This marks the midpoint of Apple’s new product announcements scheduled for the week, which focuses on Apple Silicon, specifically the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. The new chips are debuting in the updated MacBook Pro generations – the 14-inch and 16-inch models. Along with these, the popular MacBook Air is getting a generational refresh with the base M5 chip. Apple has also unveiled the next version of Studio Display and Studio Display XDR. Earlier this week, Apple announced the new iPhone 17e and iPad Air with M4.
The M5 Pro and M5 Max chips feature what the tech giant calls fusion architecture, which combines two dies into one system on a chip, or SoC. It brings together two third-generation 3-nanometer dies with a powerful new CPU, a scalable graphics chip, a Neural Engine and integrated memory with high bandwidth and low latency. The M5 Pro and M5 Max have some architectural similarities, such as an 18-core CPU with six “super cores” and 12 brand new performance cores, although in different states of tune.
Apple said the M5 Pro chip has up to an 18-core CPU and up to a 20-core GPU, including a neural accelerator in each core for AI calculations. With four additional CPU cores compared to the M4 Pro, performance increases of up to 30% are seen for professional workloads. The M5 Max features up to a 40-core GPU, supports up to 128GB of integrated memory, with a CPU architecture that is 15% faster than the M4 Max.
“The M5 Pro and M5 Max are a huge leap forward for Apple silicon, leveraging our new Fusion architecture to extend the capabilities of Apple silicon while preserving the core principles of performance, power efficiency and unified memory architecture,” said Johnny Sruzzi, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “Both chips underpin our continued pace of innovation, integrating the world’s fastest CPU cores, a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator, a faster Neural Engine, and high-bandwidth, high-capacity memory – resulting in a unique combination of performance, efficiency, and incredible on-device AI capabilities for MacBook Pro.”
The Apple MacBook Air with the M5 (not to be confused with the M5 Pro or M5 Max) succeeds the M4-powered version, with a few more generational hardware improvements — doubling the starting storage capacity of 512GB with faster SSD performance, Apple’s N1 wireless chip with Wi-Fi 7 support, and the chip’s focus on what extends into workflows. MacBook Air will be available in 13-inch and 15-inch models, with headline performance improvements focused on 4x faster AI compute compared to the M4, 1.9x faster AI video enhancements, and 2x faster performance in typically demanding apps. It has a claimed battery life of up to 18 hours.
“The new MacBook Air with M5 brings incredible performance and even more capability to the world’s most popular laptop,” said John Ternes, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. “With M5, MacBook Air accomplishes a wide range of tasks from everyday productivity to creative workloads, and is even faster thanks to AI. Now featuring twice the initial storage, as well as Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. In an attractive and durable design with longer battery life, MacBook Air is the perfect laptop for those who value an unmatched combination of performance and portability.”
Apple says 13-inch MacBook Air will be priced with the M5 ₹While the price of 15 inch MacBook Air with M5 will be Rs 1,19,900 ₹Starting from Rs 1,44,900.
Pre-orders in India will begin on March 4, with general availability starting on March 11.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro now offer a choice of M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, along with the already available M5 option. Here too, the base storage has been doubled, with M5 Pro machines configured with at least 1TB of storage. The M5 Max option comes with at least 2TB of storage – like the MacBook Air with the M5’s faster SSD upgrade, the MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro and M5 Max will also get a 2x faster SSD. Apple stressed that this combination will deliver 4x AI performance compared to the previous generation chips. Apple said that these versions of the MacBook Pro offer up to 24 hours of battery life.
In India, 14‑inch MacBook Pro debuts alongside M5 Pro ₹₹ 2,49,900 while the iterations with the M5 Max chip will cost ₹Starting from Rs 3,99,900. The price of the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro is ₹2,99,900 while the same screen size with M5 Max chip will start ₹4,29,900.