Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) | AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | July 2018 | October 2021 |
| 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 | 500 nits |
| HDR peak brightness | – | 1,600 nits |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Retina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours | Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting |
| Pixel density | 220 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Colour range | Wide colour (P3) | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours |
| Display features | True Tone; 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 | Intel Core i7-8750H, Intel Core i7-8850H or Intel Core i9-8950HK | Apple M1 Pro or Apple M1 Max |
| CPU cores | 6 | 10 |
| CPU threads | 12 | – |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon Pro 555X, AMD Radeon Pro 560X, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 or AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 | 16-core GPU, 24-core GPU or 32-core GPU |
| Memory | 16 GB or 32 GB | 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better) |
| Storage | 256 GB to 4 TB | 512 GB to 8 TB (better) |
| CPU | Six-core Intel Core i7 at 2.2 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.1 GHz and 9 MB L3 cache, or Core i7 at 2.6 GHz with up to 4.3 GHz and 9 MB L3 cache; both configurable to Core i9 at 2.9 GHz with up to 4.8 GHz and 12 MB L3 cache. Exact i7-8750H, i7-8850H and i9-8950HK identifiers confirmed by MacGeneration. | M1 Pro or M1 Max with 10-core CPU, comprising 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores |
| GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 630 with automatic switching to discrete Radeon Pro graphics. The 2.2 GHz base has Radeon Pro 555X with 4 GB GDDR5, configurable to 560X with 4 GB GDDR5. The 2.6 GHz base has 560X, configurable to Vega 16 or Vega 20 with 4 GB HBM2; Vega options became available on 14 November 2018. | 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 | – | 16-core Neural Engine |
| Memory type | 16 GB of 2400 MHz DDR4 onboard memory, configurable to 32 GB | Unified memory; 16 GB or 32 GB with M1 Pro, 32 GB or 64 GB with M1 Max |
| Memory bandwidth | – | 200 GB/s (M1 Pro); 400 GB/s (M1 Max) |
| Storage type | PCIe-based onboard SSD; 256 GB base with 2.2 GHz processor configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB or 4 TB; 512 GB base with 2.6 GHz processor configurable to 1 TB, 2 TB or 4 TB. Core i9 upgrades retain the storage and graphics options of their base configuration. | 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) | Up to 10 hours | Up to 21 hours |
| Battery capacity | 83.6 Wh | 99.6 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.83 kg (better) | 2.1 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 June 2018 tests used the 2.6 GHz Core i7, 16 GB memory and 512 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 | 87 W USB-C Power Adapter | 140 W USB-C power adapter included |
| Fast charging | – | With the included 140 W USB-C adapter and USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable |
| Materials | Aluminium enclosure | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure |
| Colours | Silver; Space Grey | Silver, Space Grey |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 4 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack | 3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 5 | Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Webcam | 720p FaceTime HD | 1080p FaceTime HD |
| 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, DVI 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 | 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 | Full-size backlit keyboard with 64 US or 65 ISO keys, four arrow keys, Touch Bar and ambient light sensor; third-generation keyboard designed for quieter typing | Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US 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 | Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos |
| Microphones | Three microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming |
| Biometrics | Touch ID fingerprint sensor; Apple T2 Security Chip supports secure boot and encrypted storage | 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, 140 W USB-C adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m) |
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