Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) compared with MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
Overview
ReleasedMay 2019March 2026
Display
Screen size15.4″16.2″
Resolution2880 × 18003456 × 2234 (better)
PanelIPS LCDMini-LED
Refresh rate–120 Hz
Brightness500 nits1,000 nits (better)
HDR peak brightness–1,600 nits
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeRetina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of coloursLiquid Retina XDR display
Pixel density220 ppi254 ppi
Colour rangeWide colour (P3)Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Screen finish–Standard, or nano-texture as an option
Display featuresTrue Tone; scaled resolutions of 1920 × 1200, 1680 × 1050, 1280 × 800 or 1024 × 6401,000,000:1 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
ProcessorIntel Core i7-9750H, Intel Core i9-9880H or Intel Core i9-9980HKApple M5 Pro or Apple M5 Max
CPU cores6 or 818
CPU threads12 or 16–
GraphicsAMD Radeon Pro 555X, AMD Radeon Pro 560X, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 or AMD Radeon Pro Vega 2020-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU
Memory16 GB or 32 GB24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better)
Storage256 GB to 4 TB1 TB to 8 TB (better)
CPU2.6 GHz six-core Intel Core i7 with Turbo Boost up to 4.5 GHz, or 2.3 GHz eight-core Core i9 with up to 4.8 GHz. Configurable to 2.4 GHz eight-core Core i9 with up to 5.0 GHz. Exact i7-9750H, i9-9880H and i9-9980HK identifiers corroborated by Notebookcheck and TechRadar.18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores
GPUIntel UHD Graphics 630 with automatic switching to discrete Radeon Pro graphics. The six-core base has Radeon Pro 555X with 4 GB GDDR5, configurable to 560X. The eight-core base has Radeon Pro 560X with 4 GB GDDR5, configurable to Vega 16 or Vega 20 with 4 GB HBM2.20-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 type16 GB of 2400 MHz DDR4 onboard memory, configurable to 32 GBUnified 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 typePCIe-based onboard SSD; six-core model starts at 256 GB, eight-core at 512 GB. Configurable to 1 TB, 2 TB or 4 TB; the six-core model can also be configured to 512 GB.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 hoursUp to 24 hours
Battery capacity83.6 Wh99.6 Wh (better)
Weight1.83 kg (better)2.14 kg
Thickness15.5 mm (better)16.8 mm
Width × depth349.3 × 240.7 mm355.7 × 248.1 mm
Battery life detail83.6 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 10 hours wireless web or Apple TV app video playback and up to 30 days standby. Apple tested preproduction models in April 2019. 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
Charger87 W USB-C Power AdapterSold separately in the UK; needs at least 140 W over USB PD
Fast charging–With a 140 W or higher USB PD power source
MaterialsAluminium enclosure100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall
ColoursSilver; Space GreySpace Black, Silver
Connections
Ports4 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-FiWi-Fi 5Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth5.06
Webcam720p FaceTime HD12MP Center Stage
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Port detailFour 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.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 displaysBuilt-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 coloursM5 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
KeyboardFull-size backlit keyboard with 64 US or 65 ISO keys, four arrow keys and Touch BarBacklit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys
TrackpadForce Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gesturesForce Touch trackpad
SpeakersStereo speakers with high dynamic rangeHigh-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
MicrophonesThree microphonesStudio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes
BiometricsTouch ID fingerprint sensor; Apple T2 Security Chip supports secure boot and encrypted storageTouch ID
In the box15-inch MacBook Pro; 87 W USB-C Power Adapter; 2 m USB-C Charge Cable. Apple said the updated model was available on its UK website and app on 21 May 2019, with selected stores to follow later that week.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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