The new MacBook Pro M5 Pro release date is hidden in Apple’s latest software

Update, Sunday, January 18: This article has been updated with new details about the potential performance of the MacBook Pro M5 Pro and MacBook Pro M5 Max.

Apple is expected to release two new macOS laptops, the MacBook Pro M5 Pro and the MacBook Pro M5 Max, in the coming months. While Apple hasn’t sent out the press releases, it did give the community a hint that an early release could be on the cards.

The next MacBook Pro is ready to go

The first is, simply put, it’s due to the new, business-focused MacBook Pro models. THE Apple Silicon M5 chipset arrived on October 15, 2025and ships with the consumer-focused Apple Vision Pro, iPad Pro, and 14-inch MacBook Pro.

Previous MacBook Pro models have seen the vanilla processor variant outperform the MacBook Air with the same chipset due to minor hardware changes, including active fan cooling. In terms of power and performance, the vanilla Pro is easily eclipsed in power and performance by the Pro and Max chipsets.

Why wait for the MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max?

Update, Sunday, January 18: Apple Silicon M5 Pro and M5 Max Performance Views The chipsets show why those looking for a business-focused laptop are right to wait for the new laptop. First, the vanilla M5, with its 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, shows single-core CPU gains of about thirteen percent over the vanilla M4, and between 35 and 50 percent on the GPU.

It’s unlikely that Apple will change its approach to core count for the M4 variant, so expect the M5 Pro to max out at 14 CPU cores and the M5 Max at 16 CPU cores. This does not mean that every M5 chipset will have these numbers. consider them the maximum.

It’s safe to assume, from the patterns shown over the Apple Silicon years, that the advances made between the M4 and M5 will likely be matched from the M4 Pro to the M5 Pro, and the M4 Max to the M5 Max. In practice, this would see the M5 outperform the M4 Max in both single-core and CPU benchmarks. But the real record might be on the GPU side of things, with the M5 Max’s predicted multi-core CPU score exceeding a quarter of a million.

What MacBook Pro alternatives does Apple have?

We currently have the MacBook Pro M5 on sale, but we don’t yet have the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro or the MacBook Pro with M5 Max. Details from the supply chain suggest that Apple is on track to launch these premium MacBooks in the first quarter of 2026.

While we have a MacBook Pro with an M5, we don’t have a MacBook Air with an M5. It’s likely that Apple will hold it back until much later in the year. With performance expected to be just 15 percent lower than the M5 MacBook Pro, the populist MacBook Air will live in a part of the portfolio based on launch time rather than specs. As for the 12-inch MacBook, the long-rumored budget model could be a Back To School release.

Here comes the tempting MacBook Pro software package

Then you have the recent announcement of Apple Creator Studio. This is a subscription package, paid monthly or annually, that includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage and extended editions of Keynote, Pages, Numbers and Freeform. Although announced this week, the bundle – presumably with updates to these creative apps – will be available “…on the App Store from Wednesday 28 January, for £12.99 a month or £129 a year.”

These apps, while used by many consumers, are geared, as the package names suggest, to creatives. And it’s the creatives who need the extra capability of the Apple Silicon M5 Pro and M5 Max variants. If you were to release this bundle of apps, wouldn’t you want to mark the new hardware as offering the best overall package?

If Creator Studio is coming on January 28th, then surely the business-focused MacBook Pro laptops will be revealed at the same time?

Will it be a MacBook Pro Wednesday?

Apple loves mid-week hardware releases, so it shouldn’t escape anyone’s attention that January 28th is a Wednesday. The launch is likely to happen “via press release,” as opposed to a large-scale invite-only event at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. The timing is much more flexible than the fixed point of an iPhone’s release, but traditions remain as well Deliveries make Tuesdays and Wednesdays attractive.

Three steps to a new MacBook Pro

Without Apple sending out the invitations, those looking to uncover the release date and subsequent release of the M5 Pro or M5 Max MacBook Pro models at retail should be on the lookout for signs and signs. A new subscription package with apps tailored to the needs of creatives that work best on the latest Apple Silicon is one such sign.