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M5 MacBook Pro First Impressions

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Apple's updated 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro launched today, and we picked one up to compare it to the prior-generation M4 model to see how performance has changed year over year.


The M4 MacBook Pro and the M5 MacBook Pro models are identical, and there are no changes to the design. Everything new is inside, and even that's limited.

There's an M5 chip with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU inside, and it's built on a newer 3-nanometer technology than the equivalent M4 chip in the prior-generation machine.

On Geekbench 6 tests, the M5 MacBook Pro earned a single-core score of 4220 and a multi-core score of 16781, while the M4 MacBook Pro earned a single-core score of 3834 and a multi-core score of 15453. Apple says that M5 CPU speeds are up to 15 percent faster than M4 speeds.

As for the GPU, the M5 earned an OpenCL score of 48101 and a Metal score of 75536, while the M4 earned a score of 38023 and a Metal Score of 57822. Apple says that GPU speeds are up to 30 percent faster.

SSD speeds have also improved, and Apple says it's up to 2x faster. That proved to be correct in our Blackmagic disk speed tests.

In day to day use, you're not going to see much of a difference between the M4 and the M5 unless you're doing something that maxes out the chip like video editing or 3D rendering. Even then, it's a modest improvement.

There's no reason to upgrade to the M5 from the M4, but if you have an older M-series MacBook Pro or even an Intel machine, the performance improvement with the M5 will be night and day.

Article Link: M5 MacBook Pro First Impressions
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/22/m5-macbook-pro-first-impressions/
Apple really needs to rethink their naming scheme and make it more consistent throughout all products. A Pro device should always have a Pro chip, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? I get that “Pro” is mostly marketing by Apple, but seriously, at least stick to it. They’re doing the same thing with the iPad Air. “Air” used to mean the thinnest and lightest model, yet they released the M4 iPad Pro, which is actually thinner than the Air.
 
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MikeSweden said:
How does the M5 compare to the M4 Pro?
Click to expand...
Here's the average for one of the M4 Pro chips:

MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2024) Benchmarks - Geekbench

browser.geekbench.com browser.geekbench.com

Single core is actually pretty close (though M4 Pro still has the edge), but the M4 Pro is still better in the multi-core tests. I can't find a page like this for the M5 MBP yet, but you can dig into individual tests there or, for the M5, with a search (where I was still able to find it) to see a a breakdown of the specific tasks.
 
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You do understand that my comment had nothing to do with what you listed. Apple itself initially created the “Air” branding for their thinnest and lightest devices, starting with the MacBook Air in 2008. They have been consistent with this naming, except for the iPad lineup. They should rename the iPad Air to something else, since it’s no longer the thinnest and lightest iPad. That’s what I meant by naming consistency. Apple itself originally tied “Air” to physical dimensions.

But since this topic is about the MacBook Pro, my other point still stands: Apple created a Pro version of their MacBook, and they created a Pro variant of their chip, so the Pro device should come with the Pro chip.
 
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My post had nothing to do with features, specs or benchmarks. It was just about Apple’s inconsistent naming scheme across their product lineup. There are other devices, like the Mac mini or the MacBook Air, that they could have released first with the M5, but they put it in the Pro variant instead.
 
Wesley :
"Our compliments to the MacBook M5 unit, and regards to Captain Dunsel. Wesley out."

McCoy :
"Dunsel? Who the blazes is Captain Dunsel? What does it mean, Jim? Spock? What does it mean?"

Spock :
"Dunsel, Doctor, is a term used by Midshipmen at Starfleet Academy. It refers to a part which serves no useful purpose."
 
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flottenheimer said:
Still not convinced I will feel much improvement coming from my 14" M1 Pro 32GB/1TB MacBook Pro...
Click to expand...
I could easily see it being worth you waiting for the M5 Pro to come out. I'm assuming you had some good reasons to pick the M1 pro with extra memory and those reasons may hold for the M5.
 
Zeeshee said:
Same thing. Just incremented number.
Click to expand...
Incremental to last year? Sure. To 2-4 years ago? Major update. We want incremental upgrades most years so our devices don't end up hugely outdated too quickly.

Also keep in mind that something as small as a 15% increase in single core performance on a benchmark is 15% faster than the previous year's CPU. It's an exponential effect over time.
 
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I upgraded my iPad Pro 11 inch M4 512GB to the iPad Pro 13 inch M5 1TB (my wife will get the 2024 M4 replacing her 2019 A12Z based iPad Pro) and as expected I don’t notice and real life difference other than the massive screen size increase that didn’t have anything to do with it being an M5. I do think having the neural engine accelerators in hardware on the M5 may have a positive impact on future LLM AI features Apple is bringing to iOS and iPadOS.
 
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It's all relative. There's rumors that 2026/7 will see much more substantial changes so someone that has an M4 MBP (or even an earlier one) may very well want to wait for that unless they have the money and need to update yearly. But yeah, I agree the M5 has some very nice gains.
 
The unfortunate thing is the M5 Max will still be significantly slower than say a mobile 5070 from a compute perspective.

M4 Max OpenCL: 117K
M5 Max OpenCL: 117K * 1.30 (30% improvement roughly) ~153K.
5070 Mobile OpenCL: 187K
 
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Reactions: funcolors
MacRumors said:


Apple's updated 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro launched today, and we picked one up to compare it to the prior-generation M4 model to see how performance has changed year over year.


The M4 MacBook Pro and the M5 MacBook Pro models are identical, and there are no changes to the design. Everything new is inside, and even that's limited.

There's an M5 chip with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU inside, and it's built on a newer 3-nanometer technology than the equivalent M4 chip in the prior-generation machine.

On Geekbench 6 tests, the M5 MacBook Pro earned a single-core score of 4220 and a multi-core score of 16781, while the M4 MacBook Pro earned a single-core score of 3834 and a multi-core score of 15453. Apple says that M5 CPU speeds are up to 15 percent faster than M4 speeds.

As for the GPU, the M5 earned an OpenCL score of 48101 and a Metal score of 75536, while the M4 earned a score of 38023 and a Metal Score of 57822. Apple says that GPU speeds are up to 30 percent faster.

SSD speeds have also improved, and Apple says it's up to 2x faster. That proved to be correct in our Blackmagic disk speed tests.

In day to day use, you're not going to see much of a difference between the M4 and the M5 unless you're doing something that maxes out the chip like video editing or 3D rendering. Even then, it's a modest improvement.

There's no reason to upgrade to the M5 from the M4, but if you have an older M-series MacBook Pro or even an Intel machine, the performance improvement with the M5 will be night and day.

Article Link: M5 MacBook Pro First Impressions
Click to expand...
MR, what size SSD were you testing when you achieved speeds tests?
 
Etc_ said:
Apple really needs to rethink their naming scheme and make it more consistent throughout all products. A Pro device should always have a Pro chip, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? I get that “Pro” is mostly marketing by Apple, but seriously, at least stick to it. They’re doing the same thing with the iPad Air. “Air” used to mean the thinnest and lightest model, yet they released the M4 iPad Pro, which is actually thinner than the Air.
Click to expand...
100%. MacBook Pro with non-pro chip should NotExist. iPad Air should NotExist. iPhone Air and iPhone 16e should NotExist. Mac Studio and Mac Pro (current big one) should NotExist.

Apple Watch
Apple Watch Ultra
Nike and Hermès (bands only, attaching magnetically unlocks new faces via NFC)

iPhone
iPhone Ultra (even thicker, camera button without touch)

Apple Fold
Apple Fold Ultra

iPad mini
iPad
iPad Pro

Apple TV ($99)
Apple TV Ultra (AAA games, better specs, better chips, first-party gaming controller incl.)

MacBook Air
MacBook Pro (Pro and Max chips only)

iMac
iMac Studio

Mac mini

Mac Pro (sized between Mac Studio and Mac Pro)

Apple Display
Apple Display Pro

Apple Pencil (just one)

Apple Keyboard
Apple Keyboard Pro (wired with port-hub, improved key travel, backlighting)
 
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picpicmac said:
Etc_ said:
A Pro device should always have a Pro chip
Click to expand...
As if a "Pro chip" is a real thing.
Click to expand...
?? There are Pro, Max and Ultra versions of many of the Apple Silicon chips.

That said, I can understand Apple's MacBook naming from a marketing perspective. They don't want to have one called just 'MacBook' without Pro or Air because it might sound too much like "Macbook boring".
 
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