Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012)

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MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) compared with MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012)

	AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)	AppleMacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2026	June 2012
Display
Screen size
Screen size	16.2″	15.4″
Resolution
Resolution	3456 × 2234 (better)	2880 × 1800
Panel
Panel	Mini-LED	IPS 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	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 Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.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
Pixel density	254 ppi	220 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	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 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	18	4
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	8
Graphics
Graphics	20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M (1 GB GDDR5)
Memory
Memory	24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better)	8 GB or 16 GB
Storage
Storage	1 TB to 8 TB (better)	256 GB to 768 GB
CPU
CPU	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 shared L3 cache, or Core i7-3720QM at 2.6 GHz with up to 3.6 GHz and 6 MB cache. The upper base can upgrade to Core i7-3820QM at 2.7 GHz with up to 3.7 GHz and 8 MB cache; exact identities documented by Notebookcheck.
GPU
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
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory	8 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L onboard memory, configurable to 16 GB at purchase
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 M5 Max and 8 TB)	Flash storage; the 2.3 GHz base has 256 GB without a storage upgrade at launch. The 2.6 GHz base has 512 GB, configurable to 768 GB, and offers the 2.7 GHz processor upgrade. These restrictions are documented by both contemporary reviews alongside Apple's base specifications.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 24 hours	Up to 7 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	99.6 Wh (better)	95 Wh
Weight
Weight	2.14 kg	2.02 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	16.8 mm (better)	18 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	355.7 × 248.1 mm	358.9 × 247.1 mm
Battery life detail
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
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
Fast charging	With a 140 W or higher USB PD power source	–
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall	Aluminium enclosure
Colours
Colours	Space Black, Silver	Silver
Connections
Ports
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	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, two Thunderbolt ports up to 10 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 2 and headphone jack with audio line output and support for Apple iPhone headset remote and microphone. Ethernet and FireWire require separate Thunderbolt adapters.
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 up to two external displays at 2560 × 1600, with millions of colours; DVI, VGA and dual-link DVI adapters sold separately
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
Microphones
Microphones	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes	Dual microphones
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	–
In the box
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 Lion and iLife apps; eligible for a free upgrade to the then-upcoming OS X Mountain Lion