Apple unveils MacBook Pro M5 Pro, M5 Max and MacBook Air M5
Apple today announced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models – the Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max are here. Both are based on a new Fusion architecture, in which two third-generation 3nm chips are combined into a single chip using advanced packaging technology. Additionally, the Apple MacBook Air 13 and 15 have been updated with the entry-level M5 processor.
Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max
The Fusion architecture in the Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max is a first for Apple chips, as previous chips used a single-die design. The two interconnected dies house the CPU, GPU, Media Engine, Neural Engine, a unified storage controller, and Thunderbolt 5 capabilities.
Both chips feature an 18-core CPU, compared to the 14- and 16-core designs of the M4 Pro and M4 Max, respectively. The CPU now includes six “supercores” (Apple’s new term for the most powerful cores) and twelve efficiency-optimized performance cores. Apple promises up to 30 percent higher multithreading performance compared to the M4 generation and up to 2.5 times faster speed than the M1 Pro and M1 Max.
Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max with 18-core CPUs
The Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro features up to 20 GPU cores, while the MacBook Pro M5 Max boasts 40. Each GPU core is now equipped with a Neural Accelerator, which Apple claims more than quadruples the maximum AI computing power compared to the M4 Pro and M4 Max. Apple promises up to 50 percent faster graphics overall, with ray tracing applications showing an improvement of up to 35 percent over the previous generation.
The memory in the Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max has also been upgraded. The M5 Pro supports up to 64 GB of shared memory (compared to 48 GB in the M4 Pro) with a bandwidth of up to 307 GB/s. The M5 Max retains its maximum storage capacity of 128 GB but offers a higher bandwidth of 614 GB/s.
The standard storage in the Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max has also become significantly faster. Apple claims up to twice the read/write speeds compared to the M4 generation, with peak speeds of 14.5 GB/s. The base storage has also been increased, with the M5 Pro models now starting at 1 TB and the M5 Max models at 2 TB.
The new Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max are also equipped with Apple’s N1 chip for wireless networking, supporting Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. This is an upgrade from Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, which were used in last year’s M4 Pro and M4 Max models.
Other new features include a 16-core Neural Engine with faster memory access, which Apple says accelerates the execution of Apple Intelligence tasks on the device, and an updated Media Engine with hardware-accelerated AV1 decoding in addition to existing support for H.264, HEVC, and ProRes. There’s also Memory Integrity Enforcement—a permanently active memory security feature that Apple calls an industry first.
Thunderbolt 5 was inherited from the M4 generation, but now each port has its own controller on the chip, allowing all three ports to operate simultaneously at full bandwidth. For external displays, the M5 Pro supports up to two high-resolution monitors, while the M5 Max supports up to four.
Regarding the battery life of the Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max, Apple states that it lasts up to 24 hours for the 16-inch model and that users can fast charge it to 50 percent in 30 minutes using a 96-watt or higher USB-C power adapter.
“The MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max redefines the capabilities of professional laptops and is now up to four times faster than the previous generation,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. “Thanks to the Neural Accelerators in the GPU, the new MacBook Pro enables professionals to run complex LLMs directly on the device and unlocks capabilities no other laptop offers—all with exceptional battery life.”
The Apple MacBook Pro 14″ M5 Pro is available from €2,499/USD 2,199, the MacBook Pro 16″ M5 Pro starts at €2,999/$2,699. The 14-inch model with the M5 Max starts at €4,199/$3,599, and the 16-inch model at €4,499/$3,899. The previously announced 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 is available starting at €1,899/$1,699. All models are available in Space Black and Silver. Pre-orders begin today, March 4, with shipping starting Wednesday, March 11.
Apple MacBook Air 13″ M5 (2026) and Air 15″ M5 (2026) with 512 GB base storage
Apple has also announced updated MacBook Air models with the M5 chip and increased base SSD capacity. The M5 chip in the MacBook Air features a 10-core CPU with what Apple claims are the world’s fastest CPU cores. It offers configurations with up to 10 GPU cores, each with a neural engine accelerator, delivering up to four times the performance for AI tasks compared to the MacBook Air with the M4 chip.
The chip also features improved shader cores and a third-generation ray tracing engine, as well as faster unified memory with a bandwidth of 153 GB/s, representing a 28% improvement over the M4.
In addition to the M5 chip, the MacBook Air now includes Apple’s own N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity.
The Apple MacBook Air M5 now comes standard with 512 GB of storage and is still configurable up to 4 TB. The SSD also offers twice the read and write speeds of the previous generation.
The new Apple MacBook Air 13″ M5 (2026) and the MacBook Air 15″ M5 (2026) can also be pre-ordered starting today, Wednesday, March 4th, and will be available from Wednesday, March 11th. The price starts at $1,099, $100 more than the previous generation.
