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Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max)
Overview
ReleasedOctober 2008November 2024
Display
Screen size15.4″16.2″
Resolution1440 × 9003456 × 2234
Panel–Mini-LED
Refresh rate–120 Hz
Brightness–1,000 nits
HDR peak brightness–1,600 nits
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeGlossy LED-backlit widescreen LCD with millions of colours. Exact panel technology and refresh rate unpublished in the maker sources read.Liquid Retina XDR display
Pixel density–254 ppi
Colour range–Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Screen finish–Standard, or nano-texture as an option
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
ProcessorIntel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz (MacBook Pro Late 2008), Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53 GHz (MacBook Pro Late 2008) or Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz (MacBook Pro Late 2008)Apple M4 Pro or Apple M4 Max
CPU cores214 or 16
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (256 MB GDDR3) + GeForce 9400M or NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (512 MB GDDR3) + GeForce 9400M20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU
Memory2 GB or 4 GB24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB or 128 GB
Storage128 GB to 320 GB512 GB to 8 TB
CPUDual-core Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.4 GHz with 3 MB shared L2 cache or 2.53 GHz with 6 MB; 2.8 GHz with 6 MB is configurable only from the upper base, as confirmed by Ars Technica and SlashGear. 1066 MHz frontside bus; clock records avoid unverified Intel SKU assumptions.M4 Pro: 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores; M4 Max: 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, or 16-core CPU with 12 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
GPUNVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (256 MB GDDR3) + GeForce 9400M; NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (512 MB GDDR3) + GeForce 9400M. GPU memory varies with processor configuration. The integrated GeForce 9400M and discrete GeForce 9600M GT are selectable alternatives; changing GPU requires logout, as confirmed by Ars Technica and SlashGear.20-core (M4 Pro), 32-core or 40-core (M4 Max) GPU with 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 M4 Max
AI engine–16-core Neural Engine
Memory type1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots, up to 4 GB. Lower base starts with 2 GB; higher has 4 GB.Unified memory; M4 Pro takes 24GB or 48GB; M4 Max takes 36GB (14-core CPU) or 48GB, 64GB or 128GB (16-core CPU)
Memory bandwidth–273 GB/s (M4 Pro), 410 GB/s (M4 Max with 32-core GPU) or 546 GB/s (M4 Max with 40-core GPU)
Storage typeLower base has a 250 GB and higher a 320 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA drive. Maker configurable options include 250 GB or 320 GB 7200-rpm drives, or a 128 GB SSD. All 128 GB rows are SSD configurations; higher-base 250 GB rows represent the faster configurable hard drive. 8× SuperDrive with double-layer DVD writing.SSD, configurable up to 4 TB (M4 Pro) or 8 TB (M4 Max)
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)–Up to 24 hours
Battery capacity–99.6 Wh
Weight2.49 kg2.14 kg
Thickness–16.8 mm
Width × depth–355.7 × 248.1 mm
Battery life detailRemovable lithium-polymer battery; capacity and battery-life hours omitted because the surviving maker sources read do not publish them. Apple lists 5.5 lb; the main 2.49 kg reference weight is explicitly published by Ars Technica. Ars lists enclosure dimensions 14.35 × 9.82 × 0.95 inches; metric dimensions omitted.M4 Pro up to 24 hours video streaming and 17 hours wireless web; M4 Max up to 21 hours video streaming and 14 hours wireless web; 100-watt-hour (99.6 Wh actual) lithium-polymer battery
Charger85 W MagSafe Power Adapter140 W USB-C Power Adapter included
Fast charging–With the included 140 W USB-C Power Adapter
MaterialsAluminium unibody enclosure and glass trackpad100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 40% recycled content overall
ColoursSilverSpace Black, Silver
Connections
Ports2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-FiAirPort Extreme 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/gWi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth2.1 + EDR5.3
WebcamBuilt-in iSight camera12MP Center Stage
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Port detail2 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, Mini DisplayPort, ExpressCard/34, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and combined optical digital audio output/headphone output, and Kensington lock slot. Display adapters sold separately.3 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with charging, DisplayPort 2.1, Thunderbolt 5 and USB 4 (up to 120 Gb/s); HDMI (up to 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz) with multichannel audio output; SDXC card slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support
External displaysMini DisplayPort supports an external display up to 30 inches; separate DVI, VGA or dual-link DVI adapters required. A numeric external resolution is omitted because it is not stated in the surviving maker sources read.M4 Pro up to two at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt, or one at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt and one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI, or one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz over HDMI; M4 Max up to four (three at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt and one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI), or three (two at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz over HDMI); all alongside the built-in display
KeyboardFull-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors, 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keysBacklit Magic Keyboard, 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys
TrackpadGlass Multi-Touch trackpad with integrated button; scrolling, pinch, rotate and three-finger/four-finger swipes.Force Touch trackpad
SpeakersBuilt-in stereo speakersHigh-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
MicrophonesBuilt-in microphone above the Escape keyStudio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming
Biometrics–Touch ID
In the boxMacBook Pro, removable battery, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and iLife ’08; Apple Remote and display adapters sold separately. The former SP499 specification URL is no longer available; maker launch notice and exact user guide supply core facts.16-inch MacBook Pro, 140 W USB-C Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only)

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