Thunderbolt 5 vs Thunderbolt 4 on the MacBook Pro

The MacBook Pro with M5 Pro or M5 Max has three Thunderbolt 5 ports, each up to 120Gb/s. The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 has three Thunderbolt 4 ports, each up to 40Gb/s. For many people that gap changes nothing they will notice. For people who use fast external drives, a busy dock, or more than two monitors, it is a real reason to choose an M5 Pro or M5 Max.

Which port you have matters less than what you plug into it. A Thunderbolt 5 port is headroom, and you only reach its speed with a Thunderbolt 5 device and a cable that can carry it. Below: which Mac has which, what the faster port is for, and a short list of cases where you can ignore the whole question.

Which MacBook Pro has which

All from Apple's tech specs pages.

HDMI, the SDXC slot, MagSafe and the headphone jack sit alongside on every model in the table, so the difference is only in the USB-C ports. The OLED model has its own post, ports and external displays on the OLED MacBook Pro.

Note what the table says about the M6. It is the newest chip in the line-up and it has the slower port. Apple's M6 announcement lists three Thunderbolt 4 ports and gives no Thunderbolt 5 option. If Thunderbolt 5 matters to you, the M6 is not the model.

What the two ports are

Both are USB-C connectors and both carry video, data and power. Apple's tech specs list these differences:

• Speed. Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 are up to 40Gb/s. Thunderbolt 5 and USB 4 on the M5 Pro and M5 Max are listed as up to 120Gb/s.
• Display output. Apple's tech specs say the Thunderbolt 4 ports support native DisplayPort 1.4 output, and the Thunderbolt 5 ports support native DisplayPort 2.1 output.

Gigabits are not gigabytes. Divide by eight and 40Gb/s is a theoretical 5GB/s, and 120Gb/s a theoretical 15GB/s. Real transfers come in below that, because of the cable, the device and the files themselves. In general, older Thunderbolt and USB-C devices still work in the newer ports, at their own speed.

What it changes

Fast external drives

An external SSD built for Thunderbolt 5 can read and write faster than one built for Thunderbolt 4, but only if the drive, the cable and the port all support it. Plug a Thunderbolt 4 drive into a Thunderbolt 5 port and you get the drive's speed, not the port's. For editing video from an external drive, or moving camera footage, the difference can matter. For a backup drive that runs overnight, it does not.

Docks and hubs

A dock turns one cable into many connections: a display or two, a keyboard, a drive, ethernet. The dock's own port speed sets the ceiling. A Thunderbolt 5 dock on a Thunderbolt 5 Mac has more room to share between a monitor, a fast drive and everything else. On the M6, a Thunderbolt 4 dock is the match. Buy the dock for the Mac you have, and check the cable is the Thunderbolt kind, because the plugs look the same as plain USB-C.

Displays

This is where people expect a big difference, and the reality is quieter. For one external display, Apple lists the same maximums on the M6 and on the M5 Pro and M5 Max: up to 8K at 60Hz, 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz. A single monitor gains nothing. The gap opens with more screens. Apple's specs list the M6 at two displays of up to 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 165Hz, while the M5 Max lists two at up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz. The count itself is two on the M6, three on the M5 Pro and four on the M5 Max. How many external displays each MacBook Pro runs lists every combination.

Charging and power

Apple's tech specs list charging among the things all of these Thunderbolt ports support, on Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5 alike. So a single-cable desk works on either: one cable from a dock to the Mac carries the display, the accessories and power. The MagSafe 3 port stays available for a dedicated charger if you prefer to keep the three USB-C ports for devices. Port generation does not change how this works in practice. What does change it is the dock's own wattage, which is worth checking against the charger that comes with your Mac.

When it does not matter

• You mostly use a laptop for browsing, documents, email and calls.
• You connect one monitor, a keyboard and a mouse.
• Your external drive is a USB or Thunderbolt 4 drive and you use it for backups.
• You use the SD card slot and HDMI port for cameras and a TV.
• You charge with MagSafe, which leaves all three ports for devices.

In these cases, a Thunderbolt 4 port does everything you ask of it, and the M6 or an M5 is a fine Mac.

When to take Thunderbolt 5

• You edit from fast external storage, or move large amounts of footage regularly.
• You run a dock with a drive, networking and displays hanging off one cable.
• You want three or four external displays. That needs M5 Pro or M5 Max, which have Thunderbolt 5.
• You plan to keep the Mac for years and add faster accessories over time.

If you are weighing the M6 against a Pro chip on exactly this point, M6 or M5 Pro goes through the other differences too: memory ceiling, media engines and display count.

One cable, and a nudge before you leave

The quiet win of a one-cable dock, on either port, is how fast you can leave the desk: unplug, close the lid, go. Notchpals, whose reminder characters sit in the notch of every mini-LED MacBook Pro, can give you the warning. If you allow Calendar access, a Schedule character such as Ticky comes down from the notch when your next calendar meeting is 3 to 10 minutes away.

TickyYour next event is almost here! Grab what you need! Tick tick tick!

Notchpals reads only when that meeting starts, never its title, people or notes, and it ignores all-day events and anything you declined or that was cancelled. Meeting soon is also one of the few moments allowed through during a focus session.

A short buying note

Check the label on a cable and on a dock, not just the plug. A cable that works as a charger is not necessarily a Thunderbolt 5 cable. If a drive or a display runs slower than you expect, a cable that cannot carry the speed is the first thing to swap. Apple's own pages are the place to confirm what each port on your Mac supports.

The short answer

If you use one monitor and ordinary accessories, Thunderbolt 4 on the M6 is plenty. If you run a serious dock, fast drives or more than two displays, choose M5 Pro or M5 Max for the Thunderbolt 5 ports and the extra displays that come with them.