Bengaluru (Karnataka): Apple has unveiled its new 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the next-generation M5 Apple Silicon chip, marking a significant leap in performance for the company’s laptop lineup. The M5 chip features an upgraded GPU with a neural accelerator in each core, offering up to 3.5x faster on-device AI performance compared with the M4 chip.

Priced at Rs 1,69,900 onwards, the new MacBook Pro will be available starting October 22. Apple continues to sell the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips introduced last year.

Design and display

The 14-inch MacBook Pro features a Liquid Retina XDR display, with an optional nano-texture finish to reduce glare. It comes equipped with a 12MP Centre Stage camera that automatically keeps users in frame during video calls, along with a six-speaker sound system designed for immersive audio experiences. The laptop also supports up to 24GB of unified memory and up to 1TB of SSD storage, ensuring smooth multitasking and fast file access.

M5 chip: Architecture and performance

The M5 chip houses a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine (NPU). Each GPU core includes a Neural Accelerator, which accelerates AI-driven tasks and enhances Apple Intelligence’s generative models. Apple claims the CPU cores of the M5 are the fastest in the world, delivering 20% faster multithreaded performance than the M4 chip.

Apple emphasised that the M5 is ideal for demanding tasks, including running large language models (LLMs) on-device, compiling code, 3D rendering, gaming, and multitasking across creative workflows. The SSD improvements also boost file transfers and app load times.

Performance benchmarks

Apple provided comparisons with previous MacBook Pro models:

  • AI video enhancement in Topaz Video: Up to 7.7x faster than 13-inch MacBook Pro M1, 1.8x faster than 14-inch M4
  • 3D rendering in Blender: Up to 6.8x faster than 13-inch M1, 1.7x faster than 14-inch M4
  • Gaming frame rates: Up to 3.2x higher than 13-inch M1, 1.6x faster than 14-inch M4
  • Xcode build performance: Up to 2.1x faster than 13-inch M1, 1.2x faster than 14-inch M4

macOS Tahoe 26: Features

The new MacBook Pro ships with macOS Tahoe 26, featuring a redesigned interface called Liquid Glass, which includes translucent and reflective system elements. New colour options for folders, app icons, and widgets have been introduced.

Apple Intelligence has been enhanced with features such as Live Translation across Messages, FaceTime, and the Phone app, as well as intelligent automation via Shortcuts, aiming to streamline daily workflows and improve productivity.

Conclusion

With the M5 chip and macOS Tahoe 26, the 14-inch MacBook Pro represents Apple’s focus on high-performance computing, AI integration, and productivity enhancements. The device is designed for professionals and creators looking for speed, efficiency, and cutting-edge technology in a compact form factor.