Apple announces all-new MacBook Pro with M5 Pro, M5 Max silicons

Besides the MacBook Air M5 and 2026-series Studio Display, Apple on Tuesday (March 3) launched the MacBook Pro with powerful M5 Pro and M5 Max chipset options.

The MacBook Pro comes in two screen sizes-- 14-inch and 16-inch-- with upgraded Liquid Retina XDR displays, improved SDR brightness of up to 1,000 nits for outdoor use. While they retain the mini-LED technology of previous generations, they now offer a nano-texture glass option to further reduce glare.

As noted earlier, the MacBook Pro will be offered with two options-- M5 Max and M5 Pro chipsets.

The new M5 Pro and M5 Max are built using the Apple-designed Fusion Architecture and engineered from the ground up to support advanced generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) Large Language Models. Apple's new innovative design combines two dies into a single system on a chip, providing tremendous performance boosts.

The M5 Pro and M5 Max feature a new up-to-18-core CPU with 6 super cores, the world’s fastest CPU core, and 12 all-new performance cores, optimised for power-efficient, multithreaded pro workloads. Together, it can deliver up to 30 per cent faster performance.

M5 Pro is designed for users running complex workflows, like coders optimising algorithms and photographers processing massive image libraries, while M5 Max is for those pushing the absolute limits of computing, such as engineers running rigorous simulations.

MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max.

Both M5 Pro and M5 Max come integrated with breakthrough GPU architecture featuring a dedicated Neural Accelerator in each core. They promise to deliver up to 4x faster LLM prompt processing than M4 Pro and M4 Max, and up to 8x AI image generation than M1 Pro and M1 Max.

This enables AI researchers and developers to train custom models locally, and creative professionals to leverage AI-powered tools for video editing, music production, and design work. Both chips also bring up to a 50 per cent increase in graphics performance compared to M4 Pro and M4 Max.

MacBook Pro now comes with up to 2x faster SSD performance and starts at 1TB of storage for M5 Pro and 2TB for M5 Max. The new MacBook Pro includes N1, an Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, bringing improved performance and reliability to wireless connections.

With a full charge, it can offer up to 24 hours of battery life. Users will be able to fast-charge up to 50 per cent in just 30 minutes using a 96W or higher USB-C power adapter.

It also supports a wide array of connectivity, including Thunderbolt 5. It also comes with a 12MP Center Stage camera, studio-quality mics, an immersive six-speaker sound system, runs macOS Tahoe and supports all the Apple Intelligence features.

MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max.

The 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro starts at Rs 2,49,900 and Rs 2,32,900 for students and teachers (via education plan), and the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro starts at Rs 2,99,900 and Rs 2,77,900 for students and teachers (via education plan)

The 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M5 Max starts at Rs 3,99,900 and Rs 3,66,900 for students and teachers (via education plan), and the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M5 Max starts at Rs 4,29,900 and Rs 3,94,900 for students and teachers (via education plan). All models are available in space black and silver.

In India, they can be pre-booked on March 4 and slated to hit stores next week on March 11.

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