Apple M5 MacBook Pro 14-inch review: The outlier that delivers where it counts

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple’s notebook range is now so crowded that it resembles a neatly arranged wardrobe whose middle shelf has become slightly unruly. At the bottom sits the MacBook Air, the model that does almost everything most people need for a very reasonable outlay. At the top are the MacBook Pros with their M-series Pro and Max chips, machines that leave no doubt about their target audience. And wedged somewhere between them is the 14-inch entry-level MacBook Pro, a laptop priced at around Rs 1,69,900 that tends to get ignored from both directions.

There’s a reason it rarely tops anyone’s “Which Mac should I buy?” list. The 13-inch Air is lighter and cheaper. The 15-inch Air offers more real estate for less money. The higher-tier Pros are dramatically faster. And this “Pro” doesn’t ship with the heavy-duty silicon its siblings flaunt. For years, it has lived in this awkward middle zone where the appeal isn’t about raw power but the day-to-day feel of using it.

But this year, the machine gets a twist in its story. It’s the first MacBook to carry Apple’s M5 chip, the opening act for the next generation of Apple Silicon. Even if you have no intention of buying it, this laptop acts as a preview of where the Mac lineup is heading and hints at how Apple is repositioning its notebooks in an era dominated by AI-driven computing.

So what does this so-called entry-level Pro actually offer in 2025? And who does it genuinely make sense for?

The 14-inch MacBook Pro has spent the last few years reinventing itself. Its body still follows the 2021 redesign that retired the Touch Bar and brought back a generous array of physical ports. Anyone upgrading from an Intel-era Pro or even one of the early Apple Silicon models will feel like they’ve leapt forward several generations at once.

The 14-inch panel replaced the old 13-inch display and introduced the now-familiar notch. macOS smartly expands the menu bar into the extra flanking space, so apps never lose usable area. You notice the asymmetry for a few days and then forget it’s there.

The chassis itself sits in that comfortable, slightly chunky zone. It’s thicker than the Airs and more geometric than Apple’s older tapered designs. At just over 1.5kg, it isn’t a featherweight; in fact, it’s suspiciously close to the 15-inch Air in heft, which means anyone prioritising absolute portability may feel nudged toward that model instead.

Connectivity is where the Pro earns its name again. Instead of living the dongle life, you get a proper spread of ports and Apple’s delightful magnetic charger. For photographers, musicians, filmmakers, and anyone working with more than one external display, the convenience is immediate.

The typing and trackpad experience remains peak Apple. The keyboard has the company’s signature shallow-yet-firm character, and the trackpad is still the gold standard for precision and palm rejection. Audio quality is a noticeable step above the Air too, with better low-end confidence and richer spatial detail. These aren’t headline-grabbing features, but when you stack them together, the machine simply feels nicer to use for long stretches.

But the real secret weapon sits on the lid.

If there’s one reason the entry-level MacBook Pro exists, it’s the screen. Apple puts its mini-LED panel here, the same one used on the pricier M-series Pros. Everything looks bolder, deeper and more precise. Contrast jumps off the panel. HDR content sings. And then you have ProMotion, Apple’s adaptive 120 Hz refresh tech, which makes scrolling gentler, animations smoother, and even mundane actions like switching tabs feel more fluid. Spend a week with it and a 60 Hz display starts to feel sluggish.

Apple also offers a nano-texture option that adds a matte layer without turning the screen grainy. It’s not a cheap upgrade, but for anyone who works outdoors, sits under harsh office lights or loathes reflections, it can be the difference between tolerating a display and loving it.

This is the part of the machine that persuades photographers, coders who stare at text all day, video editors on the go and even writers who simply want a comfortable window to the world. If the screen matters above all else, this is the Mac to look at. If it doesn’t, the Air’s value proposition becomes irresistible, which is precisely why this model has such a narrow but enthusiastic audience.

And then there’s the newcomer. The M5 isn’t a flashy overhaul, but it does reshuffle some important foundations.

Apple keeps the familiar arrangement of performance and efficiency cores but pushes memory bandwidth into new territory. That alone gives GPU-heavy tasks more headroom, whether you’re rendering scenes, working with high-resolution images, generating content with AI tools or running complex effects in creative software. It’s the sort of change that doesn’t look dramatic on a spec sheet but makes a tangible difference when you’re pushing the machine.

The GPU itself has been given new on-device AI abilities so more intelligence work happens directly on the graphics cores instead of bouncing to the Neural Engine. The Neural Engine does get quicker, though its improvements feel more incremental. The bigger story is the way these components now work together more efficiently, particularly for AI and media processing.

Apple has also nudged the chip into slightly higher power territory, but the Pro’s active cooling means it maintains performance without heating up dramatically or throttling when under sustained load. Battery life remains strong by traditional laptop standards, even if it no longer feels untouchable compared to the original M1 era.

So no, the M5 doesn’t rewrite the rulebook. But it does feel like an assured first step into the fifth generation of Apple Silicon, hinting that the real fireworks will come with the M5 Pro and M5 Max.

As far as the battery is concerned, Apple flipped the rulebook of batteries with its M-series processors and this one carries that legacy. You can easily get one-and-a-half day's routine work without reaching out for the charger.

The 14-inch base Pro has never been the obvious choice for most shoppers. The Airs continue to dominate everyday recommendations because they’re lighter, cheaper, and powerful enough for the average user. The higher-tier Pros dominate the performance conversation. The entry Pro ends up squeezed in the middle.

But there is a certain kind of user who sees its value clearly.

It attracts people who want the Pro experience — the richer display, the sturdier build, the better thermals, the port selection — without needing the brute strength of the Pro or Max chips. It appeals to photographers and editors who cut in 4K rather than 8K, developers who prefer consistent performance over thinness, and professionals who appreciate quality-of-life perks more than raw benchmarks.

It’s not a broad audience. But it is a loyal one.

Spend a few days with this machine and the theme becomes obvious: comfort. The combination of the display, keyboard, trackpad, speakers and thermals makes long work sessions easier than on the Air. Even when pushed, the M5 runs with predictable steadiness thanks to the cooling system, and that consistency is often more valuable than sheer speed.

Versatility also gives it an edge. The array of ports means you can jump between workflows — plugging in displays, ingesting footage, connecting audio gear — without the circus of adapters.

The problem is the same as ever: positioning. At nearly Rs 1.7 lakh, the laptop sits in an awkward middle ground. Many buyers will gravitate naturally to the Air and save money. And those chasing performance will spend more for the M5 Pro or Max without hesitation.

Its weight also continues to be a sticking point. For a 14-inch notebook, it’s on the heavier side, which diminishes one of the usual advantages of going smaller.

And when it comes to pure performance-per-rupee, the Airs make an uncomfortably strong argument.

The 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro is a breeze to admire and a puzzle to recommend. It’s beautifully engineered, lovely to use and powered by a promising new chip. But its ideal buyer is the sort of person who has already worked out exactly what they want from a Mac.

If you crave Apple’s best laptop display without moving into Pro or Max chip territory, this is the obvious choice. If you value thermals, consistency and ports more than raw CPU performance, it makes perfect sense. And if you’re upgrading from an Intel Mac or one of the early M-series machines, the leap feels genuinely modern.

But if you’re not particular about the display or the extra connectivity, the Airs remain the sensible picks for most people.

For the rest of us — the ones who care about refresh rates, hate reflections, and refuse to live in dongle purgatory — the entry-level 14-inch Pro is still the misfit that fits just right.