Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)

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MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max) compared with MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)

	AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max)	AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
Overview
Released
Released	October 2021	March 2026
Display
Screen size
Screen size	16.2″	16.2″
Resolution
Resolution	3456 × 2234	3456 × 2234
Panel
Panel	Mini-LED	Mini-LED
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	120 Hz	120 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	500 nits	1,000 nits (better)
HDR peak brightness
HDR peak brightness	1,600 nits	1,600 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting	Liquid Retina XDR display
Pixel density
Pixel density	254 ppi	254 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Screen finish
Screen finish	–	Standard, or nano-texture as an option
Display features
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
Processor	Apple M1 Pro or Apple M1 Max	Apple M5 Pro or Apple M5 Max
CPU cores
CPU cores	10	18
Graphics
Graphics	16-core GPU, 24-core GPU or 32-core GPU	20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB	24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 8 TB	1 TB to 8 TB
CPU
CPU	M1 Pro or M1 Max with 10-core CPU, comprising 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores	18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores
GPU
GPU	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	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
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory; 16 GB or 32 GB with M1 Pro, 32 GB or 64 GB with M1 Max	Unified memory
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	200 GB/s (M1 Pro); 400 GB/s (M1 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
Storage type	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	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)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 21 hours	Up to 24 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	99.6 Wh	99.6 Wh
Weight
Weight	2.1 kg (better)	2.14 kg
Thickness
Thickness	16.8 mm	16.8 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	355.7 × 248.1 mm	355.7 × 248.1 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	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	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
Charger	140 W USB-C power adapter included	Sold separately in the UK; needs at least 140 W over USB PD
Fast charging
Fast charging	With the included 140 W USB-C adapter and USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable	With a 140 W or higher USB PD power source
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall
Colours
Colours	Silver, Space Grey	Space Black, Silver
Connections
Ports
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	Wi-Fi 6	Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.0	6
Webcam
Webcam	1080p FaceTime HD	12MP Center Stage
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
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
External displays	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	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
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
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
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
Microphones	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	Touch ID
In the box
In the box	16-inch MacBook Pro, 140 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