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After shipping the M5-based MacBook Pro 14 in the latter part of 2025, Apple has followed its usual pattern of releasing higher-end versions of its 14- and 16-inch MacBooks with Pro and Max versions of the processor. The new processors introduce a new chip architecture, which Apple dubs “Fusion,” referring to its method of combining two dies to scale its system-on-a-chip rather than linking multiple SoCs. It’s also releasing an M5 model of the MacBook Air.
The M5 Pro and M5 Max bring updated connectivity and improved battery life — which was already excellent, but now rated for up to 24 hours — to the laptops. They’re otherwise unchanged physically from earlier M4 Pro and M4 Max models. Versions equipped with an OLED or touchscreen display are still somewhere in our future.
Prices for the new laptops start at $2,199 for the MacBook Pro 14 and $2,699 for the MacBook Pro 16 with the M5 Pro, and $3,599 and $3,899 for the M5 Max. Preorders for all the new models open on Wednesday and start shipping on March 11.
The new laptops incorporate an N1 networking chip, which brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Historically, the higher-end chips add CPU and GPU cores for improved speed overall, as well as faster graphics processing. The M5 also introduced neural accelerator clusters on the GPU to boost performance on AI — notably the math that’s essential for image and video generation, which the Neural Engine can’t handle as well.
It’s not clear which dies Fusion combines, though the company specifically calls out the GPU as scalable, so it’s likely that it’s the second die. That makes the most sense, since moving the GPU to its own chiplet makes it easier to scale performance independent of the CPU. This is essential since demand for tensor (for AI) and graphics processing power is growing rapidly, while the need for high-powered CPUs is a lot less at the moment.
M5 Pro and M5 Max specs
| Apple M5 Pro | Apple M5 Max | |
|---|---|---|
| Chip configurations (CPU/GPU cores) | 15/20 or 18/20 | 18/40 or 18/40 |
| Total CPU cores | 15 or 18 | 18 |
| Super cores | 5 or 6 | 6 |
| Performance cores | 10 or 12 | 12 |
| GPU cores | 16 or 20 | 32 or 40 |
| Neural engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Neural engine generation | 3 | 3 |
| Maximum memory supported (UMA) | 64GB | 128GB |
| Peak memory bandwidth (GBps) | 307 | 460 or 614 |
| ProRes accelerators | 1 | 2 |
| AV1 decoding | Yes | Yes |
With the new architecture, Apple has rebranded its CPU core types — retroactively for the M5, as well — in order to reflect faster performance. “Performance” used to represent the fastest cores, but those have been renamed “super” cores. Now, performance cores seem to function as a more balanced version of efficiency cores, with less of an emphasis on power saving. Efficiency cores continue to be the power-saving performers.
