Apple’s next-generation M5 Pro chip has started showing up in early benchmark results, giving a clearer picture of how its upgraded GPU performs. The short version: M5 Pro delivers a noticeable jump over the M4 Pro in both Metal and OpenCL scores, but it still trails a mid-range Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU in Geekbench’s OpenCL test.
In the Geekbench Metal benchmark, the Apple M5 Pro posts a strong score of around 141,000 points. That’s an encouraging result for anyone eyeing upcoming MacBook Pro models or other Macs expected to use Apple’s latest Pro-class silicon. Metal is Apple’s graphics API, and it’s typically the best indicator of how Apple GPUs behave in macOS-focused workloads such as pro apps and creative production pipelines optimized for Metal.
OpenCL, however, tells a different story. In Geekbench OpenCL, the M5 Pro lands roughly 87,155 points. While that’s a decent step forward for Apple silicon, it still looks underwhelming next to certain laptop Nvidia GPUs in the same benchmark. In this case, the GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU comes out ahead by about 13% in OpenCL.
These numbers also line up with what you’d expect within the M5 family. With a 20-core GPU, the M5 Pro has about half as many GPU cores as the M5 Max configuration that recently appeared in benchmarks with a 40-core GPU. So it’s no surprise the Pro model sits below the Max, while still offering a big uplift over the base M5 chip.
For additional context, the standard Apple M5 with a 10-core GPU (found in entry-level MacBook Pro configurations) scores around 48,000 points in Geekbench OpenCL. That makes the M5 Pro roughly 81% faster than the base M5 in OpenCL—an easy win that reinforces the value of stepping up to the Pro tier for users who rely on heavier GPU workloads.
The generational improvements are where the M5 Pro looks especially compelling. Compared to the M4 Pro, Apple’s new chip shows an estimated 24.3% improvement in Geekbench OpenCL and about a 26% improvement in Geekbench Metal. For buyers deciding whether to upgrade from an M4 Pro system, that’s the kind of year-over-year gain that can translate into smoother timelines, faster effects, and better responsiveness in GPU-accelerated creative apps—assuming the software is tuned for Apple’s platform.
That said, it’s important to keep these benchmark comparisons in perspective. OpenCL has been deprecated on macOS for years, so treating OpenCL results as a definitive “Mac vs Windows GPU” showdown can be misleading. Likewise, Metal is Apple-only, so it’s not a fair apples-to-apples comparison against GPUs tested in entirely different ecosystems and APIs. In real-world use, performance will vary dramatically depending on the app, the rendering engine, driver optimizations, and whether the workload is balanced for Metal, CUDA, DirectX, or other acceleration frameworks.
More graphics benchmarks—such as 3D-focused tests—should help clarify where the M5 Pro really stands once additional data becomes available. For now, the takeaway is straightforward: the Apple M5 Pro appears set to deliver solid, meaningful GPU gains over the M4 Pro, even if an RTX 5060 Laptop GPU can still pull ahead in Geekbench’s OpenCL results.
