Powerful New MacBook Pro 14” M5 Review: But Who’s It Really For?

But how does this machine really stack up? Is it worth it? Who is it for? Should you wait for the MacBook Air M5? Find out after a week of testing!

A “Pro” MacBook Air?

Many have joked that Apple kept this machine in the lineup despite its processor being more suited to entry-level models like the MacBook Air. At the time, aside from the cooling system, neither the screen nor the equipment was distinct enough from each other to justify such a purchase.

Now, the MacBook Pro M5 is truly professional:

CPU Performance: A Small Wonder!

During the Intel era, achieving a 5% annual gain was already an achievement, so the +15% announced by Apple this year shows that the company still has plenty of power left, despite still being stuck at a 3nm process.

Thanks to an increased frequency (+200MHz) and a 30% higher memory bandwidth (153Gbps vs. 120Gbps on the M4), the chip is faster with the same number of cores (4 fast, 6 efficient)

In GeekBench, the contract is upheld, with ~15% improvement in single-core performance, but +23% in multi-cores! This is unprecedented in a single generation!

In CineBench, however, we’re a bit below Apple’s promises, with 10 to 12%. This benchmark is always more realistic because it does not average multiple results: it’s a single image calculation, even though it’s shared across all cores.

In our test with Logic, the go-to software for music creation, the demands for raw power are huge, especially with our tracks in 24bits/92 Khz and a large buffer of 512K, not to mention the effects… In short, we achieve a +16% improvement over the M4, which means about twenty additional tracks. This is exactly what Apple promised!

But the most impressive part is comparing it with the previous generations. For example, the M1 Max is surpassed in both GeekBench and CineBench, despite having the same number of cores, but the chip pays for its four generations of delay, as well as an architecture that’s a bit too mobile – not enough high-performance cores.

GPU: Faster, but is it Enough?

It’s actually in the graphics department where Apple is most optimistic, with +45% in GPGPU and +30% in games – these last often monopolize both CPU and GPU simultaneously, and the chip often has to manage to not overheat too quickly.

Indeed, we achieve quite high scores, +35% in GeekBench Metal, +26% in LuxMark (GPGPU), which is once again impressive for a single generation.

In games, the TotalWar series shows between +12 and +18%, which is again quite good, although a bit below what was announced – even though these are native titles.

In the Tomb Raider series, where the CPU part is emulated (x86), the gain is strangely much more impressive, with +42 and +63% depending on the titles! However, the number of FPS is a bit ridiculous for such an old title, launched at 1080p and medium details.

In the very popular Cyberpunk (recently arrived on Mac), we note performances well below the M4 Pro, two to three times slower!

However, the new hardware engine related to Ray-Tracing (a technique that perfectly simulates the behavior of light), the FPS loss is only 30%, compared to 60% on the M4 Pro.

Poor consolation though, because even compared to an old M1 Max, we’re not there yet: on recent titles like Assassin’s Creed Shadow or Cyberpunk, the FPS counter does not exceed 30 or 35 frames per second in Medium 1080p… Not enough to play under very good conditions, unless you drastically sacrifice the image quality.

We can console ourselves by noting that the Mac offers the same performance whether plugged in or unplugged, which is rarely the case on PCs. But to be honest, I would never buy such a machine for gaming or real-time 3D, like game development! It’s not even at the level of an old entry-level PC that’s 10 years old!

Video Editing Progress!

With video becoming increasingly present on the web, using this MacBook Pro for small video edits is not out of the question.

Final Cut Pro runs rather well and even offers