MBP 14 with M4 Pro vs base M5

[BigCanoe]

I’m thinking of swapping my M5 Air 15 for a Pro 14. There is a decent deal on a M4 Pro MBP with 12 CPU and 16 GPU cores on the Apple refurbished store. Versus a new M5 version, I think the major difference would be slower SSD, 2 fans vs 1, less AI power, worse single core performance, better multicore performance, otherwise about the same? Does the M4 Pro run hotter then the M5 at the same task? Anything else I am missing?

The season for switching from the Air is for more ports, better screen and better gaming FPS with active cooling.

Thanks!

 

[mercedx]

I’d say go watch some of the YouTube videos that dropped last year comparing the base M5 MacBook Pro to the M4 Pro. TLDR from what I remember was base M5 put up a very good fight but your mileage may vary.

 

[BigCanoe]

Yea they seem very close. One wins in one case the other another.

 

[conmee]

Don't expect a lot of gaming improvement. Both machines are ok. If FPS are super important, you'll need a Pro or Max.

Just two data points from benchmarks I ran on my laptops (I have an M5 Pro 18c/20c now):

The M4 Pro will give about 45% improvement when it comes to general graphics performance for many games. But we're only talking about 16fps vs 11fps on Steel Nomad (Extreme) benchmark. However, the tables turn in the base M5's favor when it comes to ray tracing. The M5 is about 55% faster than the M4 Pro on the Solar Bay (Extreme) benchmark due to the upgraded Ray Tracing 3.0 in the M5 chips. So depending on the types of games you play (Cyberpunk 2077 for example will run better with higher quality on the M5 vs M4 Pro), you may need to reconsider unless ports and a smaller (but ProMotion) display are important.

EDIT: To be clear, if FPS are important, you should consider an M5 Pro/Max with at least 24GB. My M5 Pro 64GB 20-core GPU gets 2338 / 23.4fps (Steel Nomad) and 47115 / 178.3fps (Solar Bay). It runs Cyberpunk and Stray (we have the same cat in real life lol) very well. I don't consider myself a gamer, but if I were a moderate gamer, I would be happy with the M5 Pro. If I wanted the best gaming I could get on a Mac, I'd get an M5 Max 40-core GPU.

 

[BigCanoe]

Thanks I didn't think about ray tracing! I think the cooling, speakers and better display would still be good for gaming though. Maybe a M5 Pro base is the way for me vs the Air. The main downsides being slightly smaller display and a bit more weight.

 

[conmee]

I didn't think the 14" Pro speakers were that much of an improvement over my wife's M5 Air speakers to be honest. You really notice an improvement with the 16" MBP's speakers though. Definitely much more bass and fuller range. The ProMotion display is great, I love it. But the M4 Pro, depending on the games you play and settings you choose, will struggle to hit 60fps. And despite being a great screen, the pixel response rate is slow relative to a decent external gaming display. So imho I don't think ProMotion provides much Mac gaming benefit in general. If the games you play are able to push past 60fps, then yes. But usually the only way the Mac does that on modern games is with reduced quality/lower resolution settings (there are exceptions).

Bottom line I think you have good reasons to prefer the 14" MBP for the display quality and ports. I just think gaming will be about the same/underwhelming so don't get hopes up on that. As for heat, the only time I've ever got the fans to really spin on the 14" I had or the 16" I now have is if I run benchmarks in a loop (3DMark, Cinebench) or gaming with high settings. None of the local AI stuff I'm playing with spins the fans up and the few videos I've rendered don't even break a sweat. So in your case, other than sustained game play, I doubt you'l ever hear the 14" MBP fans.

 

[BigCanoe]

Very helpful, thanks again