The brand-new 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro is for deeper-pocketed shoppers and power users who want to make as few compromises as possible without going totally overboard. For an extra $400+ and a slightly bulkier design (though not by much), it gets you cooler multi-tasking performance, nicer speakers, a brighter, higher-res display with that coveted 120Hz refresh rate, and a better mix of ports compared to the Air.
You might still consider buying the M4 MacBook Pro if you find it on sale at a steep discount. Now that the M5 version is out, I expect third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy to regularly sell it for at least $100 off. (The Apple Store has discontinued it.) The two models are identical save for their chips, which have a modest difference in performance, so you can save some money without losing any new features or fixings. But if they’re the same price when you go to upgrade, just take the M5 plunge for future-proofing’s sake.
Read Mashable’s full review of the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (M5).
The smaller MacBook Pro has always been the most well-rounded laptop in Apple’s lineup. That continues to be the case with the new 14-inch M5 model, even though its biggest selling point is new silicon, this time optimized for running AI models on device. (It’s a carbon copy of the M4 model in all other respects.) The addition of an OLED display or touchscreen capabilities would’ve made for a more exciting refresh — watch out for the M6 version, says the rumor mill — but it’s a superb laptop nonetheless.
Performance is the most notable gen-to-gen change, so let’s get right into it. The M5 MacBook Pro earned a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 17,470, which makes it 15 percent faster than its predecessor. That’s not a terribly exciting jump, but it’s a jump nonetheless, and one that continues the MacBook Pro’s reign as one of the fastest laptops out there. The only models in our database that outperform it are the 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro and a few gaming laptops that cost $3,599.99 or more. The base M5 MacBook Pro starts at $1,599.
The M5 MacBook Pro is slightly less portable compared to the Air, but not by much. (It’s less than 0.2 inches thicker than both sizes and 0.1 pounds heavier than the 15-inch model.) Still, this affords it enough room for extra fixings like an HDMI port, an SDXC card slot, and a bonus Thunderbolt port, as well as an awesome hi-fi sound system with force-cancelling woofers.
The M5 MacBook Pro looks as spectacular as it sounds, as per tradition. (Apple hasn’t made any drastic design changes to it since 2021.) Its mini-LED “Liquid Retina XDR” display offers a resolution of 3024 x 1964 pixels, a peak brightness of 1600 nits in HDR, and a 120Hz refresh rate. Compared to the M4 MacBook Air’s standard Liquid Retina screen, it’s crisper, brighter, and smoother when displaying visuals in motion — not necessary for all users, again, but nice to have if you can swing its price. It can hit the $2,000 mark pretty fast if you tack on more RAM, storage, and its nano-texture (matte) display option.
As a final note, I’m still comfortable recommending the M5 MacBook Pro even though we haven’t put it through our battery life test just yet. It’s rated at up to 24 hours of video playback per charge, just like the 14-inch M4 model, which lasted 16.5 hours in practice. I expect the M5 model to match or surpass that time.
