[00:02] look at the three new MacBook Pro 16s. I've got them all here. If I've done my job by the end of this video, you should know if it's worth buying one and which one should you get. You should also know if you're coming from an older MacBook
[00:14] Pro 16, whether you should upgrade. And if you're deciding between a MacBook Pro 14, the smaller one, and the 16, what the real difference is. And finally, Windows competitors. On that note, folks, this update might seem pretty
[00:28] boring. It's really just a new CPU. But when you step back and you look at the broader laptop buying landscape, these MacBook Pros, they're actually far more before. They offer mind-blowing performance,
[00:42] normally only reserved for big, heavy gaming laptops. They have incredible battery life, not just for light tasks, but for performance ones, too. They have professional applications, and they only feel a little warm to the touch when
[00:56] doing so. And finally, just like prior models, they deliver a super premium Guys, calling a spade a spade, most Windows laptops deliver two, maybe three of these at most. But this year, the price of Windows laptops is expected to
[01:11] skyrocket. We've heard it on good authority from multiple sources. The price of these MacBook Pros, they're pretty much the same as they were. So that massively widens the gap in favor of these MacBooks. Let's dive in with my
[01:24] unsponsored review. Geekbench will test a variety of common performance tasks that you may do on your laptop, like zipping a file. CPUs, they can be highly years, that's what we've seen with these MacBooks. These new M5 Pro and Max
[01:38] chips, they completely annihilate what Intel and AMD has to offer. When themselves, you'll notice that there just isn't much of a difference in pure CPU performance. That's because they all have the same 18-core CPU. The reason
[01:52] probably just due to the memory speeds. As you upgrade to the more expensive models, you do get faster memory. Compared with last year's M4 Max MacBook Pro 16, the performance difference just isn't massive, but it is very
[02:05] older M2 Max. Let's now move over to Cinebench, which maxes out the CPU. Here, the MacBook Pro 16s, they're still on the lead, but you can now see Intel's powerful HX chips are pretty comparable. But again, those
[02:19] are normally found in big, heavy gaming laptops. If you're looking at Windows ones around the same size as the MacBook Pro 16, those actually come with Intel's newest Panther Lake chips. The Yoga Pro 9 i for 2026, it's a good example of
[02:32] this. As you can see here, Apple completely annihilates that chip. If you're considering getting one of those chips in the smaller MacBook Pro 14, you do see a little performance drop of around 10%. Guys, it's a smaller laptop
[02:44] with a more limited cooling solution. In a stress test like Cinebench, it just That's why it comes with a smaller charger. Now, if you are coming from an older MacBook Pro with an M4, there's just not much to be gained here. But if
[02:57] version, the performance jump is very significant. That's for CPU-heavy tasks Good examples of professionals who are using applications that are very CPU dependent are most programmers and say audio engineers. But how about if you're
[03:12] using the GPU like creators do? Well, I'm going to start with Premiere Pro as most intensive task that we do is exporting a video, so we'll take a look at that first. The MacBook Pro 16 with the highest-end Max chip, it's still in
[03:25] are hot on its tail, and you can certainly buy one of those for the same price as this. Now, one point I must call out is that you don't see much of a benefit upgrading from the older M2 Max MacBook Pro 16 to the current generation
[03:39] one. That's because when you export a video, it's really using the chip's media engines. You are essentially decoding video frames very fast, making changes to them, and re-encoding them. All M-series Max chips, they have the
[03:52] same two media engines, and that just really hasn't changed over the years, other than perhaps adding a new codec with M3. So, what you can see here is that if the main thing you're doing on your MacBook Pro 16 is video editing,
[04:05] frustrating you, well, you're actually better off buying an older MacBook Pro 16 with a Max chip versus buying a new one with a Pro chip. That's because the Pro chip only has a single media engine, as I said, the Max chips have two. All
[04:18] right, how about video playback? I played back a minute of footage from one of our videos to see how many frames were dropped. When I played back at half resolution, which kind of makes sense on the laptop's internal display, no frames
[04:30] MacBooks. Yay. If you do use an external monitor like I do, and you're playing back at the full 4K resolution, then you do really need to get a Max chip. That's for smooth playback. Our videos, they're 30 frames
[04:43] per second, so over a period of a minute, the Pro MacBook Pro 16 dropped around 5% of frames. That's at full resolution. Please also keep in mind, guys, our videos are about, say, medium in terms of overall video complexity. We
[04:55] aren't using anything like 12-bit color or things like that. If we were, the performance here would be worse. By the way, I've never been a fan of Puget's really match what I actually see in the real world. For some reason, Nvidia
[05:08] laptops, they do really badly here versus the MacBooks. In the Puget actually see the opposite. to make one last comment. If you are considering a MacBook Pro over the 16,
[05:21] the performance loss is pretty minimal for the Max chips, and the ones with a Pro chip, they perform around the same, no loss in performance. Next, we were a waste of time. All of these new MacBook Pro 16s, they just crush photo
[05:34] editing, they're plenty powerful for that. Now, what isn't a waste of time is testing 3D rendering. Here, the Strix with its Nvidia RTX 5090, it does have a slight edge over the MacBook Pro 16 with the highest-end Max chip. Same goes for
[05:47] the RTX 5080 in our Alienware. Slight edge over the less powerful Max chip. Our graphs, they may not show this because of the dreadful performance of the M2 Max MacBook Pro 16, but rendering is where you do actually see a big jump
[06:00] is where you do actually see a big jump from M4 to M5. The new MacBook Pro 16 with the M5 Max 40-core GPU is 40% faster than the chip it's replacing. So, big win there in terms of GPU core performance. If you are considering a
[06:13] portable Windows laptop like the new Yoga Pro 9i, these new MacBook Pros, they just crush it in terms of 3D rendering. However, where those Windows laptops do really well is, of course, gaming. Still No Man's Sky, it's our
[06:25] benchmark of choice as it runs natively on both macOS using Metal and Windows using DirectX. Here you can see the RTX 5090 and 5080 gaming laptops just smash the highest end M5 Max chip. Our Zephyrus G16 with an RTX 5070 Ti, it
[06:39] beats the 32-core Max chip. And keep in mind, that is not a very powerful implementation of that chip. We've chosen the Zephyrus G16 because that MacBooks. You can also see the other similarly sized laptop, the Yoga Pro 9i
[06:53] with its 5060, it beats the M5 Pro MacBook Pro 16. Now, Cyberpunk, it runs natively on macOS, but as you can see, it's an even powerful Windows gaming laptops with a 5080 and 5090 destroy the highest end
[07:08] MacBook Pro 16. The Yoga Pro 9i, which costs around the same as the M5 Pro equipped MacBook Pro 16, is comfortably above 60 FPS where the MacBook Pro isn't. You'll likely want to drop resolution down to say 1920 by 1200 or
[07:21] turn on frame gen. But frame gen, it does have its own set of problems like Given that this is a really old title, it just highlights the state of AAA gaming on MacBooks. It's just not there. Cyberpunk appears badly optimized, and
[07:37] just not a platform most gamers really use. Before we leave gaming, we did try Wildlife Extreme, which is a Vulcan benchmark. The MacBooks actually did a bit better here. Unfortunately though
[07:49] for Macs, most games they don't use Vulcan. All right, let's take a look at AI work. We ran the Wolf Goat Cabbage test on a 14 billion parameter model Here you can see that Nvidia continues
[08:02] to own AI. Their 50 series GPUs, which came out a year ago, beat Apple's latest. But that being said, you can upgrade your MacBook with more memory than what GPUs have access to. Because Macs use unified memory, that will allow
[08:16] you to run larger models locally. So, Apple does have a distinct advantage there. Now, running AI models locally, it really hits the GPU hard. You can see there is a big drop in performance if you get an M5 Max chip in the smaller
[08:29] MacBook Pro 14. But once again, that doesn't happen with the Pro chip. The smaller MacBook Pro, it can handle it fine. Another thing I want to point out is that the new MacBook Pro 16 with the highest end Max chip, it actually didn't
[08:41] do that much better than the M4 Max chip it's replacing. But the Pro chip, it did significantly better than the M4 Pro chip it's replacing. We are showing you it in the MacBook Pro 14. We never had a 16-inch with that chip, but as I've
[08:53] in performance when placing a Pro chip in the smaller MacBook Pro 14. When it comes to battery life, the MacBook Pros are absolutely fantastic. We hit them with our newer, tougher test, high screen brightness and office tasks on
[09:07] repeat till the laptop dies, not video playback. The MacBook Pro 16 with the M5 playback. The MacBook Pro 16 with the M5 Pro did absolutely fantastic. Easily the longest lasting high-performance laptop we've tested with a whopping 11 hours of
[09:19] run time. If you get an M5 Max chip in the MacBook Pro 16, you are giving up around an hour of battery life. If you get one of these chips though in the smaller 14-inch chassis, well, then you get far less battery life, around 2
[09:31] hours less. Now, this battery test is meant to represent real-world casual use. If you are doing performance tasks while on battery, you'll see the big just massively throttle their performance when unplugged. These
[09:45] MacBook Pros don't. What's also very important is the CPU's overall power factor driving battery life, the heat you feel, and fan noise. During a much power each laptop drew for the performance it delivered. The MacBooks
[10:01] are the single dots tested on their default power plans. The lines joining laptops tested on each of their different performance modes. Ideally, you want to see as much performance as possible for as little power draw as
[10:14] possible. Now, what I find interesting is that the MacBook Pro 14s, they all form a straight diagonal line, and so do the MacBook Pro 16s, even dating right back to the M2 Max MacBook Pro 16. So, a couple of takeaways. Firstly, there is
[10:28] no increase in CPU power efficiency for this M5 generation. For the most part, more power. Secondly, there is an efficiency loss of getting the same chip in a MacBook Pro 16. The MacBook Pro 16, it does come
[10:41] with a much larger charger than the 14, and it feeds its processor more power. diminishing marginal returns of doing that. And lastly, Apple continues to be just way more power efficient than what Windows laptops have on offer, at least
[10:55] when the CPU is under heavy load like it is here. Intel's brand new Panther Lake H chip, it actually plots where Apple's M2 Max did 3 years ago. Just for a quick look specifically at power draw, you can see that these new MacBook Pros, they
[11:09] feed their CPUs around 55 to 60 W on average. The amount Apple feeds these chips has been consistently climbing each generation. What you'll also notice here is that there is now a burst of power for the first 90 seconds, and then
[11:21] a much lower average power draw. Apple are likely doing this as a way of ensuring the laptop just doesn't get too hot to the touch, or the fans too loud. have done for some time, but it didn't used to happen on Apples. Look at the
[11:35] older M2 Max MacBook Pro 16. It was able to pretty much sustain its initial power draw the whole time. Let's take a look at the heat you feel. I would have fed to these chips would make these laptops feel hotter to the touch when
[11:48] the CPU is maxed out, but it doesn't, thank gosh. I didn't see a dramatic increase in the heat you feel from the older M2 Max, and it's a very slight difference from the M4 Max. So, perhaps Apple has improved something about their
[12:01] cooling solution to allow this to occur. And if you think it happens because they're spinning the fans faster, it doesn't. The fan noise is very similar to what it has been, significantly less than gaming laptops, but those laptops
[12:13] under load. Before we move on, you can see the downside of getting one of these chips in the smaller MacBook Pro 14. Those laptops get insanely hot to the touch when under load, particularly the one
[12:25] with the M5 Max chip. As you can see, Apple, they tend to go for a quieter laptop over a cooler feeling one. The Windows gaming laptops, they kind of are the opposite. In real world use, not running Cinebench on a loop, I use the
[12:37] Max Fan Control app just to speed up the fans a little for a cooler feeling performance modes as Apple, they've historically just done a great job of adjusting power plans based on your use case. For some reason this time we did.
[12:51] notice a difference on the high power mode versus letting Apple just automatically adjust. However, in Cinebench, we did notice a difference. higher score, but the fans were way louder. We don't think it's worth it,
[13:05] and we think most people should just leave it on auto, which is probably what this, but if you are using the MacBook Pro 16s just for light use, you know, sort of thing, they are a complete joy to use. They're incredibly fast, very
[13:20] snappy, they remain completely cool to the touch, and they are dead quiet. Storage also received a bump up this year. I've seen reviewers just rave matter. Once you go above a certain speed, storage isn't the bottleneck. I
[13:34] and pasting a very large file from one spot on their laptop to another. Now, if you're copying files to and from your MacBook via Wi-Fi, you may be excited to hear that these new ones have Wi-Fi 7. I was, but it is a letdown. Apple's
[13:49] [snorts] M1 chip, it only uses the 160 MHz channel on the 6 GHz band. It doesn't use the faster 320 MHz one. So, we were only able to see a very slight performance increase versus last year's MacBook Pro 16 with Wi-Fi 6E. We've seen
[14:03] far better results on Windows laptops that support the full Wi-Fi 7 spec. All right, so I've covered what's changed this year. I'm going to finish with some quick thoughts on the rest of the laptop. In 2026, the MacBook Pro 16 is
[14:15] starting to feel a bit dated. It's a little heavier than I'd like in the portable 16-in laptop category. Other laptops with powerful GPUs are a bit lighter. Now, they don't give you the same performance that the MacBook Pro 16
[14:27] throughout this video, but you may prefer a lighter laptop for that sacrifice. I'd also like to see curved edges on the MacBook Pro 16. It is a thicker laptop. If you use it without adequate support for your arms, the edge
[14:40] it can bite into your wrist a little. The notch in the display is still large that being said, I didn't notice it in everyday use. Finally, pricing. The MacBook Pro 16, it may appear like it's now $200 more, but that's because it now
[14:55] comes with 1 TB of storage, not 512 gig. I believe a lot of people will want 1 TB in a laptop like this anyway. That upgrade, it used to cost you $200, so when you factor that in, essentially the same price. Actually, now it could be
[15:09] cheaper. You see, Apple doesn't discount their laptops, only their retailers do. To get that upgrade, you had to order it as a custom config from then. So, in reality, that upgrade, it was actually costing you $400 when you factor that
[15:22] in. Now, you can just buy this model from a retailer and hopefully catch it on sale. And that is where our website bestlaptop.deals it really helps out. You see, over there we track prices right across retailers so you know which
[15:35] store is currently offering the best deal, what is the lowest price it's ever gone for, and how often it goes on sale. Now, this situation is even more Many people buying one of them are creators who demand a lot of storage.
[15:50] Upgrading from 1 TB to 2 TB, which is what they should have come with and now do thankfully, that used to cost you $400. Retailer sales on these are very significant, often around $300 to $400 off. So, that extra 1 TB effectively
[16:05] cost you $700 to $800. I wanted 2 TB in mine, but I couldn't justify it. So, once again, I like that they're now coming with a more This all being said, I would have
[16:18] preferred to see Apple also sell an entry-level MacBook Pro 16 at a cheaper starting price. Say with the M5 Pro 15-core processor, plenty of power for most people, 512 gig of storage for $400 less than the current starting model.
[16:32] Okay, so let's wrap. These MacBook Pro 16s are amazing. I edited this very video that you're watching right now on the highest-end M5 Max one and guys, it was the best experience I've ever had. It cut through the timeline like butter,
[16:46] it rendered super fast, it was noticeably quieter and more portable use, and the fact that I can do it while I'm plugged, I mean, come on. performance laptop, it's just quicker to talk about the few reasons why you
[17:01] shouldn't buy one of these than why you should, so that's what I'm going to do. games, don't buy one of these. If you want to run Linux, same goes. If you support or a touchscreen laptop, don't buy one one these obviously. And of
[17:16] course, if you can't afford one, buy a second-hand one or buy something else. Now, for everybody else, this is what you should be buying. If you're doing anything that just requires the CPU's performance, get the base M5 Pro model.
[17:32] Same goes if you're a creator working on, say, lighter projects, like photo editing or non-demanding videos, again, base M5 Pro model. I could see some of but please be careful of what I said earlier. Speaking personally, I try to
[17:46] avoid doing upgrades unless you know for certain what you're going to do won't run. 24 gig of memory is plenty for most people. If you are doing heavy video editing, you're using 3D applications like After Effects and Blender, or
[17:59] where the Max versions really make sense. see our favorite laptops right now for all different types of users, we do keep those lists fully updated on our website, bestlaptop.deals, once again.
[18:14] Say hi to your mom and dad for me. Until next time, I will catch you later.