Apple M5 MacBook Pro vs M4: Hidden AI Power Apple Didn’t Reveal Yet?

Apple has unveiled its newest 14-inch MacBook Pro which is powered by the new M5 chip, and this marks a further step in the company’s move to on-device AI computing. The new version replaces the last year’s M4 version and will not change the design entirely but Apple seems to have focused its innovations mainly on the performance aspects.

The new MacBook Pro by Apple follows the same basic design which has been the hallmark of its high-end products for years. The 14-inch unit made of aluminum retains its M4 predecessor's specifications at 1.54 kg weight and dimensions of 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches. The colors — Space Black and Silver — are unchanged. There are no changes in the physical size, ports, or finishing of the body which indicates that Apple is focusing on performance rather than aesthetics.

M4 and M5 models both have the same 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with a resolution of 3024 x 1964 and a pixel density of 254. Mini-LED is backlit to peak HDR brightness of 1,600 nits. The ProMotion refresh rates of up to 120Hz, Wide Color (P3), and True Tone support are still there. The anti-reflective Nano-texture glass which was first offered with the M4 series is again an option. External display support also remains unchanged from M4 — two 6K monitors through Thunderbolt or one 8K monitor through HDMI.

This is what distinguishes the two Macs. The M5 chip brings forth better neural processing features. Keeping the 10-core CPU configuration — four performance and six efficiency cores — and a 10-core GPU in place, Apple adds a Neural Accelerator to each GPU core for speedy AI inference.

The M5, as per Apple, delivers 3.5 times faster AI performance along with 20% more CPU throughput compared to the M4. Graphics processing gets a 1.6x boost, thanks to a memory bandwidth hike from 120GB/s to 153GB/s. The M5 chips updates make them the most preferable choice for the AI and ML-heavy application workload.

The camera stays the same at 12MP and supports Center Stage effect during video calls and 1080p output. The six-speaker audio system with force-canceling woofers, Spatial Audio, and Dolby Atmos playback has not changed. The six-mic array with directional beamforming is still there, ensuring clarity for conversations and recordings. The 3.5mm headphone jack is still able to work with high-impedance headphones.

The basic configuration consists of a 16GB unified memory and 512GB SSD, which is still the case. Apple, however, now provides a 4TB option if you deal with heavy local projects.

The port selection has not changed, consisting of three Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 3, and a headphone jack. The wireless connections are through Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

Battery life is also similar, the equipped 72.4Wh battery providing up to 24 hours of video playback or 16 hours of web browsing.

The price of Apple’s 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro in India starts from Rs 1,69,900 while the price for the eligible students is Rs 1,59,999. To give you an idea, the M4 version was released last year at a retail price of Rs 1,99,900.

The latest MacBook Pro does not change its look but rather shifts the focus on its performance by using AI and faster data handling as a target-large user group. The smatterings of benefits may not be felt by churning through the M4 model, however, heaving working professionals reliant on local AI processing and graphics-intensive will have no problem spotting the M5's increase in performance in their daily tasks.