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Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)

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 (17-inch, Mid 2009)
Overview
ReleasedNovember 2024June 2009
Display
Screen size14.2″17″
Resolution3024 × 19641920 × 1200
PanelMini-LED–
Refresh rate120 Hz–
Brightness1,000 nits–
HDR peak brightness1,600 nits–
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina XDR display17-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 Exact panel technology, brightness and refresh rate are unpublished in the maker sources read.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 density254 ppi–
Colour rangeWide colour (P3); 1 billion colours–
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 Tone–
Performance
ProcessorApple M4 Pro or Apple M4 MaxIntel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz (MacBook Pro Late 2008) or Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06 GHz (MacBook Pro Mid 2009)
CPU cores12, 14 or 162
Graphics16-core GPU, 20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPUNVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (512 MB GDDR3) + GeForce 9400M
Memory24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB or 128 GB4 GB or 8 GB
Storage512 GB to 8 TB128 GB to 500 GB
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 coresIntel Core 2 Duo at 2.8 GHz or optional 3.06 GHz, with 6 MB shared L2 cache and a 1066 MHz frontside bus. Maker-clock records avoid unverified Intel SKU assumptions.
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 MaxNVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT with 512 MB GDDR3 plus GeForce 9400M with 256 MB shared system memory. Switching between integrated and discrete graphics requires logout, as described by Macworld.
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)4 GB or 8 GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots.
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)500 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 500 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)Up to 22 hoursUp to 8 hours
Battery capacity72.4 Wh95 Wh
Weight1.6 kg2.99 kg
Thickness15.5 mm25 mm
Width × depth312.6 × 221.2 mm393 × 267 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 batteryBuilt-in lithium-polymer battery. Apple reference 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 Max85 W MagSafe Power Adapter
Fast chargingWith the 96 W USB-C Power Adapter–
Materials100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 35% recycled content overallAluminium unibody enclosure and glass trackpad
ColoursSpace Black, SilverSilver
Connections
Ports3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6EAirPort Extreme 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth5.32.1 + EDR
Webcam12MP Center StageBuilt-in iSight camera
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 supportThree 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 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 displaySupports 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.
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard, 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keysBacklit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys.
TrackpadForce Touch trackpadGlass Multi-Touch trackpad supporting two-finger scrolling, pinch, rotate and three/four-finger gestures.
SpeakersHigh-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby AtmosBuilt-in stereo speakers
MicrophonesStudio-quality three-mic array with directional beamformingOmnidirectional microphone beneath the left speaker grille.
BiometricsTouch ID–
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)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.

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