Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max)

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MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) compared with MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max)

	AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)	AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2016	October 2021
Display
Screen size
Screen size	15.4″	16.2″
Resolution
Resolution	2880 × 1800	3456 × 2234 (better)
Panel
Panel	IPS LCD	Mini-LED
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	120 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	500 nits	500 nits
HDR peak brightness
HDR peak brightness	–	1,600 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Retina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours	Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting
Pixel density
Pixel density	220 ppi	254 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3)	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Display features
Display features	Scaled resolutions of 1920 × 1200, 1680 × 1050, 1280 × 800 or 1024 × 640	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	Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Intel Core i7-6820HQ or Intel Core i7-6920HQ	Apple M1 Pro or Apple M1 Max
CPU cores
CPU cores	4	10
CPU threads
CPU threads	8	–
Graphics
Graphics	AMD Radeon Pro 450, AMD Radeon Pro 460 or AMD Radeon Pro 455	16-core GPU, 24-core GPU or 32-core GPU
Memory
Memory	16 GB	16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 2 TB	512 GB to 8 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Quad-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.	M1 Pro or M1 Max with 10-core CPU, comprising 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	Intel 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.	M1 Pro with 16-core GPU; M1 Max with 24-core or 32-core GPU; hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW with video decode and encode engines and ProRes acceleration; M1 Max has two ProRes accelerators
AI engine
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Memory type	16 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory. Apple publishes this system speed; Intel lists LPDDR3-1866 in its generic processor specifications.	Unified memory; 16 GB or 32 GB with M1 Pro, 32 GB or 64 GB with M1 Max
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	200 GB/s (M1 Pro); 400 GB/s (M1 Max)
Storage type
Storage type	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.	SSD; M1 Pro starts at 512 GB with 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB options; Apple lists M1 Max starting at 1 TB with 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB options
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 10 hours	Up to 21 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	76 Wh	99.6 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	1.83 kg (better)	2.1 kg
Thickness
Thickness	15.5 mm (better)	16.8 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	349.3 × 240.7 mm	355.7 × 248.1 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Lithium-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.	Up to 21 hours Apple TV app movie playback or 14 hours wireless web; marketed as 100 Wh, with actual rating 99.6 Wh in Apple's footnote
Charger
Charger	87 W USB-C Power Adapter	140 W USB-C power adapter included
Fast charging
Fast charging	–	With the included 140 W USB-C adapter and USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable
Materials
Materials	Aluminium enclosure	100% recycled aluminium enclosure
Colours
Colours	Silver; Space Grey	Silver, Space Grey
Connections
Ports
Ports	4 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack	3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5	Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	4.2	5.0
Webcam
Webcam	720p FaceTime HD	1080p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	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.	Three Thunderbolt 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s; HDMI; SDXC slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support
External displays
External displays	Built-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	M1 Pro supports up to two external displays at 6K 60 Hz; M1 Max up to three at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 60 Hz; HDMI supports one at 4K 60 Hz
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard with 64 US or 65 ISO keys, four arrow keys, Touch Bar and ambient light sensor; second-generation butterfly mechanism	Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers with high dynamic range	Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	Three microphones	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID fingerprint sensor; Apple T1 chip	Touch ID
In the box
In the box	15-inch MacBook Pro; 87 W USB-C Power Adapter; 2 m USB-C Charge Cable	16-inch MacBook Pro, 140 W USB-C adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m)