Apple's MacBook Pro 14 M5 Max has its flaws, but is still almost unrivaled

We have already talked about the new Apple MacBook Pro 14 with the M5 Max processor a couple of times and the small MacBook definitely cannot utilize the full potential of the M5 Max. Compared to the larger MacBook Pro 16, the CPU as well as the GPU are roughly 15 % slower, and the performance of the small MBP 14 is also not as stable. 

However, there is no denying that the performance is still excellent for a 14-inch device, and there is simply no competition for the CPU performance, which also includes AMDs Strix Halo CPUs. Apple's M5 Max is also very good in terms of GPU performance, especially considering the shared memory. We performed creator benchmarks with PugetBench for Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro as well as DaVinci Resolve, and the MacBook Pro 14 is much faster than the Asus ProArt P16 with the mobile GeForce RTX 5090. The performance is not limited in battery power, either.

Considering the raw GPU performance, the M5 Max GPU is comparable to a mobile RTX 5070 and there are Windows laptops with even faster GPUs, especially the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, which is also available with the mobile GeForce RTX 5080 and 16 GB VRAM. GeForce GPUs have an advantage when it comes to CGI as well as apps with CUDA support. The gaming performance is also much better. However, the AMD processor simply cannot keep up with the M5 Max and the OLED screen is also much darker than the Mini-LED panel of the MacBook (also available as a matte version).

All in all, the MacBook Pro 14 with the M5 Max is pretty much unrivaled if you need the combination of high CPU/GPU performance as well as the bright display in a compact device. Please see our comprehensive review for more information and benchmark results.