In this video I put the base M5 MacBook Pro (the new $1,600 one) against my M3 Pro MacBook Pro that launched around $2,500, and the whole point is simple: is the M3 Pro really worth that extra $900? On paper the M3 Pro should win—more RAM, more CPU/GPU cores, bigger 16-inch display—but after I ran benchmarks and real-world tests, the results were honestly surprising. A lot of the time, performance is way closer than you’d expect, and in a few places the M5 straight up pulls ahead. I break down design (basically the same ports and look, still Thunderbolt 4), then jump into benchmarks like Cinebench GPU and Geekbench 6 CPU. The M5 is a little behind in raw GPU score, but it beats the M3 Pro in CPU performance, browser speed, and SSD read/write. Then I test what actually matters: Premiere Pro editing/rendering, Cyberpunk 2077 performance (including ray tracing), and even local AI image generation. My takeaway: M5 is the better value for gaming and AI, but for general productivity and creative work, the jump isn’t massive—so depending on your workflow, waiting for M5 Pro in 2026 might be the smarter move.