Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M2 Pro / M2 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M2 Pro / M2 Max) | AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | January 2023 | March 2026 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 14.2″ | 16.2″ |
| Resolution | 3024 × 1964 | 3456 × 2234 (better) |
| Panel | Mini-LED | Mini-LED |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Brightness | 500 nits | 1,000 nits (better) |
| HDR peak brightness | 1,600 nits | 1,600 nits |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting | Liquid Retina XDR display |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Colour range | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours |
| Screen finish | – | Standard, or nano-texture as an option |
| Display features | 1,000,000:1 contrast; 1,000 nits sustained full-screen HDR brightness; ProMotion adaptive refresh up to 120 Hz; fixed 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 Hz rates; True Tone | 1,000,000:1 contrast; 1,000 nits sustained full-screen XDR brightness; ProMotion up to 120 Hz, with fixed 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 Hz rates; True Tone |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Apple M2 Pro or Apple M2 Max | Apple M5 Pro or Apple M5 Max |
| CPU cores | 10 or 12 | 18 |
| Graphics | 16-core GPU, 19-core GPU, 30-core GPU or 38-core GPU | 20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU |
| Memory | 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB or 96 GB | 24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better) |
| Storage | 512 GB to 8 TB | 1 TB to 8 TB |
| CPU | M2 Pro with 10-core CPU (6 performance, 4 efficiency) or 12-core CPU (8 performance, 4 efficiency); M2 Max with 12-core CPU | 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores |
| GPU | M2 Pro with 16-core or 19-core GPU; M2 Max with 30-core or 38-core GPU; hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; video decode, video encode and ProRes engines; M2 Max has two video encode and two ProRes engines | 20-core (M5 Pro), 32-core or 40-core (M5 Max) GPU with Neural Accelerators and hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode, with two video encode and two ProRes engines on M5 Max |
| AI engine | 16-core Neural Engine | 16-core Neural Engine |
| Memory type | Unified memory; 16 GB or 32 GB with M2 Pro, 32 GB or 64 GB with M2 Max; 96 GB with the 38-core GPU version | Unified memory |
| Memory bandwidth | 200 GB/s (M2 Pro); 400 GB/s (M2 Max) | 307 GB/s (M5 Pro), 460 GB/s (M5 Max with 32-core GPU) or 614 GB/s (M5 Max with 40-core GPU) |
| Storage type | SSD; M2 Pro starts at 512 GB, M2 Max at 1 TB; configurable to 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB | SSD, configurable up to 4 TB (M5 Pro) or 8 TB (M5 Max); Apple quotes up to 14.5 GB/s read and write (tested with M5 Max and 8 TB) |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 18 hours | Up to 24 hours |
| Battery capacity | 69.6 Wh | 99.6 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.6 kg (better) | 2.14 kg |
| Thickness | 15.5 mm (better) | 16.8 mm |
| Width × depth | 312.6 × 221.2 mm | 355.7 × 248.1 mm |
| Battery life detail | Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback or 12 hours wireless web; marketed as 70 Wh, with actual rating 69.6 Wh in Apple's footnote | M5 Pro up to 24 hours video streaming and 17 hours wireless web; M5 Max up to 22 hours video streaming and 16 hours wireless web; 100-watt-hour (actual rating 99.6 Wh) lithium-polymer battery |
| Charger | 67 W USB-C adapter with 10-core M2 Pro; 96 W adapter with 12-core M2 Pro or M2 Max, optional on the entry configuration | Sold separately in the UK; needs at least 140 W over USB PD |
| Fast charging | With 96 W USB-C adapter | With a 140 W or higher USB PD power source |
| Materials | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall |
| Colours | Silver, Space Grey | Space Black, Silver |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | 3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6E | Wi-Fi 7 |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 6 |
| Webcam | 1080p FaceTime HD | 12MP Center Stage |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | Three Thunderbolt 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s; HDMI; SDXC slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support | 3 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 5 and USB 4 (up to 120 Gb/s); HDMI (up to 8K) with multichannel audio output; SDXC card slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support |
| External displays | M2 Pro supports two at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt or one at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI; M2 Max supports three at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 144 Hz, or two at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz; HDMI alone supports 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz | M5 Pro up to three at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 144 Hz, or one at 8K 60 Hz, 5K 120 Hz or 4K 240 Hz plus one at 5K 120 Hz or 4K 200 Hz; M5 Max up to four at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 144 Hz, or two at 8K 60 Hz, 5K 120 Hz or 4K 240 Hz; all alongside the built-in display |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys | Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys |
| Trackpad | Force Touch trackpad | Force Touch trackpad |
| Speakers | Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes |
| Biometrics | Touch ID | Touch ID |
| In the box | 14-inch MacBook Pro, 67 W or 96 W USB-C adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m) | 16-inch MacBook Pro, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only); power adapter sold separately |
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