Apple upgrades MacBook Pro with M5 chip, improved battery life, and faster AI performance
As well as announcing a new iPad Pro powered by its M5 processor, Apple today also introduced a new 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the same chip. The latest model focuses naturally enough on AI and efficiency improvements, blending faster performance with extended battery life and the new macOS Tahoe operating system.
The M5 chip builds on Apple’s push toward on-device AI. It features a 10-core GPU with a Neural Accelerator in each core and a faster 16-core Neural Engine, offering up to 3.5 times more AI performance than the M4 and as much as six times faster than the original M1.
The new chip accelerates tasks such as text-to-image generation, AI video enhancement, and running large language models locally.
“MacBook Pro continues to be the world’s best pro laptop, and today, the 14-inch MacBook Pro gets even better with the arrival of the M5 chip,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “M5 marks the next big leap in AI for the Mac and delivers a huge boost in graphics performance, accelerating demanding workflows for everyone from students to creatives, developers to business professionals, and more. With its amazing performance, extraordinary battery life, and unrivaled display, M5 takes the new 14-inch MacBook Pro to another level.”
Compared to the previous M4 generation, the new GPU enables up to 1.6 times faster graphics performance and higher frame rates in gaming. The CPU’s 10-core design, combining performance and efficiency cores, delivers faster multithreaded performance in applications such as Xcode and Blender.
The MacBook Pro supports over 150GB/s of memory bandwidth for data-heavy tasks, while SSD speeds are up to twice as fast as before.
MacBook Pro with AI
As you might expect, Apple is pushing the MacBook Pro as an AI-ready laptop, capable of handling on-device models through Apple Intelligence and third-party tools. The improved Neural Engine boosts local inference speed for generative apps, while the combination of unified memory and high-speed storage allows for large models to be loaded directly onto the device.
Battery life is now up to 24 hours on a single charge. Fast charging supports a 50 percent charge in about 30 minutes using a high-wattage USB-C power adapter.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro has Apple’s Liquid Retina XDR display, with up to 1600 nits of peak brightness for HDR and an optional nano-texture glass finish for glare reduction. Other familiar features include a 12MP Center Stage camera, six-speaker audio system with Spatial Audio, and a full array of ports for connectivity.
macOS Tahoe introduces productivity-focused updates such as an improved Spotlight search that can take direct actions, an updated Control Center, and support for Live Activities from iPhone.
Apple Intelligence is integrated across apps like Messages, FaceTime, and the Phone app, adding on-device translation and intelligent shortcuts.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 starts at $1,599 in the United States, with education pricing beginning at $1,499. It's available in space black and silver and can be configured with up to 4TB of storage. You can order it here.
What do you think about Apple’s new 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 chip? Let us know in the comments.