Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M3) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M3) | AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | November 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 | 600 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 M3 | Apple M5 Pro or Apple M5 Max |
| CPU cores | 8 | 18 |
| Graphics | 10-core GPU | 20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU |
| Memory | 8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB | 24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better) |
| Storage | 512 GB to 2 TB | 1 TB to 8 TB (better) |
| CPU | 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores | 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores |
| GPU | 10-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing; media engine supports H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW, video and ProRes encode/decode, and AV1 decode | 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; 8 GB or 16 GB, configurable to 24 GB | Unified memory |
| Memory bandwidth | 100 GB/s | 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; 512 GB or 1 TB, configurable to 2 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 22 hours | Up to 24 hours |
| Battery capacity | 69.6 Wh | 99.6 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.55 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 15 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 | 70 W USB-C Power Adapter | Sold separately in the UK; needs at least 140 W over USB PD |
| Fast charging | With optional 96 W USB-C Power 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 | 2 × Thunderbolt 3, 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 | Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 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 | One external display with the built-in screen active; macOS Sonoma 14.6 or later supports two with the lid closed: primary up to 6K 60 Hz (or 4K 144 Hz), secondary up to 5K 60 Hz (or 4K 100 Hz), according to Apple’s updated display support page; original tech specs state HDMI up to 4K 120 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, 70 W USB-C Power 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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