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Should I upgrade my MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Max)?

under a year old · Runs macOS 27 Golden Gate, the current macOS

Quick look

Price
£4,3992Apple UK store
Chip
M5 Maxchip
CPU
18-coreCPU
GPU
32-coreGPU
Memory
36GBunified memory, base
Storage
2TBstorage, base
Display
16.2-inchdisplay
Battery life
Up to22 hrsvideo playback, claimed
Released
11 March 20263ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 4 March 2026.
Security updates
Not available4Security updates

Each figure is from the source marked1 unless it carries its own number.

Software support

Security updates
Not available4
macOS
macOS 27 Golden Gate, the current macOS

Nothing newer in the line yet

We hold no Apple UK store price for a newer Mac in the MacBook Pro M5 Max (16-inch)’s line and tier. When we read one it appears here beside the MacBook Pro M5 Max (16-inch).

Specifications

Body

Dimensions
16.8 x 355.7 x 248.1 mm
Weight
2.15 kg
Colours
Space Black, Silver
Ports
Three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 port, 3.5mm headphone jack
Thunderbolt ports
3
Thunderbolt version
Thunderbolt 5
USB-A ports
No USB-A ports.5
HDMI
HDMI port
SD card slot
Yes
Headphone jack
Yes
MagSafe
Yes
Keyboard
Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Touch ID
Yes
Touch Bar
No Touch Bar.6

Display

Display size
16.2 in
Resolution
3456 x 2234
Pixel density
254 ppi
Display type
Liquid Retina XDR display
Brightness (SDR, outdoor)
1,000 nits7
Peak brightness (HDR)
1,600 nits
Refresh rate
120 Hz
Wide colour (P3)
Yes
Nano-texture option
Yes

Chip and memory

Chip
Apple M5 Max chip
Apple silicon
Yes
CPU cores
18
Super cores
67
Performance cores
127
GPU cores
32
Neural Engine cores
16
Chip options
M5 Max with 18-core CPU and 32-core GPU, or M5 Max with 18-core CPU and 40-core GPU
Memory (base)
36GB
Memory (maximum)
128GB
Memory options
36GB; 48GB, 64GB or 128GB (M5 Max with 40-core GPU)
Memory upgradeable by user
No, as Apple documents8
Memory bandwidth
460 GB/s
Storage (base)
2TB
Storage (maximum)
8TB
Storage options
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

Battery and power

Battery capacity
100 Wh
Rated charge cycles
1,000 cycles9
Video playback (claimed)
22 h
Wireless web (claimed)
16 h
Included power adapter
No power adapter in the box.6
Fast charging
Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi
Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be)
Bluetooth
6
Ethernet
No Ethernet port.6
External displays (base)
4

Camera and audio

Camera
12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View
Camera resolution
12 MP
Speakers
High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers
Microphones
Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming10

Platform

Newest macOS
macOS 27 Golden Gate11
Model identifier
Mac17,6, Mac17,812
Part numbers
MGE44xx/A, MGE64xx/A, MGE74xx/A, MGE94xx/A, MGEA4xx/A, MGEC4xx/A, MGED4xx/A, MGEE4xx/A13
Model year
2026

Benchmarks

Geekbench 7 (CPU, single-core)
3,72714
Geekbench 7 (CPU, multi-core)
35,06514
Geekbench 7 (Metal)
193,49614

Software support

Feature updates until
Not available4
Security updates until
Not available4
Basis
our inference from history15

The rest of the range at the price

Macs from other lines with a price read from Apple’s UK store, released within a year of the MacBook Pro M5 Max (16-inch) and priced within a quarter of its £4,399 at Apple’s UK price as read on 2 October 2026, nearest price first. Each links to its side-by-side table.

Trade-in and used prices

CeX pays, grade A
£2,321 cash / £2,696 voucher16Base configuration
CeX sells, grade A
£3,74516Base configuration

More

Sources

  1. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs · Default for MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Max) · Apple’s figure · read 30 Sep 2026

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  2. Apple UK store — 16-inch MacBook Pro M5 Max, 18-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 36GB, 2TB — From £4,399 · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  3. Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max · Apple’s figure · read 30 Sep 2026

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  4. Apple publishes no date for the end of updates, and this site does not guess one. Checked: endoflife.date. Read 30 Sep 2026

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  5. No USB-A ports. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs. Read 30 Sep 2026

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  6. No Touch Bar. No power adapter in the box. No Ethernet port. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs. Read 9 Oct 2026

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  7. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  8. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026

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  9. Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops · Apple’s figure · read 15 Oct 2026

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  10. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 11 Oct 2026

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  11. Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers · Apple’s figure · read 30 Sep 2026

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  12. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model · Apple’s figure · read 11 Oct 2026

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  13. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026

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  14. Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) · third-party figure · read 30 Sep 2026

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  15. Runs macOS 27 Golden Gate. endoflife.date states that major versions of macOS are usually maintained for three years and that Apple usually provides security updates for the latest 3 releases, but this isn't consistently applied. Source: endoflife.date. Read 30 Sep 2026

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  16. CeX — Trade-in, Grade A, cash · third-party figure · read 3 Nov 2026

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Not published by Apple

MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Max). Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. 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.

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