Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M3) vs Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M3) | AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | November 2023 | June 2017 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 14.2″ | 15.4″ |
| Resolution | 3024 × 1964 (better) | 2880 × 1800 |
| Panel | Mini-LED | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | – |
| Brightness | 600 nits (better) | 500 nits |
| HDR peak brightness | 1,600 nits | – |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting | Retina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | 220 ppi |
| Colour range | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours | Wide colour (P3) |
| 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 | Apple M3 | Intel Core i7-7700HQ, Intel Core i7-7820HQ or Intel Core i7-7920HQ |
| CPU cores | 8 | 4 |
| CPU threads | – | 8 |
| Graphics | 10-core GPU | AMD Radeon Pro 555 or AMD Radeon Pro 560 |
| Memory | 8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB (better) | 16 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB to 2 TB | 256 GB to 2 TB |
| CPU | 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores | Quad-core Intel Core i7 at 2.8 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.8 GHz and 6 MB L3 cache, or at 2.9 GHz with up to 3.9 GHz and 8 MB L3 cache; both configurable to 3.1 GHz with up to 4.1 GHz and 8 MB L3 cache. Notebookcheck confirms the base i7-7700HQ; Les Numériques confirms i7-7820HQ; AppleInsider.ru identifies the optional i7-7920HQ, cross-checked against Intel's specifications. |
| 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 630 with automatic switching to discrete Radeon graphics. The 2.8 GHz base has Radeon Pro 555 with 2 GB GDDR5, configurable to 560 with 4 GB GDDR5; the 2.9 GHz base has Radeon Pro 560 with 4 GB GDDR5. |
| AI engine | 16-core Neural Engine | – |
| Memory type | Unified memory; 8 GB or 16 GB, configurable to 24 GB | 16 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory |
| Memory bandwidth | 100 GB/s | – |
| Storage type | SSD; 512 GB or 1 TB, configurable to 2 TB | PCIe-based onboard SSD; 256 GB base with 2.8 GHz processor configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB; 512 GB base with 2.9 GHz processor configurable to 1 TB or 2 TB. The optional 3.1 GHz processor retains its base configuration's graphics and storage choices. |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 22 hours | Up to 10 hours |
| Battery capacity | 69.6 Wh | 76 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.55 kg (better) | 1.83 kg |
| Thickness | 15.5 mm | 15.5 mm |
| Width × depth | 312.6 × 221.2 mm | 349.3 × 240.7 mm |
| 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 May 2017 tests used the 2.8 GHz Core i7, 16 GB memory and 256 GB SSD. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. |
| Charger | 70 W USB-C Power Adapter | 87 W USB-C Power Adapter |
| Fast charging | With optional 96 W USB-C Power Adapter | – |
| Materials | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure | Aluminium enclosure |
| Colours | Silver, Space Grey | Silver; Space Grey |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | 4 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6E | Wi-Fi 5 |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 4.2 |
| Webcam | 1080p FaceTime HD | 720p FaceTime HD |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| 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 | 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, four 4096 × 2304 displays at 60 Hz with millions of colours, or four 3840 × 2160 displays at 60 Hz with over a billion colours |
| 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 |
| Trackpad | Force Touch trackpad | Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures |
| Speakers | Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos | Stereo speakers with high dynamic range |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming | Three microphones |
| Biometrics | Touch ID | Touch ID fingerprint sensor integrated into the Touch Bar |
| 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 |
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