- Apple has announced the new MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Pro Max
- Both laptops are available in 14-inch and 16-inch versions
- Pricing starts at $2,199 / AU$3,499
Apple has announced new MacBook Pro laptops with M5 Pro and M5 Pro Max chips to replace last year’s M4 Pro and M4 Pro Max versions.
The new high-end MacBooks are available in 14-inch and 16-inch versions, and as the rumors predicted, the biggest change is the new latest generation chips. The new MacBook Pro models look identical to their M4 predecessors, but they also get a wireless networking upgrade with Wi-Fi 8 and Bluetooth 6, thanks to Apple’s N1 chip.
Apple says you can expect four times faster AI performance compared to the previous generation MacBook Pro and eight times faster AI power compared to the M1 chip. Pricing for the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro starts at $2,199 / AU$3,499, while you’ll be able to buy the 14-inch with M5 Pro Max from $3,599 / AU$5,799. That’s $200 / AU$200 on the M4 Pro and a step up of $100 / AU$700 compared to the M4 Max.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro, meanwhile, starts at $2,699 / AU$4,299, while the M5 Pro Max version starts at $3,899 / AU$6,299. Pre-orders open from tomorrow 4th March, with availability from 11th March.
Improved performance
Apple highlighted the new AI capabilities in the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, saying they are “engineered from the ground up for AI” and provide “enormous performance boosts” compared to the previous generation.
In terms of Prompt Large Language Model (LLM) processing, the M5 Pro and M5 Max give you four times the performance compared to the entry-level M5 chip and up to eight times faster image generation compared to the M1 Pro and M1 Max. There’s also a faster Neural Engine and improved memory bandwidth, both of which can benefit AI projects.
As for non-AI CPU performance, Apple says the chips deliver up to 30% better output compared to the M4 Pro. And when it comes to graphics, Apple states that the M5 Pro and M5 Max result in a 50% increase in graphics performance over the M4 Pro and M4 Max. In gaming, expect 1.6x faster output in Cyberpunk 2077 compared to the M4 Pro, Apple says.
That’s thanks in part to an increased number of cores in the new chips. The M5 Pro has up to an 18-core CPU and a 20-core GPU compared to the M4 Pro with up to a 14-core CPU. The M5 Pro also boasts Neural Accelerators (which the M4 Pro lacks) and 307 GB/s memory bandwidth versus the M4 Pro’s 273 GB/s.
The M5 Max, meanwhile, also has an 18-core CPU and complements it with a 40-core GPU. That’s a two-core CPU increase on the M4 Max. The M5 Max’s memory bandwidth has also increased from 546 GB/s to 614 GB/s.
Finally, Apple has renamed the performance cores in its chips “supercores.” It describes these as “the highest performance core design with the world’s fastest single-threaded performance, driven in part by increased front-end bandwidth, a new cache hierarchy and improved branch prediction.”
Faster SSDs at a price
While the CPU and GPU bring notable improvements, other areas also benefit from the new releases. The battery life, which Apple silicon has long excelled at, is e.g. been adjusted. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Max will last up to 20 hours compared to 18 hours in the M4 Max model, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Max will go strong for 22 hours as opposed to 21 hours from last year’s model. The M5 Pro battery life remains unchanged from the M4 Pro.
Apple’s already fast storage has also been boosted with double read/write speeds in the new MacBook Pros compared to last year’s offerings.
Base storage capacity has been increased. The MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip now starts with 1TB of storage (up from 512GB), while the M5 Max edition comes with 2TB as standard (again doubled from the previous 1TB).
And at a time of severe memory shortages around the world, it’s encouraging to see more generous RAM configurations with the latest MacBook Pros. While the starting prices remain the same, Apple’s M5 Pro laptops can now be equipped with a maximum of 64GB of memory, up from 48GB. M5 Max models remain unchanged compared to the M4 Max.
Still, Apple fans haven’t completely escaped the effects of the RAM crisis as Apple has increased the prices of the MacBook Pro range. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro starts at $2,199 / AU$3,499, up $200 / AU$200 from the $1,999 / AU$3,299 M4 Pro model, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro is $2,699 / AU$4.29. It’s a $200 / AU$300 hike.
As for the M5 Max, you’ll pay $3,599 / $5,799 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro and $3,899 / $6,299 for the 16-inch version. Those are both $100 increases over last year’s 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro and M4 Max, but in Australia it’s a much higher AU$700 difference.
The entry-level M5 MacBook Pro has seen a $100 / AU$200 price increase, now starting at $1,699 / AU$2,699. In turn, its standard storage capacity has been raised from 512 GB to 1 TB.
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