Request a product

Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max)AppleMacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
Overview
ReleasedNovember 2023February 2011
Display
Screen size14.2″17″
Resolution3024 × 19641920 × 1200
PanelMini-LED–
Refresh rate120 Hz–
Brightness600 nits–
HDR peak brightness1,600 nits–
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting17-inch LED-backlit glossy or optional antiglare display at 1920 × 1200. Exact panel technology, brightness and refresh rate are unpublished in the maker sources read.
Pixel density254 ppi–
Colour rangeWide colour (P3); 1 billion colours–
Display features1,000,000:1 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
ProcessorApple M3 Pro or Apple M3 MaxIntel Core i7 2.2 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2011) or Intel Core i7 2.3 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2011)
CPU cores11, 12, 14 or 164
Graphics14-core GPU, 18-core GPU, 30-core GPU or 40-core GPUAMD Radeon HD 6750M (1 GB GDDR5) + Intel HD Graphics 3000
Memory18 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB, 96 GB or 128 GB4 GB or 8 GB
Storage512 GB to 8 TB128 GB to 750 GB
CPUM3 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)Quad-core Intel Core i7 at 2.2 GHz with 6 MB shared L3 cache or optional 2.3 GHz with 8 MB. Generic maker-clock records avoid an unverified Intel SKU assumption. TechRadar identifies Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz for the tested 2.2 GHz model; unpublished optional-processor peak clocks are omitted.
GPUM3 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 enginesAMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1 GB GDDR5 plus Intel HD Graphics 3000 using at least 384 MB shared DDR3 memory; automatic graphics switching.
AI engine16-core Neural Engine–
Memory typeUnified 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 GB4 GB or 8 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots.
Memory bandwidth150 GB/s (M3 Pro); 300 GB/s (14-core M3 Max) or 400 GB/s (16-core M3 Max)–
Storage typeSSD; M3 Pro starts at 512 GB and supports up to 4 TB; M3 Max starts at 1 TB and supports up to 8 TB750 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 500 GB 7200-rpm hard drive or 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB SSD with either processor. 8× SuperDrive with double-layer DVD writing.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)Up to 18 hoursUp to 7 hours
Battery capacity–95 Wh
Weight1.61 kg2.99 kg
Thickness15.5 mm25 mm
Width × depth312.6 × 221.2 mm393 × 267 mm
Battery life detailUp 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 conflictBuilt-in lithium-polymer battery; up to seven hours in Apple wireless-web testing. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger70 W USB-C adapter with 11-core M3 Pro; 96 W adapter with 12-core M3 Pro or M3 Max, optional on the entry configuration85 W MagSafe Power Adapter
Fast chargingWith 96 W USB-C Power Adapter–
Materials100% recycled aluminium enclosureAluminium unibody enclosure and glass trackpad
ColoursSilver, Space BlackSilver
Connections
Ports3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack3 × USB-A, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6EAirPort Extreme 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth5.32.1 + EDR
Webcam1080p FaceTime HDFaceTime HD camera (720p, Macworld)
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Port detailThree 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 supportOne Thunderbolt port up to 10 Gbps, three USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, ExpressCard/34, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and optical digital audio output/headphone output. No SD card slot.
External displaysM3 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 HzSupports an external display up to 2560 × 1600 alongside the built-in screen. Thunderbolt provides native Mini DisplayPort output; optional DVI, VGA or dual-link DVI adapters and third-party HDMI adapters provide other connections.
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keysBacklit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys.
TrackpadForce Touch trackpadGlass Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate and three/four-finger gestures.
SpeakersSix-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby AtmosBuilt-in stereo speakers with subwoofers
MicrophonesStudio-quality three-mic array with directional beamformingOmnidirectional microphone under the left speaker grille; supports an iPhone headset microphone.
BiometricsTouch ID–
In the box14-inch MacBook Pro, 70 W or 96 W USB-C Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m)MacBook Pro, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, display cleaning cloth, software DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife ’11 and FaceTime; Apple Remote and display adapters sold separately.

More comparisons