Apple unveiled refreshed MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models powered by its new M5 series chips, promising faster processing and stronger artificial intelligence (AI), performance for work and creative tasks.
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models now run on M5 Pro and M5 Max. Apple said the chips use a new Fusion Architecture that combines two dies into one system on a chip, integrating the CPU, GPU, memory controller, Neural Engine, and Thunderbolt 5 support.
M5 Pro and M5 Max carry an 18-core CPU design with six high-performance “super cores” and 12 efficiency cores for multithreaded workloads. Apple said the chips can deliver up to 30 percent faster performance for professional applications. The GPU scales up to 40 cores and includes a Neural Accelerator in each core, increasing AI processing by up to four times compared with the previous generation and up to eight times compared with M1-based models. Graphics performance for ray tracing apps improves by up to 35 percent over M4 Pro and M4 Max, according to the company.
The new MacBook Pro starts at 1TB of storage for M5 Pro and 2TB for M5 Max, with SSD speeds up to twice as fast as before. It also features Apple’s N1 wireless chip with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Other features include up to 24 hours of battery life, a Liquid Retina XDR display with nano-texture option, a 12MP Center Stage camera, studio-quality microphones, and a six-speaker system.
The MacBook Air now runs on the base M5 chip. The 13-inch and 15-inch models start at 512GB of storage and support up to 4TB. They offer up to 18 hours of battery life, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for two external displays.
