M5 MacBook Pro - Unboxing, Setup, M4 Comparison & Review

The new 2025 14-inch MacBook Pro M5, featuring improved SSD speeds, CPU, GPU, and neural engine performance, offers a notable upgrade for users on older Mac models but not a significant leap for recent M3 Max users.

• M5 MacBook Pro offers significant performance gains in SSD speed, CPU, GPU, and AI over M4 MacBook Air.

• The new 14-inch MacBook Pro M5 is a strong upgrade for M1/M2 users but less so for M3 Max owners.

• Despite performance boosts, the M5 MacBook Pro retains the same physical design and connectivity standards as its predecessor, lacking Wi-Fi 7 or Bluetooth 6.

The 2025 MacBook Pro M5 introduces significant performance enhancements over the M4 MacBook Air, particularly in SSD speed, CPU, GPU, and neural engine benchmarks. While its physical design remains consistent with previous generations, featuring standard ports and a high refresh rate display, the M5 chip delivers substantial gains in demanding tasks like video export and transcription. Upgrading is highly recommended for users with M1 or M2 Macs, but less so for those with M3 Max models.

M5 MacBook Pro Overview

• 00:00:00 The 2025 MacBook Pro M5 is currently available only in 14-inch models, with no M5 Pro, Max, or Ultra versions yet, starting at $1,599 and reaching up to $3,369. The base model includes the M5 chip, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage, with options for up to 4TB. It comes in a 'space black' finish and features a 70-watt USB-C power adapter with a black braided MagSafe to USB-C cable.

Performance Benchmarks

• 00:08:04 The M5 MacBook Pro demonstrates significantly faster SSD speeds, achieving 6,387 MB/s write and 6,478 MB/s read, which is approximately twice as fast as the M4 MacBook Air's speeds. In CPU benchmarks, the M5 scored 4,091 single-core and 17,378 multi-core, showing an improvement over the M4's 3,706 and 15,237. GPU benchmarks also reveal the M5's superiority with scores of 47,355 and 75,359 for Metal, surpassing the M4's 36,226 and 54,909, respectively.

AI and Neural Engine Power

• 00:09:34 The M5 chip exhibits considerable advancements in AI performance, particularly with its neural accelerators. GPU AI scores are significantly higher on the M5, with a half-precision score of 24,724 and a quantized score of 23,648, more than double the M4's performance. The neural engine further boosts performance, achieving impressive half-precision and quantized scores of 43,315 and 60,777, respectively, while maintaining relatively cool operating temperatures despite intensive benchmarking.

Practical Application & Verdict

• 00:11:22 In practical tests, the M5 MacBook Pro exported a 4K video in Final Cut Pro in 6 minutes and 39 seconds, over a minute faster than the M4 MacBook Air, and transcribed a video in 11 seconds compared to the M4's 15 seconds. While the design and display remain consistent with the previous generation, including Thunderbolt ports, MagSafe, HDMI, and a 120Hz display, the M5 does not include Wi-Fi 7 or Bluetooth 6. An upgrade is highly recommended for users of M1 or M2 Macs, but M3 Max users may find the benefits less compelling and might consider waiting for future M5 Pro or Max models.