The Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max are official — here's what's new

• 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

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 major change is those new latest-generation chips. The new MacBook Pro models look identical to their M4 predecessors, but they do 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, while you'll be able to buy 14-inch with M5 Pro Max from $3,599. That's a $200 on the M4 Pro and a $100 step up compared to the M4 Max.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro, meanwhile, starts at $2,699, while the M5 Pro Max version starts at $3,899. Pre-orders will open from tomorrow March 4, with availability from March 11.

Improved performance

Apple highlighted the new AI capabilities of the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, saying they are "engineered from the ground up for AI" and provide "tremendous performance boosts" compared to the previous generation.

In terms of large language model (LLM) prompt 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 declares that the M5 Pro and M5 Max result in a 50% graphics performance uptick versus the M4 Pro and M4 Max. In gaming, you can expect 1.6 times faster output in Cyberpunk 2077 compared to the M4 Pro, Apple says.

That's partly thanks to an increased core count 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 an up to 14-core CPU. The M5 Pro also boasts Neural Accelerators (which the M4 Pro lacks) and 307GB/s of memory bandwidth versus the 273GB/s in the M4 Pro.

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 stepped up from 546GB/s to 614GB/s.

Finally, Apple has renamed the performance cores in its chips to "super cores." 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 enhanced branch prediction."

Faster SSDs, at a cost

While the CPU and GPU bring notable improvements, other areas also benefit from the new releases. Battery life, which Apple silicon has long excelled at, has been tweaked, for instance. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Max lasts 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 against the M4 Pro.

Apple's already rapid storage has been ramped up too, with double the read/write speeds in the new MacBook Pros compared to last year's offerings.

The base storage capacities have been increased. The MacBook Pro with M5 Pro chip now starts with 1TB of storage (up from 512GB), while the M5 Max edition has 2TB as standard (again, doubled from the previous 1TB).

And at a time of vast memory shortages around the world, it's heartening to see more generous RAM configurations with the latest MacBook Pros. While the starting amounts 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 entirely escaped the effects of the RAM crisis, as Apple has increased prices for the MacBook Pro range. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro starts at $2,199, a $200 increase over the $1,999 M4 Pro model, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro is $2,699. That's also a $200 hike.

As for the M5 Max, you'll pay $3,599 for it in the 14-inch MacBook Pro and $3,899 for it in the 16-inch version. Those are both $100 rises over last year's 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro and M4 Max.

The base-level M5 MacBook Pro has seen a $100 price increase, and it now starts at $1,699. In return, its default storage capacity has been raised from 512GB to 1TB.

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