The Fusion Architecture that Apple introduced with the M5 Pro and M5 Max allowed the company to scale the limitations of chipset development, packing in more CPU cores operating at higher clock speeds while maintaining impressive efficiency. This leaves only the M5 Ultra to be announced, but unlike the other SoCs, there are few details surrounding its architecture.
Fortunately, a series of logical explanations indicate why Apple will bring its UltraFusion process to this silicon, just like it has with the M3 Ultra. However, this approach also means that we’ll witness the pairing of both Fusion Architecture and UltraFusion to form a single chipset, making it a first in Apple Silicon history. As for why Apple could choose this approach for the M5 Ultra, we’ve discussed it at length below.
The UltraFusion architecture has been ‘battle tested’ in real-world scenarios, and reusing an older design helps increase M5 Ultra yields and lower costs
Despite a previous report stating that the M5 Ultra will feature a monolithic die, Fred the Frenchy on X believes that Apple will retain the use of UltraFusion by combining two M5 Max units to form a single unit. The reason for this is simple; Apple has leveraged UltraFusion technology for three workstation-class chipsets now, with every release offering notable gains in compute and GPU performance.
Looking at how consistently an older method of combining two SoCs has been used, it has obviously been proven to be less expensive while also offering more yields, meaning that the M5 Ultra can be mass produced in a higher number while costing less. The UltraFusion Interposer will sit between the two M5 Max dies, with each CPU and GPU block joined by Cu-Cu (copper-to-copper) direct bonding, for a total of two units.
Keep in mind that Cu-Cu direct bonding is also expensive, which is why Apple would not prefer to use it to join the two M5 Max dies and instead, rely on the ‘tried and tested’ UltraFusion process. Our guess is that the top-end version of the M5 Ultra will ship with a 36-core CPU and an 80-core GPU to deliver the best possible compute and GPU performance.
Apple will also have to worry less about using the M5 Ultra across two products because it has thrown in the towel on the Mac Pro, meaning that no more models will be updated, leaving just the Mac Studio waiting to be refreshed.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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