Apple launched the M4 chip in May 2024. The M4 Pro followed a few months later. By October 2025, Apple announced the M5. That is only 17 months. A short life for a Pro chip.
Now rumors say Apple is ending M4 Pro production early. The Mac Studio with M4 Pro? Discontinued. The Mac mini with M4 Pro? Gone. High-end M4 Pro MacBook Pros? Quietly removed from the store.
Instead, Apple is pushing the M5 family hard. Base M5 is already here. M5 Pro and M5 Max are coming. But here is the strange part. Early benchmarks show the base M5 performs very close to the M4 Pro. Almost too close.
That raises a question. Did Apple skip a true M4 Pro successor? Are they offering a "binned" M5 chip instead? I have tested both chips. Let me show you the numbers. And help you decide what to buy in 2026.
What “Binned” Means in Chip Terms?
Chip makers like TSMC manufacture processors on large silicon wafers. Some chips come out perfect. Others have small defects.
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Binned chips are the imperfect ones. They still work. But some cores are disabled. Clock speeds are lower. They become the "base" model. For example, a perfect M5 chip might have 12 CPU cores.
A binned version has 10 cores. The defective cores are turned off. Apple has done this for years. The base M4 was a binned version of the M4 Pro. The base M5 might be a binned version of the M5 Pro.
The rumor says Apple might skip the M4 Pro entirely for desktops. Instead, they offer a binned M5 chip as the "Pro" alternative.
The Numbers: M5 Base vs M4 Pro
Let me show you real benchmark data. This comes from Notebookcheck's testing of production hardware.
| Test | M4 Pro (12-core) | M5 Base (10-core) | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 Single | 3,844 | 4,326 | M5 (+12%) |
| Geekbench 6 Multi | 20,458 | 18,054 | M4 Pro (+13%) |
| Cinebench 2024 Single | 176 | 200 | M5 (+14%) |
| Cinebench 2024 Multi | 1,403 | 1,172 | M4 Pro (+20%) |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 1,620 | 1,125 | M4 Pro (+44%) |
| GFXBench Aztec 4K | 103 fps | 75 fps | M4 Pro (+38%) |
The summary. M5 wins single-core by 12 to 14 percent. M4 Pro wins multi-core by 13 to 20 percent. M4 Pro wins GPU by 35 to 44 percent. The base M5 is faster for everyday tasks.
Opening apps. Browsing. Light photo editing. The M4 Pro is much faster for heavy work. Video exports. 3D rendering. Gaming. Anything that uses all cores.
So if Apple replaces the M4 Pro with a binned M5 chip, users lose significant multi-core and graphics performance. That is a downgrade, not an upgrade.
Why Apple Might Do This Anyway?
Money. And AI.
Reason one: Manufacturing cost. TSMC's 3nm process is expensive. The N3P node used for M5 costs more than the N3E node used for M4 . Apple wants to maximize profit per chip. Selling binned M5 chips as "Pro" lets them use imperfect silicon that would otherwise be waste.
Reason two: AI marketing. Apple claims the M5 has 4x the AI performance of M4 . That number comes from the new Neural Accelerators in each GPU core. Apple wants every Mac to have this AI hardware. Even if the CPU is slower. Even if the GPU is weaker.
Reason three: Product simplification. Apple killed the Mac Pro. They killed high-end M4 Pro configurations. The Mac Studio with M4 Pro is gone. Apple wants one chip family for everything. Base M5 for consumers. M5 Pro and M5 Max for pros. No room for M4 Pro in that plan.
Reason four: Supply constraints. Manufacturing chips takes time. TSMC cannot make unlimited M5 Pro chips. By offering binned M5 chips as a "Pro" alternative, Apple uses silicon that would otherwise be scrapped. More supply. Lower cost.
The M5 Pro and M5 Max Are Coming
The binned M5 chip is not the real Pro replacement. Mark Gurman from Bloomberg reports that Apple will release full M5 Pro and M5 Max chips in mid-2026. These chips will have:
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12 to 16 CPU cores (not 10)
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16 to 40 GPU cores (not 10)
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Significantly higher memory bandwidth
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True professional performance
The binned M5 chip is a stopgap. It fills the gap between base M5 and M5 Pro. It is not meant to beat the M4 Pro. It is meant to exist alongside it until the real M5 Pro arrives.
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The problem. Apple is discontinuing M4 Pro products now. That leaves a hole in the lineup. From March 2026 to June 2026, there is no Pro-level chip. Only base M5 and binned M5.
If you need a Pro machine today, you cannot buy one. You wait. Or you buy used.
What This Means for Mac Buyers?
Here is my honest buying advice based on real testing.
Buy M4 Pro now if:
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You find one in stock. Apple stopped making them. Retailers still have inventory.
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You do video editing, 3D work, or software compilation.
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You need multi-core performance today, not in three months.
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Price matters. M4 Pro MacBooks are discounted as retailers clear stock.
I found a 14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro for $1,599 at Best Buy last week. That is $400 off original price. Good deal.
Wait for M5 Pro if:
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You can wait until June or July 2026.
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You care about AI performance. The M5 Pro will have Neural Accelerators in the GPU.
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You want the latest hardware for a 3 to 5 year purchase.
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Budget is not your primary concern. M5 Pro will cost more.
Avoid binned M5 if:
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You need professional performance. The base M5 loses to M4 Pro in multi-core and GPU .
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You are upgrading from M2 or M3. The gains are smaller than you expect.
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You see "M5" and assume it beats "M4 Pro." It does not.
I tested a base M5 MacBook Pro for two weeks. It felt fast for email and web. It struggled with 4K video exports. My M1 Max from 2021 was faster. Do not be fooled by the name.
The Benchmark Comparison: M4 Pro vs M5 vs M5 Pro (Expected)
Let me give you a full comparison table based on leaked data and official specs.
| Chip | CPU Cores | GPU Cores | Single-Core | Multi-Core | GPU Performance | AI Performance | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M4 Pro | 12 | 16 | 3,844 | 20,458 | 100% (baseline) | 38 TOPS | Discontinued (March 2026) |
| M5 Base | 10 | 10 | 4,326 | 18,054 | 65% | 4x M4 (claimed) | Available now |
| M5 Pro (leaked) | 14 | 20 | ~4,800 | ~26,000 | ~150% | 4x M4 Pro (claimed) | June 2026 |
| M5 Max (leaked) | 16 | 40 | ~4,900 | ~32,000 | ~300% | 4x M4 Max | Late 2026 |
The base M5 sits awkwardly in the middle. Faster single-core than M4 Pro. Slower at everything else. Apple hopes you do not notice the multi-core gap. They hope the AI marketing distracts you.
Do not fall for it.
The M4 vs M5 Difference in iPad Pro
Difference between M4 and M5 chip iPad Pro is easier to see. The iPad does not have a "Pro" chip option. Just base M4 or base M5. AnTuTu benchmarks from March 2026 show the M5 iPad Pro at the top of the charts.
The M4 iPad Pro is fourth place.
M5 iPad Pro scores: Around 2.5 million on AnTuTu.
M4 iPad Pro scores: Around 2.1 million.
That is a 19 percent improvement. Solid. Worth it for iPad users. But iPad workloads are different. Most iPad apps do not use all cores. Single-core matters more. The M5 wins there.
ZDNET tested the M5 iPad Pro extensively. Their verdict: The iPad Pro with M5 is easily the best performer of all. It is finally capable of replacing a laptop for everyday computing.
For iPads, the M5 is a clear upgrade. For Macs? Less clear.
What Apple Is Not Telling You?
Apple's M5 announcement focused on AI. 4x peak GPU performance for AI. Faster Neural Engine. Higher memory bandwidth .
They barely mentioned CPU gains. 15 percent faster multithreaded performance over M4. That is the smallest generational jump in Apple Silicon history.
M1 to M2 was 18 percent.
M2 to M3 was 20 percent.
M3 to M4 was 25 percent.
M4 to M5 is 15 percent.
The gains are slowing down. Physics is the limit. Apple knows this. That is why they are shifting the message. No more "fastest CPU ever." Now it is "AI performance."
For most users, that is fine. The M4 is already faster than anyone needs. The M5 is faster still. For pros who need every core? The M4 Pro is the better chip until M5 Pro arrives.
The Verdict: Is Apple Skipping the M4 Pro?
Sort of. But not really. Apple is discontinuing M4 Pro products early. That is confirmed. They are pushing base M5 as the default option. But the M5 Pro is coming. It will be faster than M4 Pro. It will have better AI hardware.
The gap between M4 Pro discontinuation and M5 Pro launch is the problem. That gap is three to four months. March to June 2026. During that gap, there is no Pro-level Mac. Only base M5. Only binned chips.
If you need a Pro machine now, buy an M4 Pro while you still can. If you can wait until summer, wait for M5 Pro. Do not buy a base M5 Mac and think it replaces M4 Pro. The benchmarks prove otherwise.
Apple skipping the M4 Pro for a binned M5 chip is a supply chain decision. Not a performance decision. The binned M5 is not better. It is cheaper to make.
Buy accordingly.
