Apple recently announced a range of new products featuring its latest silicon, the M5 chip. Instead of spacing out the announcements, the company opted for a rapid-fire series of press releases on its Newsroom site.
This approach is reminiscent of Apple’s previous releases of new iPads and Apple TVs in 2022, all of which were unveiled in a similar manner in the middle of October. However, it differs from last year’s “Week of Mac,” where Apple introduced three new M4-powered Macs over three days, each accompanied by a short “mini-event” video.
The focus of today’s press releases is on the M5 MacBook Pro, M5 iPad Pro, and M5 Vision Pro. The Mac lineup showcases the true power of Apple’s silicon, especially with the M5 chip being the sole change this year. This shift in Apple’s hardware strategy brings us to the new M5 MacBook Pro.
The M5 MacBook Pro
Apple has returned to its earlier Apple silicon playbook by releasing the base M5 chip before its more powerful Pro and Max counterparts. This echoes the launch strategy of the M1 and M2 generations, which debuted in the MacBook Air and a 13-inch MacBook Pro. In 2023, Apple integrated the entry-level model into the rest of the family, featuring the new 14-inch MacBook Pro design. The higher-end M5 Pro and M5 Max models are expected to arrive early next year.
Unlike last year, where the M4 chip was unveiled exclusively in an iPad before the MacBook Pro, this year’s release focuses solely on the 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro. The more powerful models are scheduled for a later release. Apple’s decision to introduce the M5 chip across multiple devices simultaneously signals a shift in its product strategy.
While the M5 MacBook Pro presents a significant upgrade in performance, the design remains similar to its M4 predecessor. The key enhancement is the inclusion of the M5 chip and a new 4 TB SSD configuration.
The M5 Chip
The M5 chip brings notable improvements in GPU performance, particularly in AI and machine-learning tasks. With added Neural Accelerators, the M5 delivers over four times the peak GPU compute performance compared to the M4. The CPU, 16-core Neural Engine, and SSD speeds have also received performance boosts.
While the M5 chip enhances graphics and AI capabilities, other aspects like memory bandwidth and battery life remain consistent with the M4 chip. The absence of Thunderbolt 5 support distinguishes the M5 from higher-end models.
Apple’s senior VP of Hardware Engineering, John Ternus, praised the M5 MacBook Pro for its AI advancements, graphics performance, and battery life. The benchmarks against the 2020 M1 model highlight the significant progress made by the M5 chip.
Price and Availability
The new 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro starts at $1,599, offering a base configuration with 16 GB of memory and a 512 GB SSD. Customers can upgrade memory to 24 GB or 32 GB and storage up to 4 TB, an improvement over the M4 model. Preorders are available on Apple’s online store, with the device set to launch in select regions next week.
