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

Source: Ars Technica

macOS Tahoe 26.3.1 update

As part of Apple’s flurry of Mac announcements earlier this week, the company announced the new M5 Pro and M5 Max processors. Those chips are shaking up the way Apple designs and talks about its processor cores: what would have been called “performance” CPU cores are now “super” cores, “efficiency” cores retain their name, and a new third type of CPU core sits between them, 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. The macOS Tahoe 26.3.1 update released yesterday formally made the name change official, updating the labeling in both the System Information app and Activity Monitor.

This “upgrade” applies only to the M5 MacBook Pro, the sole M5‑family Mac released before the name change was announced. It is purely a naming change; you shouldn’t expect any different behavior or performance after installing the update. The new MacBook Airs and Pros with M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max chips will likely already use the new names out of the box.