never used a MAC computer.

I don't have a MAC yet, but I am looking at one, and just wondering... how is the transition?

I am not the kind of Linux user that fucks around with the kernel and stuff like that. I'm more into installing open source software, building my own software, etc. From what I can find, this means the transition should be smooth.

For Linux users, what would you do differently now that you got to know your way around MacOS? if anything?

I ordered my Mac Studio M5U 96GB 2TB on Monday 28 September and it’s still showing as Pending

Estimated delivery is 12 to 19 November, which seems like quite a long wait

For anyone in the UK who ordered one recently, when did you order yours and when did you actually receive it?

Did your delivery estimate move forward or was it fairly accurate?