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Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max)AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
Overview
ReleasedNovember 2024November 2016
Display
Screen size14.2″15.4″
Resolution3024 × 19642880 × 1800
PanelMini-LEDIPS LCD
Refresh rate120 Hz–
Brightness1,000 nits500 nits
HDR peak brightness1,600 nits–
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina XDR displayRetina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours
Pixel density254 ppi220 ppi
Colour rangeWide colour (P3); 1 billion coloursWide colour (P3)
Screen finishStandard, or nano-texture as an option–
Display features1,000,000:1 contrast; 1,000 nits sustained full-screen XDR brightness; ProMotion up to 120 Hz, with fixed 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 Hz rates; True ToneScaled resolutions of 1920 × 1200, 1680 × 1050, 1280 × 800 or 1024 × 640
Performance
ProcessorApple M4 Pro or Apple M4 MaxIntel Core i7-6700HQ, Intel Core i7-6820HQ or Intel Core i7-6920HQ
CPU cores12, 14 or 164
CPU threads–8
Graphics16-core GPU, 20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPUAMD Radeon Pro 450, AMD Radeon Pro 460 or AMD Radeon Pro 455
Memory24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB or 128 GB16 GB
Storage512 GB to 8 TB256 GB to 2 TB
CPUM4 Pro: 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, or 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores; M4 Max: 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, or 16-core CPU with 12 performance cores and 4 efficiency coresQuad-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.
GPU16-core or 20-core (M4 Pro), 32-core or 40-core (M4 Max) GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode, with two video encode and two ProRes engines on M4 MaxIntel 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 engine16-core Neural Engine–
Memory typeUnified memory; M4 Pro takes 24GB or 48GB; M4 Max takes 36GB (14-core CPU) or 48GB, 64GB or 128GB (16-core CPU)16 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory. Apple publishes this system speed; Intel lists LPDDR3-1866 in its generic processor specifications.
Memory bandwidth273 GB/s (M4 Pro), 410 GB/s (M4 Max with 32-core GPU) or 546 GB/s (M4 Max with 40-core GPU)–
Storage typeSSD, configurable up to 4 TB (M4 Pro) or 8 TB (M4 Max)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)Up to 22 hoursUp to 10 hours
Battery capacity72.4 Wh76 Wh
Weight1.6 kg1.83 kg
Thickness15.5 mm15.5 mm
Width × depth312.6 × 221.2 mm349.3 × 240.7 mm
Battery life detailM4 Pro up to 22 hours video streaming and 14 hours wireless web; M4 Max up to 18 hours video streaming and 13 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer batteryLithium-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.
Charger70 W USB-C Power Adapter included with the 12-core-CPU M4 Pro; 96 W with the 14-core-CPU M4 Pro and M4 Max87 W USB-C Power Adapter
Fast chargingWith the 96 W USB-C Power Adapter–
Materials100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 35% recycled content overallAluminium enclosure
ColoursSpace Black, SilverSilver; Space Grey
Connections
Ports3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack4 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6EWi-Fi 5
Bluetooth5.34.2
Webcam12MP Center Stage720p FaceTime HD
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Port detail3 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with charging, DisplayPort 2.1, Thunderbolt 5 and USB 4 (up to 120 Gb/s); HDMI (up to 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz) with multichannel audio output; SDXC card slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone supportFour 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 displaysM4 Pro up to two at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt, or one at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt and one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI, or one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz over HDMI; M4 Max up to four (three at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt and one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI), or three (two at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz over HDMI); all alongside the built-in displayBuilt-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
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard, 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keysFull-size backlit keyboard with 64 US or 65 ISO keys, four arrow keys, Touch Bar and ambient light sensor; second-generation butterfly mechanism
TrackpadForce Touch trackpadForce Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures
SpeakersHigh-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby AtmosStereo speakers with high dynamic range
MicrophonesStudio-quality three-mic array with directional beamformingThree microphones
BiometricsTouch IDTouch ID fingerprint sensor; Apple T1 chip
In the box14-inch MacBook Pro, 70 W (12-core-CPU M4 Pro) or 96 W USB-C Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only)15-inch MacBook Pro; 87 W USB-C Power Adapter; 2 m USB-C Charge Cable

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