MacBook Pro M5 review | Macmonde

Best prices today: Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5, 2025)

$1,599

Going into this MacBook Pro M5 review, I wasn’t expecting much. The laptop it replaced, the MacBook Pro M4, is excellent. But more importantly, this M4 laptop fixed many issues with the M3, M2, and M1 MacBook Pro, including webcam quality and boot memory. The experience with the M4 MacBook Pro was so satisfying that I was a little jaded about the M5 MacBook Pro: the only thing that’s really new about the laptop is the M5. That’s it.

After spending some time with the new MacBook Pro M5, this indifference quickly turned into an impression. Overall, the M5 MacBook Pro is an incremental update, but it makes big strides in graphics performance and SSD throughput that made me say, “Wow!”

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MacBook Pro M5: specifications of our model

This review is for the most affordable model in the MacBook Pro line, the 14-inch MacBook Pro M5. Our review unit has the same CPU, GPU and RAM as the base standard configuration, but the SSD is 1TB ($200/£200 more) and it features nano-textured glass ($150/£150). Here are the specifications of the laptop in this review:

• Processor: M5 with 10 cores (4 performance cores, 6 efficiency cores), 16-core neural engine
• GPU: 10 hearts
• Memory: 16 GB of unified memory (153 GB/s memory bandwidth)
• Storage: 1TB SSD
• Display: 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display; Native resolution of 3024 x 1964 at 254 pixels per inch; 1000 nits sustained XDR brightness, 1600 nits peak (HDR content only); 1000 nits SDR brightness; 1 billion colors; P3 color gamut; Your true; Nano-textured glass
• Ports: 3 Thunderbolt 4/USB-C; MagSafe 3; SDXC card slot; HDMI; 3.5mm audio
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax); Bluetooth5.3
• Input Devices: Magic keyboard with Touch ID; Magic pad
• Weight: 3.4 pounds (1.55 kg)
• Dimensions: 0.61 x 12.31 x 8.71 inches (1.55 x 31.26 x 22.12 cm)
• Price (as tested): $1,949/£1,949

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MacBook Pro M5: performance

Since the new MacBook Pro is just a chip upgrade, performance is the focus of this review. The M5 is the new chip, replacing the M4, and although both have the same number of processors and CPU cores, the M5 features architectural improvements to improve performance.

Geekbench 6.3 benchmarks overall CPU performance, and the M5’s single-core and multi-core results were 14 and 22 percent faster than the M4’s, respectively. We saw a similar improvement in previous iterations, so the results are what we expected.

What’s more interesting is the evolution of the M series chip. For example, the M5 offers an 84% improvement over the M1 in single-core performance and a 118% increase in multi-core performance. This is enticing for someone who currently owns an M1 MacBook Pro. These are differences that you will definitely notice in your daily work.

Cinebench 2024 is a more intense and specialized test that performs 3D rendering, which is always a very demanding task on a computer. The M5’s CPU scores show a slight improvement: 14% in the Single CPU test, 11% in the Multi CPU test. It may not seem like much, but for people who do this kind of work, every little bit counts.

Where the M5 impresses is with the Cinebench GPU test. The performance of the M5 is almost 50% better than the M4, which is a fantastic achievement. We’ll see a little more about the M5’s GPU performance in other benchmarks.

HandBrake was used to convert the Tears of Steel 4K video to a 1080p H.265 file. The drastic improvement from the M1 to the M5 stands out here. The M5 cuts the time of the M1 in half. This is a remarkable example of the progress Apple Silicon has made in five years.

With the M2, Apple has delivered a major update to its ProRes encoder that significantly reduces rendering times. Since then, a combination of faster CPU and encoder optimizations has improved processing times.

After a few years of mediocre results, the MacBook Pro M5’s SSD turns on the jets – the results had me rubbing my eyes in disbelief. The laptop is definitely snappier when copying, opening and moving files. The reading score is actually faster than the 5154 MBps of the M4 Max Mac Studio!

The Geekbench 6 Compute benchmark evaluates GPU performance using Apple’s Metal API and OpenCL. Metal’s 35% performance increase is a bigger jump than we’ve seen in the past. Apple is touting the M5 as a more capable GPU, and it certainly is.

The MacBook Pro M5 offers very good improvements in video game frame rates: in some cases they can reach 122%. However, the total frame rates themselves may not be satisfactory for the most serious gamers, the kind of people who own a PC and spend a ton of money on a GPU card. But for people who consider themselves a Mac user first and foremost and take their gaming a little more seriously than others, the MacBook Pro should be good.

Apple claims its Neural Engine is faster, but we’re still waiting for Apple to roll out macOS features that actually take advantage of AI. Apple Intelligence’s writing tools are nice, but they barely scratch the surface of AI’s potential. In the meantime, here’s a look at how the M5 compares to older M-series core chips.

^{MacBook Pro M5 port configuration.}

MacBook Pro M5: what hasn’t changed

The M5 MacBook Pro still has three Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, and this laptop still implements the Thunderbolt 4 protocol, while the M4 Pro and Max versions have Thunderbolt 5. It looks like Apple will continue this model when the base M-series MacBook Pro will have a Thunderbolt version that’s a notch below that of the high-end laptops.

External display support hasn’t changed, and the MacBook Pro M5 still has an HDMI port, a MagSafe connector, an SDXC card slot, a 3.5mm audio jack, Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3, and a 12 MP Center Stage camera. By default, the laptop has a glossy display and you can opt for a Nan texture (matte) display for an extra $150/£150 (also unchanged). If you want more details on these items, you can check out our MacBook Pro M4 review.

MacBook Pro M5: battery life

Apple says the MacBook Pro M5’s battery life is “up to 24 hours of video streaming” and up to 16 hours of wireless web access. Our battery life test involved running a 4K video recorded on the Mac’s SSD. With the display set to 150 nits, the video played on a loop until the battery was completely drained, which is around the midpoint of the brightness scale.

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Apple’s MacBook battery life has been excellent since the M1, and it keeps getting better. The MacBook Pro M5 lasted more than 27 hours and 15 minutes in our test, which exceeds all estimates provided by Apple. Granted, playing video on the device isn’t as demanding as, say, rendering a 3D animation, but even if you have to do something like that on battery power, you can be sure that you can run a moderate task without sacrificing much.

In the United States, Apple includes a 70W power adapter with the M5 MacBook Pro, but a 96W or higher adapter is required for fast charging. Apple is offering its 96W power adapter for $20 more at the time of purchase (a good deal) or $79 when purchased separately from Apple (a bad deal). Of course, you can also use a third-party adapter, and it’s not hard to find a comparable one for less than Apple’s $79.

Attention Overseas Buyers: A power adapter is not included if you are purchasing from the UK or European Union. Apple says it must comply with EU regulations that take effect in 2026, but several media outlets have pointed out that Apple is not prohibited from including a power adapter by EU law; rather, it is enough to offer this option. Additionally, the rule does not apply in the United Kingdom. So this is either Apple misinterpreting the law or anticipating any future changes. You can purchase a 70W or a 96W at the time of purchase if you purchase directly from Apple.

Should you buy the MacBook Pro M5?

In Apple’s current laptop lineup, there’s now a greater distinction between the $1,199 13-inch M4 MacBook Air and the $1,599 M5 MacBook Pro. (At least until Apple upgrades the MacBook Air with an M5.) Major GPU and SSD performance improvements give the M5 MacBook Pro more bang for your buck. If you work with large files, export a lot of files, rely on the GPU, or anything else that puts strain on the CPU, the MacBook Pro M5 offers a great combination of price and performance.