Review: Apple’s 14-in. M5 MacBook Pro – one day all computers might be as good
The laptop you use tomorrow will be like a Mac: Beautifully-designed, easy-to-use, highly secure, and packed with enough power to run artificial intelligence (AI) on device.
It will possess advanced memory handling to optimize the use of that precious component, rather than squandering cash, heat sinks, and internal real estate on RAM that doesn’t usually get used. Designed to optimize the OS it runs, it will integrate with your mobile devices, have a built-in tracker in case of loss, and will retain the best possible value on second-user markets.
Professionals will use these machines to replace desktops in countless scenarios, boosted by on-device AI capabilities — or at least, highly private and sovereign cloud-based AI services. In a world of energy scarcity, the power efficient chip in the device in your hands will be worth three in the cloud, while computing models will evolve to be small enough to work on devices at the edge most of the time.
What you’ve got
You don’t need to wait for this future; with Apple’s all-new 14-in. MacBook Pro with an M5 processor, tomorrow’s already here.
It’s a computer that ticks each one of those boxes, with the kind of best-in-class, industry-leading power and performance required to make it a capable productivity partner for years to come. In that sense, it’s much like the M5 iPad Pro I recently reviewed.
As for the specifications, I’ve been using a stylish, Apple-provided Space Black 14-in. MacBook Pro. The mid-range model ships with 1TB SSD storage, costs $1,799 and carries the powerful 10-core CPU/10-core GPU M5 processor, equipped with 16GB Unified Memory. Apple got it back, but I still have my memories.
Which begs the question, how powerful is this chip? Stopping briefly from making pictures of family members riding unicorns in DrawThings AI, I reached for my Apple ID and installed a handful of the usual tests.
Making sure to check the OS was up to date on my test model and sadly switching off the rather thrilling game I’d managed to disappear into, I set them running (one at a time). These are the results I gained on the test machine. (They seem to be in the same range as data found online.)
GeekBench 6
Single-core: 4,250
Multi-core: 17,819
OpenCL: 48,470.
CineBench
CPU: Single-Core: 2,464. Multicore: 15,745
MP ratio: 6..39
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
Write: 6,500.4 MB/s
Read: 6,774.3 MB/s
Apple
What do the numbers mean?
Given test results really only mean something to a relatively small number of folks, let me paraphrase the significance of these data points.
The Geekbench score means these Macs are among the top three computers in the world when it comes to processor intensive operations (the others are energy-devouring desktops you can’t pop under your arm). The score also means the M5 MacBook Pros should turn out to be the fastest Macs you’ve ever browsed the web with, as apps such as browsers, email, and all the other things you use each day tend to rely on single-core processes — and the MacBook Pro is the fastest single-core notebook you’ll find on Geekbench right now.
That means you’ll experience a noticeable difference doing the things you do every day, while also having the power to handle complex operations you might need to tackle less often.
The CineBench data is also good news. It means that if your business involves rendering images, applying complex 3D transitions, or even data modelling, these machines will crunch right through those tasks. Finally, the Blackmagic test reassures us that even when handling really large chunks of data, such as video or RAW images, you’ll have little lag while those huge files are opened and worked with.
Everything you do, from games to 3D modeling to messing around with Genmoji will look remarkable on the now customary Liquid Retina XDR display — a display that also happens to be color-accurate enough for film and television color grading.
Apple
These will do the business
As you might expect from a professional Mac, these machines will take anything you throw at them and come back for more. Serious pro users will take heart in this, as it bodes extraordinarily well for the more advanced (M5 Pro, M5 Ultra) processors we expect to appear in spring.
That Macs running those chips are likely to appear means the company now has a Mac to scale across the widest possible usage scenarios, with introduction of a low-cost MacBook expected to take an even bigger chunk out of the low and mid-range PC market.
When it comes to price, the fact you can pick up the same machine I tested for $1,799 makes these Macs an absolute steal. Yes, I know that amount isn’t peanuts, it’s a lot of money – more than I can afford on the ever-shrinking pittance I make in journalism. But if you’re a professional user doing professional tasks that require this much horsepower, the price seems plenty attractive.
Given that the Mac consistently delivers significantly higher Geekbench test results than its PC brethren, Windows laptops with Snapdragon X Elite and Intel Core Ultra 7 200 processors can’t match these devices. Indeed, by the time PCs carrying the next-gen Snapdragon/Intel chips appear next year, Apple will answer back with an even more performant M5 Pro. Apple Silicon really is winning the processor wars, and even high-end gamers will see the benefit of the performance, power, and flexibility of these machines, with much better battery life.
And a better OS
Skip the eye candy and think about it. Apple’s OSes consistently generate the highest user satisfaction scores in the business. More secure, built with privacy inside, easy to use and much-loved by consumers (your employees), Macs are cheaper to run over time, cost less in tech support, and you can swap them for real hard currency once they reach EOL in your company.
Not only this, but you get regular software updates, annual operating system updates (free), and a thriving ecosystem to support device management, security, identity and beyond. Better yet, free training is available at most Apple retail stores.
While I agree that defining what makes an OS “better” is necessarily about individual choice, it’s hard not to see how these Macs tick the right boxes. That they will also run Windows really well in emulation mode thanks to Parallels (or various flavors of Linux) means you can legitimately go Mac while maintaining legacy integration.
Innovation inside
If I had a cent every time some “influencer” moaned about Apple’s lack of innovation, I’d probably be only mildly better off, but it remains as untrue as it’s ever been. Guy Debord puts it this way, saying, “The fetishism of the commodity … attains its ultimate fulfilment in the spectacle.”
When it comes to Apple, it means many continue to seek innovation in relatively shallow things like shape and form, while ignoring the value of the heaps of innovation packed inside the company’s products. Think about the Macs you own now and what they can do in contrast to the iMac you perhaps once had in your home in the late 90s.
Sure, the devices aren’t in see through, multi-colored plastic any more. But just look at the rich set of features inside: the processor, the operating system, the components, the graphics support, the display innovation, more. Stop, think beyond the spectacle, and you will surely recognize that packed inside each Mac are literally hundreds and hundreds of years of human ingenuity, going all the way back to at least 1843 and the genius of Ada Lovelace — and probably back to alchemy itself.
Alchemy? What else do you call the weird magic in materials science inside every MacBook Pro? That alchemy is evidenced in that the Mac is made from 45% recycled material, including a 100% recycled aluminium enclosure and 100% recycled rare earths in the magnets, even down to 100% recycled cobalt in the battery.
While some of these materials owe debts to early chemistry, Apple’s deep investments in new manufacturing processes should be seen as just as innovative as the touch UI on the first iPhone. Even Alexander Graham Bell would be impressed making his first FaceTime call using that 12-megapixel Center Stage Camera, the built-in studio microphones, and superb six-speaker surround sound system. Put some music on and disappear into a beautifully productive audio bubble from this machine.
Buying advice
Not everyone needs one, but many people will want one anyway. Apple’s MacBook Air remains the go-to Mac for most of us, but if your work involves anything at all processor-intensive, then you’ll want to go Pro.
If that’s you and you happen to be using an M1 or (arguably) M2 Mac, or earlier, then this is the right upgrade for you. If you are already using an M4 you can probably wait another year before you upgrade. If you’re on a Windows PC, it’s likely that after a little culture shock (mostly around the Ctrl button) you’ll be eminently satisfied with a Mac that runs Windows better than most PCs.
Would I get one? Of course I would, I’m the Appleholic. It should be clear that tomorrow’s laptops will deliver as much as this Mac — but by then, Apple will be offering something even better. Right now, I don’t think there is a laptop that’s any better than this that isn’t also made by Apple.
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