Apple M5 Pro GPU Trails RTX 5060 in OpenCL Benchmark
Apple’s latest M5 Pro chip delivers performance gains over its predecessor, the M4 Pro, but continues to trail Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU in benchmarks utilizing the OpenCL API. Recent Geekbench scores, reported , reveal a nuanced picture of Apple’s silicon advancements, demonstrating strength in its proprietary Metal framework while lagging behind competing Nvidia offerings in the older, less-supported OpenCL environment.
The arrival of the M5 Pro has generated interest in its capabilities, particularly following the M5 Max’s strong CPU performance and near-parity with the RTX 5070 Laptop in OpenCL – despite OpenCL being deprecated on macOS for over six years. While the M5 Max showcased impressive graphics prowess, the M5 Pro, equipped with half the GPU cores, presents a different performance profile. This difference underscores the scaling benefits inherent in Apple’s GPU core design.
Metal Gains, OpenCL Lags
In Geekbench 6 testing, the M5 Pro achieved a Metal score of 141,000 points, a significant improvement over the M4 Pro. However, its OpenCL score of approximately 87,155 points places it behind the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop, which holds a roughly 13% lead in that specific test. This discrepancy is particularly noteworthy given that the RTX 5060 is a mid-range GeForce card.
To put this in perspective, the standard Apple M5, found in the entry-level MacBook Pro (currently priced at $1,449 on Amazon), scores around 48,000 points in the OpenCL test. This makes the M5 Pro’s performance approximately 81% faster than its lower-tier counterpart. The 24.3% improvement in OpenCL and 26% improvement in Metal performance compared to the M4 Pro represent substantial generational gains for Apple.
The OpenCL Question
The continued focus on OpenCL as a benchmark, however, raises questions. As noted by multiple sources, OpenCL has been deprecated on macOS since 2019. This means Apple is no longer actively developing or optimizing for the API, making direct comparisons with Nvidia GPUs – which continue to support and optimize for OpenCL – somewhat problematic. Comparing an Apple GPU with an Nvidia part in OpenCL performance is, as one analyst put it, “hardly fair.”
The deprecation of OpenCL doesn’t negate the benchmark results, but it does contextualize them. It suggests that Apple’s development efforts are primarily focused on Metal, its proprietary graphics API, and that performance gains in Metal are a more accurate indicator of the company’s progress.
Generational Improvements and Core Scaling
The performance difference between the M5 Pro and M5 Max highlights the benefits of Apple’s GPU core scaling. The M5 Max, with double the GPU cores of the M5 Pro, delivers significantly higher performance, particularly in tasks that can effectively utilize a larger number of cores. This suggests that Apple’s GPU architecture is well-suited to scaling, and that future iterations with even more cores could deliver substantial performance improvements.
The M5 Pro’s performance gains over the M4 Pro are also significant. The 24.3% improvement in OpenCL and 26% improvement in Metal demonstrate that Apple is continuing to refine its GPU architecture and deliver tangible performance benefits with each new generation. This is crucial for maintaining competitiveness in the increasingly demanding landscape of professional creative applications and gaming.
Looking Ahead
While the M5 Pro doesn’t surpass the RTX 5060 in OpenCL, it represents a solid step forward for Apple’s silicon. The focus on Metal performance, coupled with the demonstrated benefits of core scaling, suggests that Apple is pursuing a strategy of optimizing for its own ecosystem and delivering performance gains where they matter most to its users.
3DMark and GFXBench results are expected to become available soon, which will provide a more comprehensive picture of the M5 Pro’s performance across a wider range of workloads. These benchmarks will be crucial for understanding how the M5 Pro stacks up against the competition in real-world scenarios.
As of , it’s clear that Apple’s M5 Pro is poised to deliver impressive performance gains compared to the previous generation, even if it doesn’t yet claim the OpenCL crown.