Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) | AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | June 2017 | March 2026 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 15.4″ | 16.2″ |
| Resolution | 2880 × 1800 | 3456 × 2234 (better) |
| Panel | IPS LCD | Mini-LED |
| Refresh rate | – | 120 Hz |
| Brightness | 500 nits | 1,000 nits (better) |
| HDR peak brightness | – | 1,600 nits |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Retina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours | Liquid Retina XDR display |
| Pixel density | 220 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Colour range | Wide colour (P3) | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours |
| Screen finish | – | Standard, or nano-texture as an option |
| 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 XDR brightness; ProMotion up to 120 Hz, with fixed 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 Hz rates; True Tone |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Intel Core i7-7700HQ, Intel Core i7-7820HQ or Intel Core i7-7920HQ | Apple M5 Pro or Apple M5 Max |
| CPU cores | 4 | 18 |
| CPU threads | 8 | – |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon Pro 555 or AMD Radeon Pro 560 | 20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU |
| Memory | 16 GB | 24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better) |
| Storage | 256 GB to 2 TB | 1 TB to 8 TB (better) |
| CPU | Quad-core Intel Core i7 at 2.8 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.8 GHz and 6 MB L3 cache, or at 2.9 GHz with up to 3.9 GHz and 8 MB L3 cache; both configurable to 3.1 GHz with up to 4.1 GHz and 8 MB L3 cache. Notebookcheck confirms the base i7-7700HQ; Les Numériques confirms i7-7820HQ; AppleInsider.ru identifies the optional i7-7920HQ, cross-checked against Intel's specifications. | 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores |
| GPU | Intel HD Graphics 630 with automatic switching to discrete Radeon graphics. The 2.8 GHz base has Radeon Pro 555 with 2 GB GDDR5, configurable to 560 with 4 GB GDDR5; the 2.9 GHz base has Radeon Pro 560 with 4 GB GDDR5. | 20-core (M5 Pro), 32-core or 40-core (M5 Max) GPU with Neural Accelerators and 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 M5 Max |
| AI engine | – | 16-core Neural Engine |
| Memory type | 16 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory | Unified memory |
| Memory bandwidth | – | 307 GB/s (M5 Pro), 460 GB/s (M5 Max with 32-core GPU) or 614 GB/s (M5 Max with 40-core GPU) |
| Storage type | PCIe-based onboard SSD; 256 GB base with 2.8 GHz processor configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB; 512 GB base with 2.9 GHz processor configurable to 1 TB or 2 TB. The optional 3.1 GHz processor retains its base configuration's graphics and storage choices. | SSD, configurable up to 4 TB (M5 Pro) or 8 TB (M5 Max); Apple quotes up to 14.5 GB/s read and write (tested with M5 Max and 8 TB) |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 10 hours | Up to 24 hours |
| Battery capacity | 76 Wh | 99.6 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.83 kg (better) | 2.14 kg |
| Thickness | 15.5 mm (better) | 16.8 mm |
| Width × depth | 349.3 × 240.7 mm | 355.7 × 248.1 mm |
| Battery life detail | Lithium-polymer battery; up to 10 hours wireless web or iTunes movie playback and 30 days standby. Apple's May 2017 tests used the 2.8 GHz Core i7, 16 GB memory and 256 GB SSD. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. | M5 Pro up to 24 hours video streaming and 17 hours wireless web; M5 Max up to 22 hours video streaming and 16 hours wireless web; 100-watt-hour (actual rating 99.6 Wh) lithium-polymer battery |
| Charger | 87 W USB-C Power Adapter | Sold separately in the UK; needs at least 140 W over USB PD |
| Fast charging | – | With a 140 W or higher USB PD power source |
| Materials | Aluminium enclosure | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall |
| Colours | Silver; Space Grey | Space Black, Silver |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 4 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack | 3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 5 | Wi-Fi 7 |
| Bluetooth | 4.2 | 6 |
| Webcam | 720p FaceTime HD | 12MP Center Stage |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| 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. | 3 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 5 and USB 4 (up to 120 Gb/s); HDMI (up to 8K) with multichannel audio output; SDXC card slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support |
| External displays | Built-in screen plus two 5120 × 2880 displays at 60 Hz with over a billion colours, four 4096 × 2304 displays at 60 Hz with millions of colours, or four 3840 × 2160 displays at 60 Hz with over a billion colours | M5 Pro up to three at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 144 Hz, or one at 8K 60 Hz, 5K 120 Hz or 4K 240 Hz plus one at 5K 120 Hz or 4K 200 Hz; M5 Max up to four at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 144 Hz, or two at 8K 60 Hz, 5K 120 Hz or 4K 240 Hz; all alongside the built-in display |
| Keyboard | Full-size backlit keyboard with 64 US or 65 ISO keys, four arrow keys, Touch Bar and ambient light sensor | Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys |
| Trackpad | Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures | Force Touch trackpad |
| Speakers | Stereo speakers with high dynamic range | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos |
| Microphones | Three microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes |
| Biometrics | Touch ID fingerprint sensor integrated into the Touch Bar | Touch ID |
| In the box | 15-inch MacBook Pro; 87 W USB-C Power Adapter; 2 m USB-C Charge Cable | 16-inch MacBook Pro, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only); power adapter sold separately |
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