Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max) | AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | November 2023 | February 2008 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 14.2″ | 15.4″ |
| Resolution | 3024 × 1964 (better) | 1440 × 900 |
| Panel | Mini-LED | – |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | – |
| Brightness | 600 nits | – |
| HDR peak brightness | 1,600 nits | – |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting | LED-backlit widescreen TFT display, matte with optional glossy finish with millions of colours. Exact panel technology and refresh rate unpublished in the maker sources read. |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | – |
| Colour range | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours | – |
| Display features | 1,000,000:1 contrast; 1,000 nits sustained full-screen HDR brightness; ProMotion adaptive refresh up to 120 Hz; fixed 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 Hz rates; True Tone | – |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Apple M3 Pro or Apple M3 Max | Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2008), Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2008) or Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2008) |
| CPU cores | 11, 12, 14 or 16 | 2 |
| Graphics | 14-core GPU, 18-core GPU, 30-core GPU or 40-core GPU | NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (256 MB GDDR3) or NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (512 MB GDDR3) |
| Memory | 18 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB, 96 GB or 128 GB (better) | 2 GB or 4 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB to 8 TB (better) | 200 GB to 300 GB |
| CPU | M3 Pro: 11-core CPU (5 performance, 6 efficiency) or 12-core CPU (6 performance, 6 efficiency); M3 Max: 14-core CPU (10 performance, 4 efficiency) or 16-core CPU (12 performance, 4 efficiency) | Dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.4 GHz with 3 MB shared L2 cache, or 2.5 GHz with 6 MB; 2.6 GHz with 6 MB is configurable from the 2.5 GHz base, as confirmed by Macworld. All use an 800 MHz frontside bus. Maker-described clock records avoid unverified Intel SKU assumptions. |
| GPU | M3 Pro: 14-core or 18-core GPU; M3 Max: 30-core or 40-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW media engine with AV1 decode; M3 Max has two video encode and two ProRes encode/decode engines | NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (256 MB GDDR3); NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (512 MB GDDR3). GPU memory varies with processor configuration. |
| AI engine | 16-core Neural Engine | – |
| Memory type | Unified memory; M3 Pro supports 18 GB or 36 GB; 14-core M3 Max supports 36 GB or 96 GB; 16-core M3 Max supports 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB | 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots; 2 GB standard, configurable to 4 GB. |
| Memory bandwidth | 150 GB/s (M3 Pro); 300 GB/s (14-core M3 Max) or 400 GB/s (16-core M3 Max) | – |
| Storage type | SSD; M3 Pro starts at 512 GB and supports up to 4 TB; M3 Max starts at 1 TB and supports up to 8 TB | 200 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA drive at 2.4 GHz or 250 GB 5400-rpm at 2.5 GHz. Maker build-to-order options are 200 GB at 7200 rpm, 250 GB at 5400 rpm or 300 GB at 4200 rpm; 200 GB rows on higher CPUs represent the optional faster drive. 8× SuperDrive with double-layer DVD writing. |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 18 hours | – |
| Weight | 1.61 kg | – |
| Thickness | 15.5 mm (better) | 26 mm |
| Width × depth | 312.6 × 221.2 mm | 357 × 243 mm |
| Battery life detail | Up to 12 hours wireless web; Apple’s main specification states 72.4 Wh, but the generic footnote gives 69.6 Wh for the 14-inch model; capacity omitted from the main comparison because these figures conflict | Removable lithium-polymer battery; capacity and battery-life hours omitted because the surviving maker sources read do not publish them. Macworld lists 5.4 lb; metric weight omitted. Dimensions 357 × 243 × 26 mm are published by Notebookcheck’s exact-model review. |
| Charger | 70 W USB-C adapter with 11-core M3 Pro; 96 W adapter with 12-core M3 Pro or M3 Max, optional on the entry configuration | 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter |
| Fast charging | With 96 W USB-C Power Adapter | – |
| Materials | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure | Aluminium enclosure |
| Colours | Silver, Space Black | Silver |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | 2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6E | AirPort Extreme 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 2.1 + EDR |
| Webcam | 1080p FaceTime HD | Built-in iSight camera |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | Three Thunderbolt 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s; HDMI; SDXC slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support | 2 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, dual-link DVI, ExpressCard/34, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and combined optical digital audio output/headphone output, and Kensington lock slot. VGA adapter included; composite/S-video adapter optional. |
| External displays | M3 Pro supports two at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt or one at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI; M3 Max supports three at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 144 Hz, or two at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz; HDMI alone supports 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz | One external display up to 2560 × 1600 alongside the built-in screen through dual-link DVI; included VGA adapter, optional composite/S-video adapter. |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys | Full-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors, 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys |
| Trackpad | Force Touch trackpad | Multi-Touch trackpad with separate button; scrolling, pinch, rotate and three-finger swipe. |
| Speakers | Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos | Built-in stereo speakers |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming | Built-in omnidirectional microphone under the left speaker grille |
| Biometrics | Touch ID | – |
| In the box | 14-inch MacBook Pro, 70 W or 96 W USB-C Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m) | MacBook Pro, removable battery, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and iLife ’08. Apple Remote sold separately. The former SP4 specification URL is no longer available; surviving maker launch notice and exact user guide provide core specifications. |
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