# Skip the M6 MacBook Pro, buy the M5 instead

> Apple's new M6 MacBook Pro costs $200 more than the M5 for gains you won't notice in daily work.
- Title: Skip the M6 MacBook Pro, buy the M5 instead · WIRED | Shortify
- Summary: Apple's new M6 MacBook Pro costs $200 more than the M5 for gains you won't notice in daily work.
- Keywords: apple, macbook pro, m6 chip, m5 chip, laptop, WIRED
- Source: WIRED — https://wired.com/story/macbook-pro-m5-deal-11-6-2026
- Author: Luke Larsen
- Published: 2026-11-08T10:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: apple, macbook pro, m6 chip, m5 chip, laptop
## Apple releases M6 MacBook Pro
Last month, Apple refreshed the fourteen-inch MacBook Pro with the latest M six chip. It has great battery life and a bright mini-LED screen, but you probably shouldn't buy it right now.
## M5 costs $200 less for identical specs
The M five model came out in late twenty twenty-five with identical laptop specs except for the chip. You can currently get the M five for two hundred dollars less on Amazon and Walmart.
## M6 gains are small and narrow
The M six has two additional CPU and GPU cores, one of the smaller generation-over-generation Apple Silicon performance bumps in the past six years.

> I just don't think the difference will be very noticeable between the two models.
## Consider the fifteen-inch MacBook Air instead
The fifteen-inch MacBook Air M five is also on sale. The model with sixteen gigabytes of memory and a terabyte of storage is at its lowest price since June: one thousand five hundred forty-nine dollars…
## M5 MacBook Pro offers better value
Whether you choose the thinner fifteen-inch MacBook Air M five or the fourteen-inch MacBook Pro M five with its better screen, you have great deals.
## Key takeaway

Apple's M6 MacBook Pro offers minimal performance gains over the cheaper M5 model, making the older laptop the better buy right now.