The M5 MacBook Pro is a nice upgrade over the M4 model it replaces, offering significant boosts in graphics and SSD speed, but it also comes with an increase in operational chip temperature. While testing the new MacBook Pro against the old, Vadim Yuryev of Max Tech found the gains that the M5 offers, but also showed that the new chip runs hotter and consumes more energy than the M4.
Yuryev shows that during more intensive tasks, such as during CInebench’s 3D rendering test, the M5 has to throttle its performance to manage its temperature. The fan–both laptops have only one fan– runs much faster on the M5, too. Yurvey also uses a thermal camera to see the hot spots for each laptop, and notes that the M5 MacBook Pro runs at a temperature a little higher than the M4.
Is the higher running temperature a problem? Not necessarily. The system does a good job of handling the chip so it can maintain a certain performance level and operate safely. But what it does show, as Yuryev points out, is that the one-fan design of the M5 MacBook Pro isn’t optimal and that a second fan or a different cooling implementation would better serve the chip. It feels like the M5 has the potential to do more with better cooling.
Why didn’t Apple do that? Probably because of cost. The M5 MacBook Pro is Apple’s entry-level pro machine that starts at $1,599. The Pro and Max variants, meanwhile, start at $1,999 and come with a second fan. The M5 variants of those chips will likely arrive next spring.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.