Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M3) vs Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)

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MacBook Pro 14″ (M3) compared with MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)

	AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M3)	AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2023	November 2016
Display
Screen size
Screen size	14.2″	15.4″
Resolution
Resolution	3024 × 1964 (better)	2880 × 1800
Panel
Panel	Mini-LED	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	120 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	600 nits (better)	500 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	Retina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours
Pixel density
Pixel density	254 ppi	220 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours	Wide colour (P3)
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	Scaled resolutions of 1920 × 1200, 1680 × 1050, 1280 × 800 or 1024 × 640
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M3	Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Intel Core i7-6820HQ or Intel Core i7-6920HQ
CPU cores
CPU cores	8	4
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	8
Graphics
Graphics	10-core GPU	AMD Radeon Pro 450, AMD Radeon Pro 460 or AMD Radeon Pro 455
Memory
Memory	8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB (better)	16 GB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 2 TB	256 GB to 2 TB
CPU
CPU	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores	Quad-core Intel Core i7 at 2.6 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.5 GHz and 6 MB shared L3 cache, or at 2.7 GHz with up to 3.6 GHz and 8 MB cache; both configurable to 2.9 GHz with up to 3.8 GHz and 8 MB cache. Ars confirms the i7-6700HQ, i7-6820HQ and i7-6920HQ identifiers.
GPU
GPU	10-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing; media engine supports H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW, video and ProRes encode/decode, and AV1 decode	Intel HD Graphics 530 with automatic switching to discrete Radeon graphics. The 2.6 GHz base has Radeon Pro 450 with 2 GB GDDR5; the 2.7 GHz base has Radeon Pro 455 with 2 GB GDDR5; each is configurable to Radeon Pro 460 with 4 GB GDDR5.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory; 8 GB or 16 GB, configurable to 24 GB	16 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory. Apple publishes this system speed; Intel lists LPDDR3-1866 in its generic processor specifications.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	100 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD; 512 GB or 1 TB, configurable to 2 TB	PCIe-based onboard SSD; 256 GB base with 2.6 GHz processor configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB; 512 GB base with 2.7 GHz processor configurable to 1 TB or 2 TB. The optional 2.9 GHz processor retains its base configuration's graphics and storage choices.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 22 hours	Up to 10 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	69.6 Wh	76 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	1.55 kg (better)	1.83 kg
Thickness
Thickness	15.5 mm	15.5 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	312.6 × 221.2 mm	349.3 × 240.7 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 15 hours wireless web; marketed as 70 Wh, with actual rating 69.6 Wh in Apple’s footnote	Lithium-polymer battery; up to 10 hours wireless web or iTunes movie playback and 30 days standby. Apple's October 2016 tests used the 2.6 GHz Core i7, 16 GB memory and 256 GB SSD. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger
Charger	70 W USB-C Power Adapter	87 W USB-C Power Adapter
Fast charging
Fast charging	With optional 96 W USB-C Power Adapter	–
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure	Aluminium enclosure
Colours
Colours	Silver, Space Grey	Silver; Space Grey
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	4 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	4.2
Webcam
Webcam	1080p FaceTime HD	720p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s; HDMI; SDXC slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support	Four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports support charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt up to 40 Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; 3.5 mm headphone jack. VGA, HDMI and Thunderbolt 2 output require separate adaptors.
External displays
External displays	One external display with the built-in screen active; macOS Sonoma 14.6 or later supports two with the lid closed: primary up to 6K 60 Hz (or 4K 144 Hz), secondary up to 5K 60 Hz (or 4K 100 Hz), according to Apple’s updated display support page; original tech specs state HDMI up to 4K 120 Hz	Built-in screen plus two 5120 × 2880 displays at 60 Hz with over a billion colours, or four 4096 × 2304 displays at 60 Hz with over a billion colours
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys	Full-size backlit keyboard with 64 US or 65 ISO keys, four arrow keys, Touch Bar and ambient light sensor; second-generation butterfly mechanism
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures
Speakers
Speakers	Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos	Stereo speakers with high dynamic range
Microphones
Microphones	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming	Three microphones
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	Touch ID fingerprint sensor; Apple T1 chip
In the box
In the box	14-inch MacBook Pro, 70 W USB-C Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m)	15-inch MacBook Pro; 87 W USB-C Power Adapter; 2 m USB-C Charge Cable