Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M3 Pro / M3 Max) | AppleMacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | November 2023 | February 2013 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 14.2″ | 13.3″ |
| Resolution | 3024 × 1964 (better) | 2560 × 1600 |
| Panel | Mini-LED | IPS LCD |
| 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 | Retina LED-backlit IPS display with millions of colours; native 2560 × 1600 and scaled modes of 1680 × 1050, 1440 × 900 and 1024 × 640. Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple. |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | 227 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 i5-3210M, Intel Core i7-3520M, Intel Core i5-3230M or Intel Core i7-3540M |
| CPU cores | 11, 12, 14 or 16 | 2 |
| CPU threads | – | 4 |
| Graphics | 14-core GPU, 18-core GPU, 30-core GPU or 40-core GPU | Intel HD Graphics 4000 |
| Memory | 18 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB, 96 GB or 128 GB (better) | 8 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB to 8 TB (better) | 128 GB to 768 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) | The retained 128 GB base has a dual-core Core i5-3210M at 2.5 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz, 3 MB cache), configurable to Core i7-3520M at 2.9 GHz (up to 3.6 GHz, 4 MB). The refreshed 256 GB base has Core i5-3230M at 2.6 GHz (up to 3.2 GHz, 3 MB), configurable to Core i7-3540M at 3.0 GHz (up to 3.7 GHz, 4 MB). Primate Labs identifies the exact processors; Apple includes both bases in this generation's sheet. |
| 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 | Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated graphics |
| 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 | 8 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L onboard memory; no higher memory option |
| 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 | Flash storage; retained 2.5 GHz base has 128 GB, configurable to 256 GB, 512 GB or 768 GB. Refreshed 2.6 GHz base has 256 GB, configurable to 512 GB or 768 GB. Processor upgrades follow their corresponding base; memory remains fixed at 8 GB. |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 18 hours | Up to 7 hours |
| Battery capacity | – | 74 Wh |
| Weight | 1.61 kg (better) | 1.62 kg |
| Thickness | 15.5 mm (better) | 19 mm |
| Width × depth | 312.6 × 221.2 mm | 314 × 219 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 | Built-in 74 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 7 hours wireless web or 30 days standby under Apple's test conditions. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. |
| 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 2 Power Adapter with cable management |
| 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, 2 × Thunderbolt, MagSafe 2, headphone jack, SD card slot, HDMI |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6E | 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 4.0 |
| Webcam | 1080p FaceTime HD | 720p FaceTime HD |
| 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 | Two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s, two Thunderbolt ports up to 10 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 2 and headphone/optical digital audio output. Supports Apple iPhone headset with microphone. Ethernet and FireWire require separate Thunderbolt adapters. |
| 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 | Built-in screen plus up to two external displays at 2560 × 1600, with millions of colours; DVI, VGA and dual-link DVI adapters sold separately |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys | Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, four arrow keys and ambient light sensor |
| Trackpad | Force Touch trackpad | Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap and drag |
| Speakers | Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos | Stereo speakers |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming | Dual microphones |
| 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 with Retina display, MagSafe 2 Power Adapter, AC wall plug and power cord; OS X Mountain Lion and iLife apps |
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