Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M3) vs Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)

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

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

MacBook Pro 14″ (M3) compared with MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)

	AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M3)	AppleMacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2023	February 2009
Display
Screen size
Screen size	14.2″	17″
Resolution
Resolution	3024 × 1964 (better)	1920 × 1200
Panel
Panel	Mini-LED	–
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	17-inch LED-backlit widescreen display at 1920 × 1200, glossy or optional antiglare. Exact panel technology, brightness and refresh rate are unpublished in the maker sources read.
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	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz (MacBook Pro Mid 2009) or Intel Core 2 Duo 2.93 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2009)
CPU cores
CPU cores	8	2
Graphics
Graphics	10-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (512 MB GDDR3) + GeForce 9400M
Memory
Memory	8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB (better)	4 GB or 8 GB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 2 TB (better)	128 GB to 320 GB
CPU
CPU	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores	Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.66 GHz or optional 2.93 GHz, with 6 MB shared L2 cache and a 1066 MHz frontside bus. Maker-clock records avoid unverified Intel SKU assumptions.
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	NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT with 512 MB GDDR3 plus GeForce 9400M with 256 MB shared system memory. Switching between the discrete and integrated graphics requires logout, as reported by LaptopMag.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory; 8 GB or 16 GB, configurable to 24 GB	4 GB or 8 GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	100 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD; 512 GB or 1 TB, configurable to 2 TB	320 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 320 GB 7200-rpm hard drive or 128 GB or 256 GB SSD with either processor. 8× SuperDrive with double-layer DVD writing.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 22 hours	Up to 8 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	69.6 Wh	95 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	1.55 kg (better)	2.99 kg
Thickness
Thickness	15.5 mm (better)	25 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	312.6 × 221.2 mm	393 × 267 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	Built-in lithium-polymer battery. Apple reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger
Charger	70 W USB-C Power Adapter	85 W MagSafe Power Adapter
Fast charging
Fast charging	With optional 96 W USB-C Power Adapter	–
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure	Aluminium unibody enclosure and glass trackpad
Colours
Colours	Silver, Space Grey	Silver
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	3 × USB-A, 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	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	Three USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, Mini DisplayPort, ExpressCard/34, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and optical digital audio output/headphone output. No SD card slot.
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	Supports an external display up to 2560 × 1600 pixels alongside the built-in display. Mini DisplayPort to DVI, dual-link DVI or VGA adapters 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; supports an Apple Stereo Headset with microphone.
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	–
In the box
In the box	14-inch MacBook Pro, 70 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, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X Leopard and iLife ’09; Apple Remote and display adapters sold separately.