Apple updates 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 chip and 24-hour battery life, starting at $1,599.99

Apple's new 14-inch MacBook Pro is now official, powered by the Apple M5 chip. The new model promises faster performance, improved power efficiency, and a boost in AI processing, while maintaining the same starting price of $1,599 ($1,499 with education savings). Pre-orders are live today on the Apple Store, with availability beginning October 22 in space black and silver finishes.

The M5 chip has a Neural Accelerator built into each GPU core. Apple claims up to 3.5x faster AI performance and 1.6x faster graphics than the M4 chip. With a faster CPU and higher unified memory bandwidth - now over 150GB/s - users should be able to run demanding workflows like 3D rendering, deep learning, and on-device LLMs more efficiently. The new 16-core Neural Engine should accelerate AI-driven tools and Apple Intelligence features directly on macOS Tahoe.

Battery life also sees some improvements, now reaching up to 24 hours as claimed by Apple, while the SSD offers up to 2x faster performance for importing RAW photos or exporting large video files. The M5 chip is especially tuned for creators, developers, and analysts, with Apple touting 1.6x higher frame rates in games and 20% faster multithreaded performance than the M4.

The rest of the package is still quintessentially the same - the Liquid Retina XDR display supports up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness and comes with a nano-texture option, alongside a 12MP Center Stage camera, and a six-speaker sound system. Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, and a MagSafe 3 port round out the rest of the setup. macOS Tahoe also introduces Apple Intelligence, Live Translation across apps like FaceTime and Messages, and expanded Shortcuts automation.

Apple has placed some emphasis on sustainability as well - the new MacBook Pro uses 45% recycled materials by weight, including 100% recycled aluminum and rare earth elements. It ships in fully fiber-based recyclable packaging and is assembled using 55% renewable energy, the company states. The laptop comes bundled with a 70W USB-C power adapter, although a new report states that the charger won't be included in EU-based shipments.

As mentioned earlier, the 16GB/512GB variant is priced at $1,599.99, the 16GB/1TB variant at $1,799.99, and the maxed-out 24GB/1TB version has a retail price of $1,999.99.