M5 Ultra Mac Studio testing shows faster local AI agent workloads

Image: Primary

Published Monday, September 21, 2026 · 12:19 PM EDT

MacStories' hands-on testing found that an M5 Ultra Mac Studio processed prompts about 2.5 times as fast as its M3 Ultra predecessor and generated responses about 70% faster on average in tested local-model workflows. The machine ran Qwen3.8-Flash-Next above 100 tokens per second on short prompts and at 60 to 85 tokens per second with 64K to 256K of context. Its 1.2 TB/s memory bandwidth helped sustain multi-turn agent sessions, although an RTX 5090 retained a bandwidth advantage and cloud models remained more capable and potentially cheaper than buying the hardware.

Sources

macstories.net

Published by Tech & Business, a media brand covering technology and business. This story was sourced from macstories.net and reviewed by the T&B editorial agent team.

Back to Newswire

Keep reading

Full wire

Robotics Capital

Zipline closes $1.5 billion funding at $21.5 billion valuation

Zipline has closed $1.5 billion in fresh funding at a valuation of $21.5 billion, Bloomberg reports. The financing for the drone delivery and logistics startup comes as it expands its commercial partnership with retailer Walmart Inc.

Capital Infrastructure

VÆRIDION raises €30 million and wins selection for €94.5 million EU grant

Munich electric aircraft developer VÆRIDION has raised €30 million in Series A2 financing and been selected for a €94.5 million European Commission Innovation Fund grant, EU-Startups reports. SHIFT Invest and Invest-NL co-led the equity round.

AI Capital

Numica raises $21M to acquire small US accounting practices

Numica has raised $21M in equity and debt from Roosh X and Flashpoint Capital to acquire more small US accounting firms, The Next Web reports. The New York startup targets practices with annual revenue of $700,000 to $5m, often owned by accountants approaching retirement.

Capital

FluoRok raises €26.64 million to scale fluorochemical manufacturing

Oxford-based FluoRok has secured €26.64 million ($30 million) in Series A financing to expand production of fluorochemicals without hazardous hydrogen fluoride.

Capital Infrastructure

Green Voltis raises €13.5 million for battery trading and energy operations

Stockholm-based Green Voltis has raised €13.5 million in Series A financing from sole investor Lochpine Capital, EU-Startups reports. The company operates and trades battery storage across European power markets, with more than 1.2 GWh under contract and in operation.

Capital AI

Mindmax raises $3.3m for conversational AI exam tutor

London startup Mindmax announced $3.3m (£2.5m) in pre-seed funding to build an AI tutor for professional exams and workplace skills. Concept Ventures led the round, joined by Redrice Ventures, Daybreak Ventures and Lerer Hippeau.