Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (M5) vs Apple Macintosh PowerBook 170

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″ (M5) compared with Macintosh PowerBook 170

	AppleMacBook Pro 14″ (M5)	AppleMacintosh PowerBook 170
Overview
Released
Released	October 2025	October 1991
Display
Screen size
Screen size	14.2″	10″
Resolution
Resolution	3024 × 1964 (better)	640 × 400
Panel
Panel	Mini-LED	–
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	120 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	1,000 nits	–
HDR peak brightness
HDR peak brightness	1,600 nits	–
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Liquid Retina XDR display	10-inch backlit active-matrix monochrome LCD, 640 × 400 pixels at 1-bit colour. Apple's 1991 product information rounds the diagonal to 10 inches; some later catalogues call it 9.8 inches.
Pixel density
Pixel density	254 ppi	–
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours	–
Screen finish
Screen finish	Standard, or nano-texture as an option	–
Display features
Display features	1,000,000:1 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
Processor
Processor	Apple M5	68030 25 MHz (PowerBook 170)
CPU cores
CPU cores	10	1
Graphics
Graphics	10-core GPU	–
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)	4 MB
Storage
Storage	1 TB to 4 TB (better)	40 MB
CPU
CPU	10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores	25 MHz Motorola 68030 and 25 MHz Motorola 68882 floating-point coprocessor; a Power Saver mode could run the processor at 16 MHz on battery.
GPU
GPU	Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode	–
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory	4 MB original configuration, comprising 2 MB on the logic board and a 2 MB expansion card; 8 MB maximum. Apple's later support sheet lists 2 MB as the minimum across its service configurations.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	153 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD, configurable up to 4 TB	Original 40 MB internal SCSI hard drive with a built-in 1.4 MB SuperDrive floppy drive. Apple's later support sheet lists 40–80 MB drives.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 24 hours	Up to 3 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	72.4 Wh	–
Weight
Weight	1.55 kg (better)	3.03 kg
Thickness
Thickness	15.5 mm	–
Width × depth
Width × depth	312.6 × 221.2 mm	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 16 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery	Removable nickel-cadmium battery; Apple claimed 2–3 hours of use, with about 30 minutes more in its 16 MHz Power Saver mode.
Charger
Charger	Sold separately in the UK (70 W or 96 W Apple USB-C adapters offered); needs at least 60 W over USB PD	–
Fast charging
Fast charging	With a 96 W or higher USB PD power source	–
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall	–
Colours
Colours	Space Black, Silver	–
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	–
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	–
Webcam
Webcam	12MP Center Stage	–
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	3 × Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 (up to 40 Gb/s); HDMI with multichannel audio output; SDXC card slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support	One Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) port, HDI-30 SCSI connector, two RS-422 serial ports, mono audio input and stereo output. A 2400-baud internal modem was standard.
External displays
External displays	Up to two over any mix of Thunderbolt and HDMI at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 144 Hz, or one at up to 8K 60 Hz, 5K 120 Hz or 4K 240 Hz, alongside the built-in display	–
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys	Built-in keyboard with a centred 30 mm trackball below the keys.
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Built-in trackball.
Speakers
Speakers	Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos	–
Microphones
Microphones	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes	–
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	–
In the box
In the box	14-inch MacBook Pro, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only); power adapter sold separately	System 7.0.1, battery and AC adapter. Apple dates the model's introduction to 21 October 1991; the technical sheet does not state a separate first-sale day.