MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Max) vs MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Pro M5 Max1 | MacBook Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £4,3993Apple UK store | £2,3994launch price |
| Chip | M5 Maxchip | Core i72.6GHz 6-core Intel |
| CPU | 18-coreCPU | 6-coreCPU |
| GPU | 32-coreGPU | Not available5GPU |
| Memory | 36GBunified memory, base | 16GBmemory, base |
| Storage | 2TBstorage, base | 512GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to22 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Up to11 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 11 March 20266ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 4 March 2026. | 13 November 20197Available online; Apple gave no in-store day |
| Security updates | Not available8Security updates | Not available9Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Pro M5 Max is £4,399 on Apple’s UK store; the MacBook Pro is £2,399 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
True to scale
Footprints from above, from Apple’s published dimensions, drawn to one scale and superposed. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.
Body
| Specification | MacBook Pro M5 Max1 | MacBook Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 16.8 x 355.7 x 248.1 mm | 16.2 x 357.9 x 245.9 mm |
| Weight | 2.15 kg | 2 kg |
| Colours | Space Black, Silver | Silver, Space Gray |
| Ports | Three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 port, 3.5mm headphone jack | Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, 3.5 mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports10 | 3 | 4 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 5 | Thunderbolt 3 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.11 | No USB-A ports.12 |
| HDMI | HDMI port | No HDMI port.13 |
| SD card slot | Yes | No SD card slot.13 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Yes | No MagSafe port.12 |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch Bar and Touch ID |
| Touch ID | Yes | Yes |
| Touch Bar | No Touch Bar.14 | Yes |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Pro M5 Max1 | MacBook Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 16.2 in | 16 in |
| Resolution | 3456 x 2234 | 3072 x 1920 |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | 226 ppi |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display | Retina display |
| Brightness | Not available15 | 500 nits |
| Brightness (SDR, outdoor) | 1,000 nits16 | Not available17 |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | 1,600 nits | Not available18 |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | Yes | Not available5 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Pro M5 Max1 | MacBook Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M5 Max chip | 2.6GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Intel processor, not Apple silicon.12 |
| CPU cores | 18 | 6 |
| Super cores | 616 | Not available19 |
| Performance cores | 1216 | Not available19 |
| GPU cores | 32 | Not available5 |
| Graphics | 32-core GPU20 | AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | Not available21 |
| Chip options | M5 Max with 18-core CPU and 32-core GPU, or M5 Max with 18-core CPU and 40-core GPU | 2.6GHz 6-core Intel Core i7, 2.3GHz 8-core Intel Core i9 or 2.4GHz 8-core Intel Core i9 |
| Memory (base) | 36GB | 16GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 128GB | 64GB |
| Memory options | 36GB; 48GB, 64GB or 128GB (M5 Max with 40-core GPU) | 16GB, 32GB or 64GB |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents22 | No, as Apple documents22 |
| Memory bandwidth | 460 GB/s | Not available23 |
| Storage (base) | 2TB | 512GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 8TB | 8TB |
| Storage options | 2TB, 4TB or 8TB | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginetwo video encode enginestwo ProRes encode and decode enginesAV1 decode | Not available21 |
Battery and power
| Specification | MacBook Pro M5 Max1 | MacBook Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 100 Wh | 100 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles24 | 1,000 cycles24 |
| Video playback (claimed)25 | 22 h | 11 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 16 h | 11 h |
| Included power adapter | No power adapter in the box.14 | 96 W |
| Fast charging | Yes | No fast charging.13 |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Pro M5 Max1 | MacBook Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) | 802.11ac Wi-Fi |
| Bluetooth | 6 | 5.0 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.14 | No Ethernet port.13 |
| External displays (base) | 4 | 4 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Pro M5 Max1 | MacBook Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View | 720p FaceTime HD camera |
| Camera resolution | 12 MP | Not available26 |
| Speakers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers | High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming27 | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming |
Platform
| Specification | MacBook Pro M5 Max1 | MacBook Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Shipped with | Not available28 | macOS Catalina29 |
| Newest macOS | macOS 27 Golden Gate30 | macOS Tahoe 2631 |
| Model identifier | Mac17,6, Mac17,832 | MacBookPro16,1, MacBookPro16,433 |
| Model year | 2026 | 2019 |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) - Technical Specifications ·
↩Apple UK store — 16-inch MacBook Pro M5 Max, 18-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 36GB, 2TB — From £4,399 ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces 16-inch MacBook Pro, the world’s best pro notebook ·
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces 16-inch MacBook Pro, the world’s best pro notebook ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Different Thunderbolt generations. MacBook Pro M5 Max: Thunderbolt 5. MacBook Pro: Thunderbolt 3.
↩MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Max): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019): No USB-A ports. No MagSafe port. Intel processor, not Apple silicon.
↩MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No fast charging. No Ethernet port.
↩MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Max): No Touch Bar. No power adapter in the box. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple’s one SDR brightness figure is the outdoor one
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no outdoor brightness for this display
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no separate HDR peak for this display
↩Doesn’t apply: this is an Intel processor, and Apple lists a total core count only
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple silicon feature; this Mac has an Intel processor
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple publishes it only for Apple silicon
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Two different Apple tests. MacBook Pro M5 Max: Video streaming. MacBook Pro: Apple TV app movie playback.
↩Not published by Apple (Apple states resolution: 720p FaceTime HD camera)
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces 16-inch MacBook Pro, the world’s best pro notebook ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS Tahoe 26 is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Max) ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Pro M5 Max. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs; Identify your MacBook Pro model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max, read 9 Oct 2026.
MacBook Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user. Geekbench 7 Metal: the Mac chart has no Metal score for this Mac (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) - Technical Specifications; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces 16-inch MacBook Pro, the world’s best pro notebook; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model, read 9 Oct 2026.
If you own one of them
Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my MacBook Pro M5 Max (16-inch)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.