M5 Pro & M5 Max Feature Vertically Stacked Dies That Mimic 3D Packaging, According To Apple’s Platform Architecture Employee, Enabling Unrivaled Performance

Key Points:

• Apple introduced its new ‘Fusion Architecture’ with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, featuring a unique chiplet design that moves beyond the monolithic architecture of previous Apple Silicon.
• The M5 Pro and M5 Max reportedly utilize vertically stacked dies, a significant shift from the typical 2.5D design, potentially enabling higher bandwidth, lower latency, and improved power efficiency.
• Anand Shimpi, now part of Apple’s Hardware Technologies team, revealed that the new design splits functions across different dies rather than mirroring SoCs, leveraging learnings from the M2 Ultra and M3 Ultra’s UltraFusion technology.
• While stacked dies can increase performance by allowing faster communication between components, they may also raise temperatures; however, early tests showed the M5 Max running cooler than its predecessor, the M4 Max.
• There is some uncertainty about the stacked dies claim, as sources differ on Anand Shimpi’s role and the accuracy of the information, so further confirmation is needed before drawing definitive conclusions.