Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) review

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 is built around Apple's M5 chip. That means a 10-core CPU with four performance and six efficiency cores, a 10-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. Memory bandwidth is 153GB/s. It runs macOS and nothing else is listed, so it suits buyers who are comfortable on that platform.

Reviewers and owners praise the performance. The chip is Apple's base M5 rather than a Pro or Max part, so it sits at the entry of the M-series range. One complaint in reviews is that the change from the M4 model is small. If you already have the M4 version, that complaint is worth weighing.

One review reports that sustained heavy loads cause the single-fan design to struggle to hold peak performance. This comes from a single source, so treat it as a caution rather than a settled fact. Based on that report, sustained heavy workloads are what to think about before buying.

Memory is 16GB, 24GB or 32GB of unified memory, and you choose it at purchase. There's no way to change it later listed. Pick the amount you need on day one. The ceiling is 32GB.

Storage starts at 512GB or 1TB and can be configured to 1TB, 2TB or 4TB. Buyers with large working sets should look at the larger options.

The screen is a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR panel at 3024 × 1964, which works out at 254 ppi. Apple lists a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 1,600 nits peak HDR brightness, P3 wide colour and True Tone. ProMotion runs up to 120Hz. At that pixel density, text should look sharp for long sessions in an editor or terminal. Reviewers praise the display alongside the performance.

The battery is 72.4 Wh. Apple rates it at up to 24 hours of video streaming. Reviewers measured lower figures in looped video tests: 19h38m from CNN Underscored, 20h31m from ITPro and 18:00 from Tom's Guide. Reviews praise the battery life. These are video-playback results, so mixed development work is a different load and will not necessarily match them.

There are three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and MagSafe 3 for charging. Apple lists Thunderbolt 4 at up to 40Gb/s on this model. Thunderbolt 5 is only on the M5 Pro and Max versions. One review complains that the base model keeps Thunderbolt 4 and that USB-C speeds are static. The port list has no USB-A socket and no Ethernet, so those will need a dongle or dock.

The keyboard has 78 keys on the ANSI layout or 79 on ISO, with Touch ID. The trackpad is a Force Touch design. The laptop weighs 1.55 kg.

The listed operating system is macOS. Anyone who wants Linux as the main OS should look at laptops that ship with it or certify it.

This is a good match if you value a high-resolution screen, long battery life and a broad port selection, and you work happily in macOS. It is a weaker match if you need more than 32GB of memory, expect sustained all-core loads for hours, or need a big jump over an M4 machine you already own.