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Title

Article: macOS Tahoe 26.3.1 update will "upgrade" your M5's CPU to new "super" cores

Impact Score

3 / 10

AI Summary (Processed Content)

Apple has introduced new naming conventions for the CPU cores in its M5-series chips, rebranding what were previously "performance" cores as "super" cores and adding a new, middle-tier "performance" core category, while "efficiency" cores retain their name.

The change was made official via a macOS update, which alters the core labeling in system monitoring tools. This is purely a nomenclature update and does not alter the actual performance or behavior of the chips.

The main topics covered are Apple's new processor core naming scheme for the M5 family and the software update that implements it.

Original URL

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/macos-tahoe-26-3-1-update-will-upgrade-your-m5s-cpu-to-new-super-cores/

Source Feed

Ars Technica

Published Date

2026-03-05 13:28

Fetched Date

2026-03-05 10:30

Processed Date

2026-03-05 10:32

Embedding Status

Present

Cluster ID

Not Clustered

Raw Extracted Content

As part of Apple’s flurry of Mac announcements earlier this week, the company announced the new M5 Pro and M5 Max processors. And those chips are shaking up the way that Apple designs and talks about its processor cores: What would have been called “performance” CPU cores are now “super” cores. “Efficiency” cores are still called efficiency cores. And there’s a new, third type of CPU core in between that is labeled a “performance” core.
Apple said earlier this week that the Super name change would retroactively apply to the regular-old Apple M5’s performance cores, too. And the macOS Tahoe 26.3.1 update released yesterday formally made the name change official, changing the labeling in both the System Information app and the Activity Monitor.
This “upgrade” should only apply to the M5 MacBook Pro, the sole M5-family Mac released before the name change was announced. It should go without saying that this is just a name change; you shouldn’t actually expect different behavior or performance from your Mac after installing the update. The new MacBook Airs and Pros with M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max chips will likely already be using the new names out of the box.