Apple releases new-generation MacBook and raises prices across the entire product line, with a maximum increase of $400.

Image source: Jiemian Image Library, Fan Jianlei

On the evening of March 3rd, Apple continued to introduce new products through official website updates, unveiling new 14 - inch and 16 - inch MacBook Pro models equipped with the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, as well as the MacBook Air with the M5 chip. These products have undergone comprehensive upgrades in terms of performance, AI computing power, and storage.

The new MacBook Pro comes in two color options: Space Black and Silver. Pre - orders start on March 4th, and it will be officially available on March 11th.

Meanwhile, Apple has simultaneously raised the prices of all MacBook Air and MacBook Pro products to cope with the cost pressure brought by the tight supply of storage chips and hardware upgrades.

The core highlight of this new product lineup lies in the brand - new self - developed chips. The M5 Pro and M5 Max chips adopt Apple's new integrated architecture, integrating two 3 - nanometer dies into a single system - on - a - chip. Both chips are equipped with an 18 - core central processor, including 6 "super cores" and 12 new performance cores, which are optimized for AI functions. The performance of professional workloads has been improved by up to 30% compared with the previous generation.

The processing speed of large language model prompts has been increased by up to 4 times compared with the M4 Pro/M4 Max, and the AI image generation speed has been increased by up to 8 times compared with the M1 Pro/M1 Max. In terms of graphics performance, the M5 Pro and M5 Max have a 50% improvement compared with the M4 series, allowing motion designers to process complex 3D scenes in real - time.

The M5 Pro is equipped with a maximum of 20 - core GPU and supports 64GB of unified memory; the M5 Max features a maximum of 40 - core GPU and 128GB of unified memory. Its peak AI computing power has been increased by more than 4 times compared with the previous generation, making it easy to handle professional scenarios such as 8K video editing, 3D rendering, and local training of large - scale AI models.

In terms of hardware configuration, the new MacBook Pro has also upgraded multiple functions: the read and write speed of the solid - state drive has doubled. The starting storage capacity of the M5 Pro model is 1TB, and that of the M5 Max model reaches 2TB. It is equipped with Apple's N1 wireless chip, supporting Wi - Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 for the first time, significantly improving the stability and transmission speed of wireless connections. It is equipped with a Liquid Retina XDR display, with an optional nano - textured glass. The battery life can last up to 24 hours, and it can be charged to 50% in 30 minutes with fast charging.

In terms of pricing, the prices of all models in the series have increased to varying degrees.

Among them, in the MacBook Air series, the starting price of the 13 - inch model has been raised from $999 to $1099, and the starting price of the 15 - inch model has been increased from $1199 to $1299. The basic storage capacity has been doubled to 512GB to mitigate the impact of the price increase.

The price increase in the MacBook Pro series is more obvious. The starting price of the 14 - inch M5 Pro version has risen from $1999 to $2199, and the 16 - inch version has increased from $2499 to $2699. Among the high - end M5 Max chip models, the starting price of the 14 - inch model has risen to $3599, and the starting price of the 16 - inch model has increased from $3499 to $3899, an increase of about 11.5% or $400.

Apple has also kept the price of memory upgrades unchanged. For the 14 - inch model, upgrading from 24GB to 48GB costs $400; upgrading from 48GB to 64GB costs an additional $200, and upgrading to 128GB costs an additional $1000. The memory options are bundled with higher - end CPU configurations, and the pricing system is the same as that of the M4 Pro series.

Analysis suggests that the price increase this time is mainly affected by the tight supply of storage chips and the increased R & D costs of the chips. The comprehensive hardware upgrade and the increase in basic storage have, to some extent, balanced the user experience and cost pressure.

On the same day, Apple's official website also released the new Studio Display and the brand - new Studio Display XDR, both of which are equipped with a 27 - inch screen, a 12 - megapixel FaceTime camera, and high - quality speakers.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Jiemian News", author: Shen Xiaoge. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.