Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)

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MacBook Pro 14″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max) compared with MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)

	AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max)	AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2023	June 2009
Display
Screen size
Screen size	14.2″	15.4″
Resolution
Resolution	3024 × 1964 (better)	1440 × 900
Panel
Panel	Mini-LED	TN LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	120 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	600 nits	–
HDR peak brightness
HDR peak brightness	1,600 nits	–
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting	Glossy LED-backlit widescreen display with millions of colours. TN panel technology is identified by the exact-model Notebookcheck review; maker refresh rate and brightness are unpublished.
Pixel density
Pixel density	254 ppi	–
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours	–
Display features
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
Processor	Apple M3 Pro or Apple M3 Max	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53 GHz (MacBook Pro Late 2008), Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz (MacBook Pro Mid 2009), Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz (MacBook Pro Late 2008) or Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06 GHz (MacBook Pro Mid 2009)
CPU cores
CPU cores	11, 12, 14 or 16	2
Graphics
Graphics	14-core GPU, 18-core GPU, 30-core GPU or 40-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (256 MB GDDR3) + GeForce 9400M or NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (512 MB GDDR3) + GeForce 9400M
Memory
Memory	18 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB, 96 GB or 128 GB (better)	4 GB or 8 GB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 8 TB (better)	128 GB to 500 GB
CPU
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)	Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.53 or 2.66 GHz with 3 MB shared L2 cache, or 2.8 and optional 3.06 GHz with 6 MB; 1066 MHz frontside bus. The optional 3.06 GHz processor belongs to the upper discrete-graphics group. No unverified Intel SKU assumptions.
GPU
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	The 2.53 GHz model has GeForce 9400M integrated graphics only. The 2.66 GHz model also has GeForce 9600M GT with 256 MB GDDR3; 2.8 and 3.06 GHz have 512 MB. GeForce 9400M uses 256 MB shared system memory.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
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	1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots, supplied with 4 GB and configurable to 8 GB.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	150 GB/s (M3 Pro); 300 GB/s (14-core M3 Max) or 400 GB/s (16-core M3 Max)	–
Storage type
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	Base hard drives are 250 GB at 2.53 GHz, 320 GB at 2.66 GHz and 500 GB at 2.8 GHz, all 5400 rpm. Configurable 320 GB and 500 GB hard drives offer 5400 or 7200 rpm; 128 GB and 256 GB are SSD options. Higher processor groups omit an unconfirmed 250 GB choice. 8× SuperDrive with double-layer DVD writing.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	Up to 7 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	–	73 Wh
Weight
Weight	1.61 kg (better)	2.49 kg
Thickness
Thickness	15.5 mm (better)	24.1 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	312.6 × 221.2 mm	364 × 249 mm
Battery life detail
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	Built-in lithium-polymer battery. Apple reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger
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	60 W MagSafe Power Adapter for 2.53 GHz; 85 W for 2.66, 2.8 and 3.06 GHz configurations.
Fast charging
Fast charging	With 96 W USB-C Power Adapter	–
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure	Aluminium unibody enclosure and glass trackpad
Colours
Colours	Silver, Space Black	Silver
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	2 × USB-A, SD card slot, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	AirPort Extreme 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	2.1 + EDR
Webcam
Webcam	1080p FaceTime HD	Built-in iSight camera
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
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	Two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, Mini DisplayPort, SD card slot, combined optical digital audio input/line input and combined optical digital audio output/headphone output. No ExpressCard slot.
External displays
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	Supports the built-in display and an external display up to 2560 × 1600 pixels simultaneously. Mini DisplayPort adapters for DVI, dual-link DVI or VGA are sold separately.
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys	Backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys.
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Glass Multi-Touch trackpad supporting two-finger scrolling, pinch, rotate and three/four-finger gestures.
Speakers
Speakers	Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos	Built-in stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming	Omnidirectional microphone beneath the left speaker grille.
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	–
In the box
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, MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, display cleaning cloth, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X Leopard and iLife ’09; Apple Remote and display adapters sold separately.