Apple MacBook Pro M5 review: Powerful PC with incremental upgrades

Apple's latest M5-powered MacBook is a beast of a personal computer. It can handle any heavy duty tasks effectively without breaking a sweat.

After launching new generation iPhone 17, Air series and Watch Series 11, SE 3, Watch Ultra 3 in September, Apple followed it with a new line of MacBook Pro PC and iPad Pro with powerful M5 silicon.

Besides the advanced M5 chipset, the MacBook Pro, which starts at Rs 1,69,900, comes with improvements in key aspects such as display and battery. Here are my thoughts on Apple's ultra-premium laptop.

Design, build quality and display

The latest MacBook Pro retains the beefy exterior design elements of the predecessor. When closed, it looks like a solid block of tile made of premium metal. It measures 15.5mm in thickness, 312.6 long and 221.2 wide. And, it weighs a little over 1.55 kg.

The enclosure is made of aerospace-grade aluminium and comes with a smooth matte finish.

Apple MacBook Pro M5

Apple MacBook Pro M5 (rear-side).

The new MacBook Pro retains a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with a pixel density of 254 ppi (pixels per inch). It comes with TrueTone Display and ProMotion technology for adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz. This ensures a crisp and clear viewing experience while browsing the internet and reading e-books or long-form news articles.

Apple MacBook Pro M5.

Apple also offers the MacBook Pro with nano-texture display option (for an extra Rs 15,000).

Thanks to advanced anti-reflective technology, it promises better readability in all lighting conditions. It particularly comes in handy for work purposes such as coding or multimedia content editing in bright light conditions. It reduces the risks of eye strain and ensures focus stays on completing the task at hand.

It is also great for the consumption of multimedia content. It offers 1,600 nits peak HDR brightness and up to 1,000 nits of brightness for SDR content.

Apple MacBook Pro M5's right side view.

Further, the device houses a powerful six-speaker sound system with support for Spatial Audio on the right and left sides. And, they are amazingly good in delivering crisp audio output even at max volume, and this enhances the multimedia consumption experience at home.

It supports three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C (up to 40Gb/s transfer speed) ports, an HDMI port, and an SDXC card slot. This allows users to connect their PC with two high-resolution external displays to improve their productivity at home and at the office.

Apple MacBook Pro M5's left side view.

It supports Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.3 for stable wireless connectivity for the internet and paired devices, respectively.

It also boasts a powerful MagSafe port, which offers a stable and sturdy connectivity with the power adaptor for charging.

Apple MacBook Pro M5's 12MP Centre Stage camera at the top of the display panel.

At the top, the MacBook Pro sports a big notch, which houses a new 12MP Centre Stage camera. It supports high-resolution video recording. Thanks to macOS optimisation, the camera ensures the subject remains at the centre during video calling or attending a virtual office presentation.

Apple MacBook Pro M5's MagicKeyboard.

It comes with a really good backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 keys, including 12 full-height function keys and four arrow keys in an inverted-T arrangement, and a Touch ID sensor.

And below, there is a big, spacious Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities. The latter also supports force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing and multi-touch gestures.

The Magic Keyboard is really good. The keys offer a tactile feel, and the keyboard layout is very well laid out for error-free typing. I was able to finish articles comfortably in the compact confines of economic flight seat with hardly any inconvenience other than the fellow traveller looking curiously from the side at what I was typing so fast and what important stuff that had to be completed before landing.

Performance

The new MacBook Pro houses Apple's latest M5 chipset. It features a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU (with dedicated Neural Accelerator) and a new-gen Neural Engine. It comes in multiple configurations such as 16GB/24GB/32GB RAM, with 512GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB storage options.

It can offer up to 3.5x faster AI performance than M4, and up to 6x faster performance than M1. Also, it can deliver 20 per cent faster multithreaded performance compared to M4 for workloads like code compiling.

Apple MacBook Pro M5.

Backed by such a powerful chipset, it can handle any heavy-duty tasks, such as video editing, run generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) applications for real-time audio transcribing, text-to-image generator, and text-to-video generators. It is comparatively faster than the predecessor.

It should be noted that the device also boasts of advanced media engines to compress and decompress videos to save file size and bandwidth to play high-resolution videos smoothly. It supports Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW, Video decode engine, Video encode engine, ProRes encode and decode engine (Apple's professional codecs to preserve more details in the video samples shot using iPhone Pro models), and AV1 decode engine for high resolution 4K/8K videos.

Apple MacBook Pro M5.

It also boasts of advanced hardware-accelerated ray tracing to deliver an immersive gaming experience. It can support almost all graphics-rich AAA titles available on Apple Arcade and App Store. Having Apple Arcade will offer exclusive content and also be ad-free.

The device supports the latest macOS 26 Tahoe. It brings the all-new Liquid Glass UI. The user interface offers a lively experience and makes Mac usage more enjoyable.

The new UI design extends to all aspects of software from the smallest elements users interact with every day - such as buttons, switches, sliders, text, and media controls - to larger elements, including tab bars and sidebars for moving through apps. It also extends to the Lock Screen, Home Screen, notifications, Control Centre, and more.

Further, Apple has introduced Phone app to Mac devices. With the Continuity feature, users can instantly make phone calls. It will also have iPhone-like tabs such as favourites, recent calls and voicemails - in addition to a call screening feature and Hold Assist. The latter allows users to keep their spot in line while they wait for a live agent to answer their call. In the meantime, users can continue working on the Mac.

Recently, Apple rolled out new macOS 26.2 firmware. One of the highlight features of the new update is the Edge Light.

It is a new video effect which makes full use of the bright displays on Mac. It will fill light to the owner's face, like a virtual ring light during the video conference calls.

Apple MacBook Pro M5.

Also, the users get the option to adjust the brightness level and a warmer or cooler light tone to suit their preference. And the light is smart, receding from the mouse pointer when the user gets close to the edge of the screen, so he/she can always access the content.

Battery life

The MacBook Pro M5 delivers the best battery life among rival brands in the personal computer category. It can support 24 hours of video playback. With Wi-Fi, it can support more than 16 hours of internet browsing.

In the last two months, I had to travel out of the city for two-day trips to cover product launches.

Apple MacBook Pro M5.

Having used the previous versions of the MacBook Pro models, I did not see the need for carrying an extra accessory in the backpack. The new MacBook Pro M5 did not disappoint at all. It not only lasted two days, but I also used the power of my iPhone and the Apple Watch.

Be it at the airport, writing articles, or while watching downloaded TV series episodes, I never felt anxiety about running out of battery life.

It comes with a big 72.4-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery and comes with 70W USB-C power adapter for charging in the retail box.

It should be noted that the device supports fast-charging up to 96W speed with any compatible higher USB-C power adapter.

Apple MacBook Pro M5.

Final thoughts

Now people and students have gotten used to the conveniences of generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) tools for work, school projects and other creative hobbies like video editing and playing AAA games online. But computers require powerful silicon to handle them smoothly. Here's where the MacBook Pro comes into play.

Apple's latest M5-powered MacBook is a beast of a personal computer. It handled all of the heavy-duty tasks effectively without breaking a sweat.

The new MacBook Pro M5 comes in multiple configurations-- 16GB RAM, 24GB RAM, 32GB RAM-- with 512GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB options-- with prices starting at Rs 1,69,900.

For students and teachers with valid school/college ID cards can get Rs 10,000 discount, which brings down the price of the base model (16GB RAM + 512GB storage0 to Rs 1,59,900.

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