If you are stuck choosing between the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Max, you now have one more thing to consider, aside from size. The question was always there whether the M5 Max was being held back by the smaller chassis. Now that the test results for both these machines are out, the answer appears to be a resounding yes.
How much performance loss are we talking about?
The folks at Notebookcheck ran the same tests on both 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros powered by top-of-the-line M5 Max chips with 40 GPU cores, and the results were insightful.
Initial benchmarks reveal an 18% improvement in multi-core performance in the MacBook Pro 16 over the MacBook Pro 14. What makes this more impressive is that the 16-inch MacBook Pro achieves this in Automatic mode. Switching to High Power mode will offer even better sustained performance over longer sessions.
GPU performance tells a similar story. The MacBook Pro 16-inch scores 12% higher than the 14-inch model in the 3DMark Steel Nomad test. More importantly, the GPU performance was stable under sustained workloads, while the 14-inch model dropped by as much as 25% during the same test.
Why is the bigger laptop performing so much better?
It comes down to heat and power draw. The M5 Max is a powerful chip that consumes a lot of power. During benchmarks, the MacBook Pro 16 pulled 78 watts through its CPU cores, significantly more than the 14-inch model.
It’s because the smaller laptop simply doesn’t have the space to manage that kind of heat effectively. With less room for cooling, the MacBook Pro 14 throttles the chip to protect it, which is what causes the performance drops.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro features a larger chassis, improved airflow, and higher thermal headroom capacity, allowing the M5 Max to sustain peak performance with minimal throttling.
So, should you go for the MacBook Pro 14 or the 16?
If you are a creative professional who needs the M5 Max for demanding tasks, such as video editing or 3D rendering, the MacBook Pro 16 is clearly the better choice. The chip has more thermal headroom in the larger body, and it shows.
That said, if your workload requires this level of power, I would recommend waiting for the Mac Studio with the M5 Max, as it will likely deliver better sustained performance at a lower cost. If your work doesn’t require you to travel much, that would be a better machine in every way than the laptop.