Apple MacBook Pro 16" M5 Max (18-core CPU, 40-core GPU), 48GB/2TB — Space Black

The flagship: a fully specified M5 Max in Space Black, with all 40 GPU cores enabled alongside the 18-core CPU and 16-core Neural Engine, running on the highest memory bandwidth Apple puts in a notebook. Against the M5 Pro it doubles the graphics resources; against the 32-core Max it adds eight more GPU cores.

The jobs that justify it are specific — 8K editing, heavy 3D and effects rendering, large machine learning models run on-device, and colour grading that has to play back in real time. Everything else is better served further down the range. This unit carries 48 GB of unified memory and a 2 TB SSD.

The 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR panel runs 3456 × 2234 at 254 ppi with ProMotion to 120 Hz, 1000 nits sustained and 1600 nits peak. Ports are three Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SDXC, headphone and MagSafe 3, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and the 100 Wh battery is rated up to 22 hours of video streaming. Note: this unit is supplied without a power adapter. The MW2L3 adapter must be purchased separately.