A smaller and thinner laptop chassis will always have difficulties controlling the thermals of high-performance chips, so it’s unsurprising to hear that Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro equipped with an M5 Pro, which sports a 15-core CPU and 16-core GPU, would hit the same power limitations.
The problem is that the technology giant hasn’t paid much attention to the cooling design of these portable Macs, equipping the higher-end models with a single heatpipe and two low-profile fans for years to perform the heavy lifting.
This would explain why the larger 16-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro has an easier time maintaining the more powerful SoC’s thermals, as a bigger chassis always helps. Sadly, the 14-inch version leaves a ton of performance on the table, as one CPU-centric benchmark reveals a 30 percent difference in scores.
Moving to vapor chambers on the newer MacBook Pro models will allow these machines to hit higher sustained performance, assuming Apple agrees to this transition
A 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro and a 16-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro (18-core CPU, 40-core GPU) were tested by Max Tech, with all of the results showing that the bigger machine triumphs because it has more thermal headroom to dissipate heat effectively. In Cinebench 2026, the M5 Pro obtains a score of 7,105, whereas the M5 Max finishes the test with 9,262 points.
That’s a 30.35 percent difference between the two chipsets, and while readers will immediately point out that there’s a 3-core delta between the two SoCs, that still doesn’t mean that this large a score disparity appears. To back up our claims, you can see in the image below that the M5 Pro is running at a package power of around 45W, while the M5 Max manages to sustain itself around 64W, with its super cores operating at 3.62GHz.
Even with the fans maxed out, the M5 Pro MacBook Pro still cannot keep up, scoring lower in Cinebench. For most people, a 14-inch notebook is an ideal size for maximum portability, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro’s footprint is too cumbersome for some. However, buyers may feel that they aren’t getting their money’s worth with a smaller chassis, which is why Apple needs to shift to a vapor chamber as early as possible.
Unfortunately, there’s no confirmation on whether the M6 MacBook Pro will gravitate away from the heatpipe solution, but an earlier report has stated that the M6 iPad Pro will feature a vapor chamber, which gives us some hope. If you plan on getting the base 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro from Amazon for $2,149.99, and you have some experience in re-pasting these portable Macs, we recommend applying some PTM7950, as that will bring a night-and-day difference to your temperatures.
News Source: Max Tech
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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