Apple unveils MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max, refreshes MacBook Air with M5

Pricing starts at $1,099 for MacBook Air and $2,199 for new faster MacBook Pro

by · TechSpot

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TL;DR: Apple's latest MacBook refresh isn't just a routine chip bump – it signals how aggressively the company is positioning the Mac for AI-heavy workloads, including higher baseline specs. The new MacBook Pro models powered by the M5 Pro and M5 Max, alongside a refreshed MacBook Air with the standard M5 chip, bring notable performance gains, larger default storage tiers, and updated features such as Wi-Fi 7, upgrades that push Apple's laptops further into premium territory both in capability and price.

The new MacBook Pro will be offered in 14-inch and 16-inch configurations, both featuring Liquid Retina XDR displays with up to 1600 nits of peak HDR brightness. Storage capacity starts at 1 TB for the M5 Pro model and 2 TB for the M5 Max variant.

Other specifications include a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, up to 24 hours of claimed battery life, a six-speaker audio system, three Thunderbolt 5 ports, one HDMI port, and Bluetooth 6.

Apple claims the chips in the new MacBook Pros deliver up to 30 percent faster performance than their predecessors while improving energy efficiency. Both chips feature an 18-core custom Fusion CPU architecture. However, the M5 Pro includes a 20-core GPU, whereas the M5 Max is equipped with a more powerful 40-core GPU configuration.

The M5 Pro is said to deliver up to 1.4× faster 3D rendering performance in Maxon Redshift compared to the M4 Pro found in earlier models. The chip is also positioned as more capable for gaming workloads, with Apple claiming up to 1.6× faster gaming performance with ray tracing enabled in titles such as Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition.

Apple further claims the M5 Max-powered MacBook Pro can deliver up to 3.8× faster AI image generation performance compared to the M4 Max. The company also reports up to 4× faster performance in large language model prompt processing and up to 3× faster video effects rendering in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio relative to M4 Max systems.

The upgraded hardware comes with higher pricing. The base 14-inch M5 Pro model now starts at $2,199, representing a $200 increase over the $1,999 launch price of its predecessor. The 14-inch M5 Max variant begins at $3,599, up $400 from the M4 Max generation. Meanwhile, the 16-inch configurations are priced starting at $2,699 for M5 Pro and $3,899 for M5 Max.

Alongside the new MacBook Pro lineup, Apple also announced an upgraded MacBook Air powered by the M5 processor. The device is available with up to 4 TB of storage, doubling the base SSD capacity of the previous-generation model. The company claims the new storage architecture delivers up to 2× faster read and write performance compared to the M4-based version.

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The new MacBook Air will be offered in 13.6-inch and 15.3-inch configurations, both featuring Liquid Retina displays with 500 nits of peak brightness and support for up to 1 billion colors. Hardware specifications include a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, up to 18 hours of claimed battery life, and a speaker system optimized for spatial audio playback.

Connectivity options include two Thunderbolt 4 ports, support for Wi-Fi 7 wireless networking, and Bluetooth 6.

The new MacBook Air models will be available in sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver finishes. The 13.6-inch model starts at $1,099, while the 15.3-inch version is priced from $1,299. Pre-orders will begin on March 4, with retail availability scheduled for March 11.