Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

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MacBook Pro 14″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) compared with MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

	AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)	AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2026	June 2012
Display
Screen size
Screen size	14.2″	15.4″
Resolution
Resolution	3024 × 1964 (better)	1440 × 900 or 1680 × 1050
Panel
Panel	Mini-LED	TN LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	120 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	1,000 nits	–
HDR peak brightness
HDR peak brightness	1,600 nits	–
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Liquid Retina XDR display	15.4-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, millions of colours; TN technology identified in Macworld's comparison test of its Mid-2012 non-Retina unit. Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.
Pixel density
Pixel density	254 ppi	–
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours	–
Screen finish
Screen finish	Standard, or nano-texture as an option	Standard glossy screen; configurable to a 1680 × 1050 higher-resolution glossy or antiglare screen
Display features
Display features	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
Processor	Apple M5 Pro or Apple M5 Max	Intel Core i7-3615QM, Intel Core i7-3720QM or Intel Core i7-3820QM
CPU cores
CPU cores	15 or 18	4
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	8
Graphics
Graphics	16-core GPU, 20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M (512 MB GDDR5) or NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M (1 GB GDDR5)
Memory
Memory	24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better)	4 GB or 8 GB
Storage
Storage	1 TB to 8 TB (better)	128 GB to 1 TB
CPU
CPU	15-core CPU with 5 super cores and 10 performance cores (entry M5 Pro), or 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores	Quad-core Intel Core i7-3615QM at 2.3 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz and 6 MB L3 cache, or Core i7-3720QM at 2.6 GHz with up to 3.6 GHz and 6 MB cache; the higher base is configurable to Core i7-3820QM at 2.7 GHz with up to 3.7 GHz and 8 MB cache. Exact identities documented by EveryMac.
GPU
GPU	16-core or 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	Intel HD Graphics 4000 plus NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with automatic graphics switching; 512 MB GDDR5 on the 2.3 GHz base or 1 GB GDDR5 on the 2.6 GHz base and its 2.7 GHz upgrade
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory	1600 MHz DDR3 memory; 4 GB on the 2.3 GHz base, configurable to 8 GB as two 4 GB modules; 8 GB on the 2.6 GHz base. Configurations retain the maker-supported 8 GB ceiling, excluding larger aftermarket upgrades.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	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
Storage type	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 a 16-inch M5 Max with 8 TB)	2.3 GHz base has a 500 GB 5400 rpm hard drive; 2.6 GHz base has 750 GB at 5400 rpm. Either offers 750 GB at 7200 rpm, 1 TB at 5400 rpm or 128/256/512 GB SSD; the lower base also offers 750 GB at 5400 rpm. Configurations list the distinct capacities; the two 750 GB rotational-speed options remain explicit here. Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 22 hours	Up to 7 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	72.4 Wh	77.5 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	1.6 kg (better)	2.56 kg
Thickness
Thickness	15.5 mm (better)	24.1 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	312.6 × 221.2 mm	364 × 249 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	M5 Pro up to 22 hours video streaming and 14 hours wireless web; M5 Max up to 20 hours video streaming and 13 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery	Built-in 77.5 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 7 hours wireless web under Apple's test conditions. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger
Charger	Sold separately in the UK (70 W or 96 W Apple USB-C adapters offered); needs at least 70 W over USB PD	85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management
Fast charging
Fast charging	With a 96 W or higher USB PD power source	–
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall	Aluminium unibody enclosure
Colours
Colours	Space Black, Silver	Silver
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	2 × USB-A, Thunderbolt, MagSafe, Ethernet, headphone jack, SD card slot
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 7	802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	6	4.0
Webcam
Webcam	12MP Center Stage	720p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	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	Two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s, Thunderbolt up to 10 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output, Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800 up to 800 Mb/s, SDXC, MagSafe and separate digital/analogue audio line input and output; Apple iPhone headset remote and microphone supported. Kensington lock slot and built-in SuperDrive; no HDMI port.
External displays
External displays	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	Built-in screen plus one external display up to 2560 × 1600, with millions of colours; DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI or HDMI audio/video through separate Mini DisplayPort adapters
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys	Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, four arrow keys and ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Glass Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap and drag
Speakers
Speakers	High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos	Stereo speakers with subwoofer
Microphones
Microphones	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes	Omnidirectional microphone
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	–
In the box
In the box	14-inch MacBook Pro, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only); power adapter sold separately	MacBook Pro, display cleaning cloth, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, power cord and documentation; OS X Lion and iLife, with a free Mountain Lion upgrade offered to eligible launch buyers