MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max: battery life tested across sizes
TechRadar put Apple’s newest MacBook Pro lineup through a focused set of battery endurance tests, concentrating on web browsing longevity to see how the M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 chips hold up in real-world use. The results aren’t all one-sided, and they highlight how size, chip design, and power efficiency intersect in surprising ways.
What the tests found
- 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro: about 21 hours and 10 minutes of web browsing in Future Labs testing, with Apple’s official claim set at 14 hours. The larger chassis and battery capacity clearly paid off here.
- 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Max: about 17 hours and 58 minutes of web browsing in our test, while Apple lists 13 hours as the official figure. This model still tops the 13-hour target, but the result sits behind some rival configurations with similar battery cell counts.
- 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5: about 18 hours of web browsing in testing, with Apple’s official claim at 16 hours. This sits between the M5 Max 14-inch and the M5 Pro 16-inch in terms of overall endurance.
Latest isn’t always best The improvements seen with the M5 Pro point to better efficiency in Apple’s newer chips, with both the M5 Pro and the M4 Pro delivering strong results in a 16-inch chassis. However, the latest hardware isn’t guaranteed to outpace every rival configuration. In our tests, the M5 Max inside a 14-inch MacBook Pro delivered solid numbers but didn’t outshine the M4 or M5 configurations in the same size class. It did outperform the M3 Pro, though, which lagged behind with about 17 hours and 23 minutes.
If you’re weighing a new MacBook Pro, battery life is a key factor to consider, but it isn’t the only one. A larger chassis generally allows for bigger batteries and longer runtimes, while the chip’s efficiency and the system’s power management play big roles as well. The latest chips show progress, but “latest” doesn’t always translate to the absolute longest life in every scenario.
Bottom line
- Bigger laptops tend to offer more total endurance due to larger batteries.
- The M5 Pro in a 16-inch body delivers standout longevity in our tests.
- The M5 Max in the 14-inch form factor provides competitive life, but may not always beat other 14-inch options with similar capacity.
- Real-world usage and exact workload matter; if web browsing longevity is your priority, these results are promising for Apple’s latest generations, but your mileage may vary depending on how you use the machine.
Images
- MacBook Pro battery life test results
- Laptop battery life comparison chart