Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) | AppleMacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | March 2026 | February 2013 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 16.2″ | 15.4″ |
| Resolution | 3456 × 2234 (better) | 2880 × 1800 |
| Panel | Mini-LED | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | – |
| Brightness | 1,000 nits | – |
| HDR peak brightness | 1,600 nits | – |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display | Retina LED-backlit IPS display with millions of colours; native 2880 × 1800 and scaled modes of 1920 × 1200, 1680 × 1050, 1280 × 800 and 1024 × 640. Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple. |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | 220 ppi |
| Colour range | 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 | – |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Apple M5 Pro or Apple M5 Max | Intel Core i7-3635QM, Intel Core i7-3740QM or Intel Core i7-3840QM |
| CPU cores | 18 | 4 |
| CPU threads | – | 8 |
| Graphics | 20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M (1 GB GDDR5) |
| Memory | 24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better) | 8 GB or 16 GB |
| Storage | 1 TB to 8 TB (better) | 256 GB to 768 GB |
| CPU | 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores | Quad-core Core i7-3635QM at 2.4 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz, 6 MB shared L3 cache), Core i7-3740QM at 2.7 GHz (up to 3.7 GHz, 6 MB), or Core i7-3840QM at 2.8 GHz (up to 3.8 GHz, 8 MB). The lower base offers both faster processor options; the upper base can upgrade from 2.7 GHz to 2.8 GHz. Primate Labs documents exact chip identities, cross-checked against Intel. |
| GPU | 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 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1 GB GDDR5 memory; automatic graphics switching |
| AI engine | 16-core Neural Engine | – |
| Memory type | Unified memory | 1600 MHz DDR3L onboard memory; the lower base has 8 GB, configurable to 16 GB. The upper base has 16 GB as standard. Memory cannot be upgraded after purchase. |
| 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 | 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) | Flash storage; lower 2.4 GHz base has 256 GB, configurable to 512 GB or 768 GB. The upper 2.7 GHz base has 512 GB, configurable to 768 GB. All three processor options and both memory sizes are explicitly available through the lower base; duplicate upper-base combinations appear once. |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 24 hours | Up to 7 hours |
| Battery capacity | 99.6 Wh (better) | 95 Wh |
| Weight | 2.14 kg | 2.02 kg (better) |
| Thickness | 16.8 mm (better) | 18 mm |
| Width × depth | 355.7 × 248.1 mm | 358.9 × 247.1 mm |
| Battery life detail | 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 | Built-in 95 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 7 hours wireless web or 30 days standby under Apple's test conditions. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. |
| Charger | Sold separately in the UK; needs at least 140 W over USB PD | 85 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management |
| Fast charging | With a 140 W or higher USB PD power source | – |
| Materials | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall | Aluminium enclosure |
| Colours | Space Black, Silver | Silver |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | 2 × USB-A, 2 × Thunderbolt, MagSafe 2, headphone jack, SD card slot, HDMI |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 | 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g |
| Bluetooth | 6 | 4.0 |
| Webcam | 12MP Center Stage | 720p 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 | Two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s, two Thunderbolt ports up to 10 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 2 and headphone/optical digital audio output and support for Apple iPhone headset with microphone. Ethernet and FireWire require separate Thunderbolt adapters. |
| 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 up to two external displays at 2560 × 1600, with millions of colours; DVI, VGA and dual-link DVI adapters sold separately |
| 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 | Force Touch trackpad | Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap and drag |
| Speakers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos | Stereo speakers |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes | Dual microphones |
| Biometrics | Touch ID | – |
| In the box | 16-inch MacBook Pro, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only); power adapter sold separately | MacBook Pro with Retina display, MagSafe 2 Power Adapter, AC wall plug and power cord; OS X Mountain Lion and iLife apps |
More comparisons
- Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012)
- Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2006)
- Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2006)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)

