Apple, via Newsroom, on the second day of its “big week”:

Apple today announced the latest 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with the all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max, bringing game-changing performance and AI capabilities to the world’s best pro laptop. […]

It now comes with up to 2x faster SSD performance and starts at 1TB of storage for M5 Pro and 2TB for M5 Max. The new MacBook Pro includes N1, an Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, bringing improved performance and reliability to wireless connections. It also offers up to 24 hours of battery life; a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display with a nano-texture option; a wide array of connectivity, including Thunderbolt 5; a 12MP Center Stage camera; studio-quality mics; an immersive six-speaker sound system; Apple Intelligence features; and the power of macOS Tahoe. The new MacBook Pro comes in space black and silver, and is available to pre-order starting tomorrow, March 4, with availability beginning Wednesday, March 11.

The performance improvements of the M5 Pro and M5 Max over the previous generation are mind-boggling, and the higher starting memory and storage (and higher maximum memory) are welcome. (The faster Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, plus improved “Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum microphone modes,” are cool too, I suppose.)

The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,199 (M5 Pro) and $3,599 (M5 Max); the 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,699 (M5 Pro) and $3,899 (M5 Max). All are available at education discounts ranging from $150 to $300, depending on model.

A maxed-out 14-inch MacBook Pro—nano-texture display, M5 Max with 18-core CPU and 40-core GPU, 128GB memory, and 8TB storage—is an eye-watering $7,049; the equivalent 16-inch is $7,349. Woof.

(My 14-inch MacBook Pro (M4 Max, 32GB/4TB)—bought on my next-to-last day at Apple to edit videos for a yet-to-materialize YouTube channel—is a tremendous workhorse. It barely breaks a sweat for the (admittedly limited) workflow I throw at it. I’m guessing it has at least five more years of life in it, thank goodness. And, alas.)