There was no huge occasion saying the M5 MacBook Pro, not even a brief promotional video for social media. As a substitute, Apple dumped all of its new M5 devices on us with a couple of press releases, a transparent signal that there is not a lot to rejoice this 12 months. However whereas the brand new 14-inch MacBook Professional seems to be extra of the identical on the floor, it additionally options a powerful graphics improve that makes it an honest alternative for gaming. And it retains every thing I already love concerning the MacBook Professional: It is nonetheless a well-designed machine that is sturdy, quick and provides tons of battery life.
Apple
The M5 14-inch MacBook Professional retains every thing we love about Apple’s pro-grade laptops, whereas additionally including in a way more highly effective GPU.
- Quicker GPU than M4
- Glorious design
- Fantastic keyboard and trackpad
- Helpful port choice
- Lengthy battery life
- No OLED display screen choice
- Upgrades can get pricy
What’s new within the M5 MacBook Professional
The star of the present is Apple’s new M5 chip, which sports activities a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU and 16 Neural Engine cores. Whereas the corporate claims it is 20 p.c quicker than the M4 for multi-threaded functions, the largest improve is the GPU, which is as much as 60 p.c quicker on the subject of video games {and professional} apps. The M4 was no slouch when it got here to gaming and media rendering, however the M5 is a extra tempting improve for anybody utilizing an M1 MacBook Professional or older.
In any other case, it is like I stated: extra of the identical. There’s the 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR show which provides as much as 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness and 1,600 nits of HDR, in addition to ProMotion’s clean 120Hz refresh charge. (Sadly, we’ll possible have to attend till subsequent 12 months for an OLED choice.) The aluminum case remains to be rock strong, and the wonderful keyboard and trackpad have not modified a bit. Final 12 months’s 12MP Heart Stage webcam additionally makes a return, together with the excellent six-speaker sound system.
The port state of affairs can be strong. On prime of the MagSafe 3 charging connection, there are three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, a full-sized SDXC card reader, HDMI and a headphone jack. (It will be good to see a gigabit Ethernet port although. That is the one accent I nonetheless commonly connect with virtually each laptop computer.)
In use: One of the best will get even higher
Earlier than I get to the benchmarks and different efficiency metrics, it is value stating simply how nice the 14-inch MacBook is to make use of. Its aluminum body is clean to the contact, its display screen is shiny sufficient to make use of in direct daylight and it all the time feels blazing quick. Whereas its 3.4-pound body is noticeably heavier than the two.7-pound MacBook Air, it is nonetheless simple to journey with. And you’ll actually inform that the extra weight interprets into uncooked energy, particularly as you begin to stress the MacBook Professional and listen to its followers gently spin up. Whereas the MacBook Air is constructed to be as skinny as doable, the MacBook Professional is constructed to get work finished (and look good whereas doing so).
Based mostly on my testing with fashionable benchmarks and some video games, the M5 MacBook Professional is noticeably quicker than the M4 mannequin in duties that depend on the GPU and NPU. In any other case, although, it is onerous to inform a distinction on the subject of primary duties like booting into macOS, searching the net and coping with electronic mail. My evaluate unit was outfitted with 32GB of RAM, so it had a bit extra respiratory room than the bottom mannequin with 16GB of reminiscence. (Professional tip: In case you’re planning to maintain the MacBook Professional for 4 years or extra, it is sensible to get a minimum of 32GB of RAM. You’ll be able to’t improve the reminiscence down the road like older laptops, because it’s baked instantly into the M5 chip.)
|
Pc |
Geekbench 6 |
Geekbench 6 GPU |
Cinebench 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch (M5, 2025) |
4,310/18,003 |
48,840 |
197/1,034 | GPU: 6,143 |
|
Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch (M4, 2024) |
3,797/14,571 |
37,869 |
172/979 GPU: 3,770 |
|
Apple MacBook Professional 16-inch (M4 Professional, 2024) |
3,925/22,456 |
70,197 |
178/1,689 GPU 9,295 |
|
Apple MacBook Professional 16-inch (M3 Max, 2024) |
3,202/21,312 |
92,344 |
143/1,686 GPU 13,182 |
In Geekbench 6, the M5 MacBook Professional was round 500 factors quicker than the M4 mannequin in single-threaded duties, and almost 3,500 factors quicker for advanced multi-threaded work like video rendering. Because of the M5’s new graphics {hardware}, it additionally examined much better within the Geekbench 6 GPU check, reaching round 11,00 factors quicker than the M4. I observed an analogous end in Cinebench 2024: The M5 MacBook Professional’s CPU scores had been barely higher than earlier than, however the GPU rating was almost twice as quick because the M4.
For real-world gaming efficiency, I turned to Lies of P, which additionally stunned me with some main leaps. With the M4 MacBook Professional, I may solely get a gentle 60 fps with the best graphics settings in 1080p. With this M5 mannequin, I used to be capable of play on the highest decision (3024 by 1890) between 70 and 75 fps. It was even smoother as I scaled down the decision: The MacBook Professional hit 85 to 95 fps in 1,440p and as much as 140 fps in 1080p. These outcomes are in keeping with what I would count on from a gaming pocket book that prices properly over $2,000, which is in keeping with the $2,200 retail value of our evaluate unit.
I nonetheless would not advocate a MacBook Professional for anybody who needs to play tons of video games, but it surely’s heartening to see Apple making progress on that entrance. There are extra new AAA video games hitting the app retailer, and the M-series chips are quick sufficient to run most of them properly. However the M5 is the primary time I would contemplate Apple’s {hardware} equal to a PC working a video card like NVIDIA’s RTX 5070.
The M5 MacBook Professional retains the spectacular battery life from the earlier mannequin, reaching 34 hours and half-hour whereas looping an HD video. I may additionally use it for greater than two full days of labor with nothing a lot stressing the GPU. And as soon as once more, the MacBook Professional by no means feels extremely popular, even underneath an intensive workload. The followers are audible, however they don’t get as annoying because the helicopter-like followers from the outdated Intel MacBook Professionals.
Do you have to purchase the M5 MacBook Professional?
In case you’re on the lookout for a robust laptop computer that may deal with most heavy-duty workloads, the MacBook Professional will definitely fit your wants. However the troublesome alternative now could be deciding between this 14-inch M5 mannequin, the present M4 Professional and Max programs, or ready a couple of months for the upcoming M5 Professional and M5 Max chips. In case you’re rendering video and 3D content material all day, you are possible higher off working with Professional and Max chips, however you will have to attend a number of months to see the brand new M5 choices. In case you completely want a workhorse MacBook Professional immediately, you will need to accept the M4 Professional and M4 Max (that are nonetheless far quicker than the bottom M5 chip). However for many creatives, the M5 MacBook Professional provides a powerful steadiness of energy and portability.
