Field testing shows: the Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch cannot accommodate the M5 Max chip

Tech News Home, March 15 — Technology media Notebookcheck today published a blog post testing the performance stress of the M5Max chip version of the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro. The results show that the 14-inch mold cannot fully suppress the M5Max.

During testing, the device used an 18-core CPU + 40-core GPU version of the M5Max chip. Under CPU + GPU dual stress testing (Cinebench R23 multi-core + 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress), the maximum power consumption reached 96W (Note: excluding memory power consumption), but could only be maintained for 1-2 seconds before rapidly dropping to 46W.

However, this level cannot be sustained long-term, with the final stable power consumption at 42W.

Additionally, testing with only CPU or GPU stress showed similar results. The CPU could briefly reach 75W, but quickly dropped to 50W; the GPU’s peak was about 72W, but also quickly fell to 55W, eventually stabilizing at 44W. All tests were conducted in “High Power Consumption” mode.

The GPU also cannot maintain stability under continuous load, with performance decreasing by about 10%. From this, it appears that the 16-inch MacBook Pro mold can better unleash the potential of the M5Max.

Currently, Apple’s M5 chip is still based on a 3nm process technology. The next-generation M6 chip is expected to switch to a 2nm process to further improve efficiency. Apple may redesign the MacBook Pro lineup mold at that time, adding a more powerful cooling system to allow the increasingly powerful chips to perform at their true potential.