Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) | AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | March 2026 | October 2021 |
| 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 | 1,000 nits (better) | 500 nits |
| HDR peak brightness | 1,600 nits | 1,600 nits |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display | Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting |
| 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 XDR brightness; ProMotion up to 120 Hz, with fixed 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 Hz rates; True Tone | 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 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Apple M5 Pro or Apple M5 Max | Apple M1 Pro or Apple M1 Max |
| CPU cores | 15 or 18 | 10 |
| Graphics | 16-core GPU, 20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU | 16-core GPU, 24-core GPU or 32-core GPU |
| Memory | 24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better) | 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB |
| Storage | 1 TB to 8 TB | 512 GB to 8 TB |
| 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 | M1 Pro or M1 Max with 10-core CPU, comprising 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores |
| 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 | M1 Pro with 16-core GPU; M1 Max with 24-core or 32-core GPU; hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW with video decode and encode engines and ProRes acceleration; M1 Max has two ProRes accelerators |
| AI engine | 16-core Neural Engine | 16-core Neural Engine |
| Memory type | Unified memory | Unified memory; 16 GB or 32 GB with M1 Pro, 32 GB or 64 GB with M1 Max |
| 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) | 200 GB/s (M1 Pro); 400 GB/s (M1 Max) |
| 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) | SSD; M1 Pro starts at 512 GB with 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB options; Apple lists M1 Max starting at 1 TB with 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB options |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 22 hours | Up to 21 hours |
| Battery capacity | 72.4 Wh | 99.6 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.6 kg (better) | 2.1 kg |
| Thickness | 15.5 mm (better) | 16.8 mm |
| Width × depth | 312.6 × 221.2 mm | 355.7 × 248.1 mm |
| 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 | Up to 21 hours Apple TV app movie playback or 14 hours wireless web; marketed as 100 Wh, with actual rating 99.6 Wh in Apple's footnote |
| Charger | Sold separately in the UK (70 W or 96 W Apple USB-C adapters offered); needs at least 70 W over USB PD | 140 W USB-C power adapter included |
| Fast charging | With a 96 W or higher USB PD power source | With the included 140 W USB-C adapter and USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable |
| Materials | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure |
| Colours | Space Black, Silver | Silver, Space Grey |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | 3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | 6 | 5.0 |
| Webcam | 12MP Center Stage | 1080p FaceTime HD |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| 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 | 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 |
| 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 | M1 Pro supports up to two external displays at 6K 60 Hz; M1 Max up to three at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 60 Hz; HDMI supports one at 4K 60 Hz |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys | Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys |
| Trackpad | Force Touch trackpad | Force Touch trackpad |
| Speakers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos | Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming |
| Biometrics | Touch ID | Touch ID |
| 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 | 16-inch MacBook Pro, 140 W USB-C adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m) |
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