Key Takeaways
1. The MacBook Pro lineup excels in multimedia performance, especially for content creators, with significant tests on creative applications.
2. The M5 Pro processor offers impressive speed, closely rivaling the mobile GeForce RTX 5090 in high-performance laptops.
3. The M5 Max models show a clear advantage in GPU performance, particularly in the larger MacBook Pro 16, highlighting limitations in the 14-inch model.
4. The 14-inch MacBook Pro outperforms all Windows competitors of similar size, despite slightly lower performance compared to the 16-inch model.
5. Competing Windows devices struggle to match the performance of M5 chips in key creative applications, particularly in Photoshop and Premiere Pro.
Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup is known for being excellent multimedia laptops, especially popular with content creators. Besides our usual benchmarks in reviewing the MacBook Pro 14 featuring the M5 Max and the MacBook Pro 16 equipped with the M5 Pro, we conducted additional tests on creative applications for these models, including the larger MacBook Pro 16 with the M5 Max. We utilized the latest PugetBench benchmarks for Adobe applications like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Lightroom Classic, and DaVinci Resolve, comparing these results against other contemporary multimedia devices. All devices tested ran the same versions of the apps and benchmarks, ensuring the results are valid for comparison.
Impressive Performance
The performance results for the new Apple processors are remarkable, with the M5 Pro being either much quicker or only slightly slower than the mobile GeForce RTX 5090 found in the Asus ProArt P16, which is among the fastest 16-inch Windows multimedia laptops available. The two M5 Max models show a significant advantage, especially when GPU performance is crucial. This highlights the benefits of the larger MacBook Pro 16, confirming once again that the smaller 14-inch model can’t fully utilize the M5 Max’s capabilities, as we previously reported.
Comparison with Rivals
While the performance of the 14-inch MacBook Pro may be somewhat lower, it still outshines all other Windows competitors with similar screen sizes. In terms of compact Windows models, the Asus ProArt PX13 featuring the AMD Strix Halo is currently one of the top choices. However, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with the Radeon 8060S can only match the M5 chips in Lightroom; it fails to compete in Photoshop, Premiere Pro, or DaVinci Resolve. Similarly, the combination of Intel’s Panther Lake and the mobile RTX 5070 falls short in performance. For more insights, check out our detailed analysis articles on the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.










