Is it time to upgrade from an M1 MacBook Pro to the M5?

Apple’s new MacBook Pro lineup includes M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, but the base M5 model stands out on price and specs. The M5 MacBook Pro starts at $1,599 (often on sale for about $1,399) and ships with 16GB of unified memory and a 512GB SSD. Compared with the five-year-old M1 MacBook Pro, it offers a nearly one-inch larger display, over six hours more battery life, 3.5 times faster AI performance, more storage, and higher base memory.

Graphics and storage see large gains. The M5’s 10-core GPU delivers up to 3.2 times higher frame rates in games, up to 6.8 times faster 3D rendering in Blender, and up to 7.7 times faster AI video-enhancing performance in Topaz compared with the M1. SSD speeds are faster and can be configured up to 4TB, with Apple saying read and write speeds twice as fast as the M4.

I/O has been expanded too: two Thunderbolt 4 ports plus MagSafe on the left, another Thunderbolt 4 port on the right, HDMI, an SD card slot, and a headphone jack, versus the M1’s two USB-C ports and headphone jack.

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