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M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro: What to Expect

kemo said:
… or actually not touching the touchscreen? 😀
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I’m sure your laptop screen is pristine and has never had a fingerprint on it. But even without a touchscreen, mine is covered with fingerprints from counting things in images or measuring or covering elements or whatever.

I had a Windows laptop with a touchscreen, and every time I tried to do something, it would pop up a menu or open something or do something I didn’t want. I disabled that touchscreen with a system .INI file setting IIRC.
 
I think what's more relevant for the M5 Pro lineup, besides the OLED/Touchscreen is whether it will be the first mac with 5G, which i think it's the better productivity bump instead of having touchscreen. If 5G will be delivered on the M6 then yeah, I could wait, but if the M5 Pro comes with 5G i think it's a solid buy.
 
carrrrrlos said:
My only hesitation atm is if i’m buying into a deprecated architecture - will MacOS and iOS merge in the next few years and will this last gen MBP be obsolete sooner than later. I dunno?
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If MacOS and iOS "merge" (as in: gets locked down to the App Store - MacOS can already run iOS and iPadOS apps if the publisher enables it) then I'm switchin' to Linux...

There's no absolute guarantee - but Apple are obliged to provide some support for 5-6 years after they discontinue a product - and although that mainly applies to hardware it's hard to support that without a supported (if not the latest) OS.

At the moment, the only depreciated architecture is Intel (as in: Apple have announced that it will be dropped the next MacOS) and it's anybody's guess when they'll actually stop critical updates for Tahoe - but since they only stopped selling Intel Macs in 2023 that will be a couple of years away. (...bear in mind that Apple kept selling M1 and M2 machines long after the M2/M3 were launched).

We've yet to see how long Apple Silicon machines will keep OS support - but they are a lot less diverse - in terms of third part components that need supported drivers etc. - than Intel Macs were, so there might be less pressure on Apple to drop support.

As for laptop vs. desktop: until you get to the "Ultra" Mac Studios, you can get close to the same performance out of a Mx Pro or Mx Max MacBook Pro as you get with a Mx Pro Mini or Mx Max Studio - maybe with more fan noise & a bit of throttling on long/demanding jobs, but not the night-and-day difference there used to be between mobile and desktop Intel chips & AMD GPUs. Desktops have slightly better I/O, but laptops can be paired with a TB dock. I think the time to "go desktop" is when it gets to spending 99% of time on the desk & an iPad or cheap laptop is meetimg all of your mobile needs... or if you're completely maxing out the ports with high-performance devices.
 
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mdcmdcmdc said:
Holy mixed metaphors Batman! 🤣
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It’s been around for a while:

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Not too keen on a touch screen for a high end laptop ... I mean, are they re-creating the Surface Pro?
 
Let’s see….said the blind man to the deaf.

As with regards to myself, I just unboxed an brand new MacBook Pro M4 16/1 which I bought purely on the sensation of the impending The Great Rampocalypse of 2026. Which looks like it will be an actual thing.

Well, I also got it $250 cheaper than retail and with a interest free 12 month split in payments. So it was sort of kind of a no-brainer. I could have gotten an M3 Pro for same price but I figured I wouldn’t notice much difference, battery life /heat profile would be improved somewhat and the upgraded webcam was nice.

The alternative was waiting for a M5 Pro 24/1TB at…what do we think, $300-350 more than current M4 Pro?
 
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Using the hotspot on my phone has been killing my speeds... I really hope these come will cellular!
 
wikiverse said:
Why don't you get a more powerful Mac Studio for the 92% of the time? You're paying more for a laptop to use it as a desktop. The other 8% you could probably just use the iPad and not have a laptop at all.

Or just keep the M1 as your laptop for the 8% and get a Studio for the 92%.
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yeah I bought a 16" m4 pro last year to bring back and forth to work and then I remembered I hate laptops and hate lugging them around

so I got an m1 mini at work and the mbp is sitting closed at home

going to give it to my partner and buy a m4 max (or m5?) studio for not much more than the mbp cost

she actually prefers laptop, is a hobbyist photographer and on an intel MacBook (air?) still. so she'll appreciate it
 
JulianL said:
"what do you mean by "boards"? Are you talking about the PCB i.e. the pin-outs and maybe also the physical package size of the M4 Pro and M4 Max were different so they needed different PCBs (motherboards)?
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Yes, I meant the logic boards. Sorry, I should have been clear. But I was confused -- the rumor you referred to is *not* about logic board numbers (like J704 for M5 MacBook Pro 14", and so on) as I thought when I wrote that, it is about the SoC chip identifiers and CPU platform names: New M5 Chips Spotted in iOS 26.3 Beta

I believe the logic board numbers have leaked (see Marco Zivkovic), including J714s and J716s, so it seems very unlikely Apple will drop the Pro/Max marketing.

The T6051 SoIC with the H17C platform could encompass both Pro and Max -- so Pro and Max look the same (from the outside, as it were), just with different core counts on the inside.
JulianL said:
I've been wondering about pin compatibility across the various M4 & M5 variants specifically to try and determine my level of pessimism vs optimism about the rest of the M5 MacBook Pro range (the ones we hope are about to be announced) getting the new N1 chip.

My pessimism that we won't see the N1 in the rest of the M5 MacBook Pro range (and hence probably also not in an M5 MacBook Air if that is also released) is based on the fact that we didn't see the N1 chip in the baseline M5 MacBook Pro released last year and wondering whether that might have been because the baseline M5 chip is pin-compatible with the baseline M4 chip (I don't know if that's true, I'm just speculating) so by not making any other changes (in particular not changing the networking hardware) Apple could use the same baseline M4 MacBook Pro motherboard PCB for the M5 successor thus saving design and production line change costs.

In light of what you say though I'm now wondering about the wider pin-compatibility picture of M4 Pro/Max vs whatever the M5 equivalents end up being (maybe different core counts but all essentially M5 Max chips?). If the M4 Pro/Max to M5 (Pro?)/Max transition does break pin compatibility with the M4 predecessors thus needing a PCB redesign to accommodate a new SoIC unified PCB pin-out then that gives me some optimism that if the main PCB is having to be reworked anyway Apple might also redesign the networking section to accommodate the N1 chip.

If I'm reading your post correctly then I think you've just moved me at least slightly away from a pessimistic "we didn't see the N1 in the baseline M5 MacBook Pro last year so we probably won't see it in the rest of the line-up this year" towards being slightly more optimistic that we might actually see it in the rest of the M5 MacBook Pro models.
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I'd be pessimistic -- N1 appears with the A19 and A19 Pro, which are on the next-generation CPU platform H18A and H18P, and not part of the A18/M5 family: [A18 = H17A, A18 Pro = H17P, M5 = H17G].

N1 might be CPU-platform agnostic and so it could appear with the M5 Pro/Max/Ultra, but we don't know.
 

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MacRumors said:


Apple is working on a new MacBook Pro that could launch next week ahead of the "Special Experience" planned for March 4, so we thought we'd highlight all of the rumors about the device so far.

macbook-pro-blue.jpg

Design

There are no rumors of design changes, and we are expecting the upcoming M5 MacBook Pro models to look just like the M4 versions. Apple will continue to offer 14-inch and 16-inch size options, both of which should come in M5 Pro and M5 Max varieties.

M5 Max and M5 Pro Chip

We already got the base model 14-inch MacBook Pro with the new M5 chip in October, so what we're expecting are upgraded 14-inch and 16-inch models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.

The M5 family is built on a more advanced N3P 3-nanometer process from TSMC, and it offers speed and efficiency improvements. The M5 chip is up to 20 percent faster in multi-core CPU performance than the M4 chip, and we could see similar improvements for the M5 Pro and M5 Max chip options. GPU performance is up to 30 percent faster.

With the M5, Apple added a Neural Accelerator to each GPU core, improving the speeds of GPU-based AI workloads. The chip also supports third-generation ray-tracing, second-generation dynamic caching, and enhanced shader cores.

The 16-core Neural Engine is more energy efficient than before, and unified memory bandwidth has improved significantly. These are all features that we're likely to see with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips as well.

Other Possible Updates

We haven't heard rumors about any other features coming to the MacBook Pro line. Apple did update SSD speeds for the M5 MacBook Pro models, so we could see the same upgrade to the M5 Pro and M5 Max machines.

Why You Shouldn't Buy an M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro

If you're not in serious need of a new MacBook Pro right away, early 2026 is a bad time to upgrade. The next-generation MacBook Pro after the early 2026 models is expected to feature an OLED display and touchscreen capabilities, both of which will mark a major upgrade in display quality. It's expected to include a Dynamic Island instead of a notch, and macOS will be optimized for touch interactions.

Most people shelling out extra money for a MacBook Pro with a higher-end M5 Pro or M5 Max chip need the extra performance or display quality, so it is worth waiting for the huge update that's coming.

The transition to OLED will also likely bring a design update along with M6 Pro and M6 Max chip technology, which is another reason to wait.

Of course, the new features could be limited to higher-end MacBook Pro models or could be significantly more expensive. If you're on a budget, need a Mac now, or don't care about OLED, the M5 Pro and Max models could still be worth considering.

Launch Date

The new MacBook Pro models could be announced via press release next week ahead of Apple's Special Experience.

Article Link: M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro: What to Expect
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Best time is NOW.

I'm rocking a 2018 M1. It has been an awesome machine, but now is the time to upgrade.

If they come out with a juicier one in 7 months - fine. I'll get another one.

YOLO.
 
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wikiverse said:
Why don't you get a more powerful Mac Studio for the 92% of the time? You're paying more for a laptop to use it as a desktop. The other 8% you could probably just use the iPad and not have a laptop at all.

Or just keep the M1 as your laptop for the 8% and get a Studio for the 92%.
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I actually went down this road and got a Studio because my personal laptop was docked most of the time. I've barely used it and just prefer to use my work laptop instead.

My ideal use case is stacking my personal M5P MBP on top of my M2M MBP, and simply switching two USB-Cs when I want my dual 5ks and all my peripherals for off-work time. I could finagle a way to do this with the Studio, but I've tried and I've come to peace with the fact that I just can't be bothered. It will give me a little chunk of change towards the M5P.

In the other 10% of the time, I'll be using the laptop out and about, and I don't want to have to rely on my work laptop anymore than I have to.
 
mdcmdcmdc said:
Nothing to see here, just another "don't buy an M5 MacBook Pro" article by Juli Clover, two weeks after the last one.

Yeah, don't buy it. That is... unless you have work to do this year.

Or wait, and be the first to buy a newly redesigned machine with lots of gee-whiz technologies that have never been in a Mac before. What could possibly go wrong? Just think of the bragging rights you'll have in the forums!
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No kidding... I've already BEEN waiting to buy the M5 Pro. I am currently working on the last Intel-based MacBook Pro from 2019 that I have to carry around an external keyboard to use because the F & T keys are fried. It's been a good little soldier for a long time, but the hardware is clearing not keeping up with the software anymore and it's really bogging me down. Don't need a touchscreen or OLED on my MacBook... I have an iPad for that. What I need is a fully functioning laptop.
 
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Have an M4 Pro 24, and will pick up/Trade in for a M5 Pro with more RAM. OLED screen while nice, I'd rather use my externals for that.
All my bags fit this layout and infrastructure in the house via Dock/external monitors already optimized. Also, thinking ahead that this is the last model that RAM prices are semi locked in.
 
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