More powerful M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro hit by price hike

Apple typically releases its laptops in stages; the MacBook Pro with the base M5 chipset arrived in October last year. Then, it follows up with a more powerful model aimed at users with a higher demand for power than the average person. Lo and behold, the MacBook Pro with the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips is here.

It’s not the heavily rumoured touchscreen MacBook Pro — that’s tipped to arrive by the end of the year. Instead, it’s a new high-end laptop equipped with more powerful internals, taking advantage of Apple’s new “Fusion Architecture” that connects two dies to one chip.

But for Australians keen to upgrade to Apple’s latest hardware, there’s a decent price difference compared to the previous-gen laptops. A $200 increase applies to the base 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip, bringing it up to $3,499.

Meanwhile, the base configuration with an M4 Max chip previously cost $4,999; the M5 Max starts at a pricey $5,799, an $800 increase. That’s even before you upgrade the 36GB unified memory, 2TB of onboard storage, and consider the highest 40-core GPU spec or 16-inch model. It’s likely that the global memory shortage caused by AI demand has a role in these price increases.

So, what do you get for all that money? An extremely fast laptop, according to Apple’s claims. Off the back of the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chipsets, the new MacBook Pro range produces up to 30 per cent faster CPU performance, four times faster local AI prompt processing, and a 50 per cent graphical boost compared to last year’s models.

Factoring in the power and price, these laptops aren’t just for general use. Apple targets its high-end MacBook Pro lineup at power users. 3D modelling, complex visual effects, and processing large data sets are generally some of the more common use cases for the pro laptops.

Pre-orders for the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro range start on 5 March, ahead of an 11 March launch in Australia.

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