The Mac’s brain just got an upgrade. M5 is officially here.
Apple has unveiled its next-generation M5-powered MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lineup, promising dramatic AI performance leaps, faster storage, and next-level connectivity. From redesigned CPU cores to a brand-new wireless chip built for Wi-Fi 7, this refresh is more than a routine speed bump.
With doubled base storage on the MacBook Air and Apple’s most powerful Pro chips yet in the MacBook Pro, the M5 family signals a clear push toward faster, smarter, and more future-ready Macs.
MacBook Pro Gets M5 Pro and M5 Max
Apple is positioning the new MacBook Pro as its most powerful pro laptop yet, thanks to the debut of the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. According to the company, the new MacBook Pro delivers “game-changing performance and AI capabilities,” powered by a redesigned CPU and a next-generation GPU architecture that includes a Neural Accelerator in each core.
The chips are built on a new Apple-designed “Fusion Architecture” that combines two dies into a single system-on-a-chip. The 18-core CPU includes six “super cores” that Apple calls the world’s fastest CPU core, alongside 12 performance cores designed for multithreaded pro workloads.
Apple says the new MacBook Pro can deliver:
- Up to 4x faster AI performance compared to the previous generation.
- Up to 8x faster AI image generation than M1-based models.
- Up to 50% graphics performance improvement over M4 Pro and M4 Max.
- Up to 2x faster SSD speeds, reaching up to 14.5GB/s.
- Up to 128GB of unified memory
- Memory bandwidth up to 614GB/s on M5 Max
Storage also gets a bump. The M5 Pro models now start at 1TB, while M5 Max configurations start at 2TB.
Battery life stretches up to 24 hours, according to Apple. The machines also introduce the N1 wireless chip, enabling Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and include Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI with up to 8K support, an SDXC card slot, and MagSafe 3 charging.
Pricing starts at $2,199 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and $3,599 for the 14-inch model with M5 Max. The 16-inch versions begin at $2,699 and $3,899, respectively.
MacBook Air gets M5 and more storage
Apple is also updating its most popular laptop, the MacBook Air, with the standard M5 chip.
The M5 chip in the MacBook Air features a 10-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, each with Neural Accelerators to improve AI tasks. Apple claims up to 4x faster AI performance compared to the M4 version and up to 9.5x faster than M1-based MacBook Air models.
The new MacBook Air now starts with 512GB of storage, double the previous base configuration, and can be configured up to 4TB. Apple also says the SSD is twice as fast as the previous generation.
Battery life is rated at up to 18 hours. The laptop includes Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 via Apple’s N1 wireless chip, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 12MP Center Stage camera, and support for up to two external displays. It comes in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes, available in sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver.
Pricing starts at $1,099 for the 13-inch model and $1,299 for the 15-inch version.
A strong push into on-device AI
Across both the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air updates, Apple is clearly leaning into on-device AI performance. With upgraded Neural Engines, GPU-based Neural Accelerators, and higher memory bandwidth, the company is positioning its M5 family as built for local AI tasks, from large language models to creative tools.
Both the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air ship with macOS Tahoe, which introduces updates to Spotlight, Shortcuts, and Apple Intelligence features. Live Translation is integrated into Messages, FaceTime, and the Phone app, enabling on-device language translation. Apple also highlights tighter Continuity features between Mac and iPhone.
For more on Apple’s latest hardware moves, check out our coverage of the newly announced iPhone 17e and what it means for the company’s lineup.
