Apple’s M5 Max Offers a Significant Boost for Three-Year-Old Laptops

We’ve been diving into the latest MacBooks, from the $1,099 M5 MacBook Air to the high-end $6,149 16-inch MacBook Pro featuring the M5 Max chip. While these models share the same design as last year’s versions, they do have some notable differences: neither offers a substantial performance leap over their M4 predecessors, but the faster SSDs might entice those with older machines to consider an upgrade. Full reviews of both laptops are on the way, but for now, let’s break down how the M5 Max stacks up against its predecessors.

The most significant change is Apple’s claim that the 2026 models can achieve “up to 2x” the sustained read and write speeds compared to the M4 laptops. Our tests confirmed this, with the 4TB SSD in the 16-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro reaching a sustained read speed of 13.6GB/s and an impressive write speed of 17.8GB/s. This translates to 86 percent faster reads and 123 percent faster writes compared to the 4TB drive in our M4 Max review unit. Similar results were observed in the 2026 MacBook Air with the M5, as well as the M5-equipped MacBook Pro we reviewed in late 2025.

Our 16-inch MacBook Pro review unit is equipped with an M5 Max chip featuring 18 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores, along with 128GB of memory and a 4TB SSD. The M4 Max model we tested in late 2024 had 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores, but with the same memory and storage, making it easy to compare.

Here’s where things get intriguing: the M4 Max’s 16 cores consist of 12 performance cores and four efficiency cores. However, the M5 generation introduces a new type of core: the super core, along with redesigned performance cores. The M5 Max features six super cores and 12 new performance cores, which are “optimized for power-efficient, multi-threaded workloads.” The efficiency cores are still present in the base M5 chip but are absent in the Pro and Max versions.

In single-core CPU tests, the new super core gives the M5 Max an edge of eight to nine percent in benchmarks like Geekbench 6 and Cinebench. This is a typical generational improvement. When it comes to multicore performance, the M5 Max is about 10 percent faster in Geekbench CPU multicore tests and 14 percent faster in Cinebench 2026, but it also has 12.5 percent more cores. More testing is needed, especially in workloads that utilize more cores over extended periods, but so far, it appears that the 12 performance cores in the M4 Max help it keep pace with the six super cores in the M5 Max.

GPU enhancements are more straightforward, with the M5 Max’s GPU cores showing a 26 percent improvement in the OpenCL framework and an 18 percent boost in Metal graphics rendering. It reduced our 4K Premiere Pro export time by eight seconds compared to the M4 Max, which is about a 10 percent difference.

Clearly, upgrading from an M4 Max to an M5 Max isn’t a common move, and the performance gains of the M5 Max are particularly striking when compared to older laptops. Against the 12 CPU core / 38 GPU core M2 Max from 2023, the M5 Max shows a 55 percent increase in single CPU core performance in Geekbench 6, while its multi-core performance nearly doubles. Metal rendering performance in a GPU test reveals a 64 percent improvement for the M5 Max over the M2 Max. Additionally, the M5 Max slashed the Premiere Pro 4K export time of our five-minute, 33-second video by a full 30 percent, likely aided by those faster write speeds.

The performance enhancements of the M5 Max are significant enough to create a noticeable difference for anyone coming from a laptop with the M2 Max chip, but the upgrade feels less dramatic for those using an M4 Max or even an M3 Max. The key takeaway is that those who purchased the previous-gen MacBook Pros aren’t missing out on a lot, aside from the incredibly fast read/write SSD speeds. However, if you bought the M2 Max three years ago and are pushing its limits, the M5 Max appears to be a substantial upgrade. Stay tuned for our full review.