Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

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MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011) compared with MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

	AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)	AppleMacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
Overview
Released
Released	October 2011	May 2015
Display
Screen size
Screen size	15.4″	15.4″
Resolution
Resolution	1440 × 900	2880 × 1800 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Brightness
Brightness	–	300 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	15.4-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440 × 900 native resolution and millions of colours. Optional 1680 × 1050 high-resolution glossy or antiglare display. Panel technologies, refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple; higher-resolution screens remain in details rather than unverified panel variants.	Retina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	220 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	–	Standard colour gamut (sRGB)
Display features
Display features	–	Apple specifies a 900:1 contrast ratio; scaled resolutions of 1920 × 1200, 1680 × 1050, 1280 × 800 or 1024 × 640
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i7-2675QM, Intel Core i7-2760QM or Intel Core i7-2860QM	Intel Core i7-4770HQ, Intel Core i7-4870HQ or Intel Core i7-4980HQ
CPU cores
CPU cores	4	4
CPU threads
CPU threads	8	8
Graphics
Graphics	AMD Radeon HD 6750M (512 MB) or AMD Radeon HD 6770M (1 GB)	Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 or AMD Radeon R9 M370X (2 GB GDDR5)
Memory
Memory	4 GB or 8 GB	16 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	128 GB to 750 GB	256 GB to 1 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Quad-core Intel Core i7 at 2.2 GHz or 2.4 GHz with 6 MB L3 cache; optional 2.5 GHz with 8 MB L3 cache. Exact i7-2675QM and i7-2860QM identities confirmed by EveryMac; i7-2760QM by Notebookcheck’s tested upper model. Optional 2.5 GHz rows retain the upper AMD graphics combination; unproven lower-GPU pairings omitted.	Quad-core Intel Core i7 at 2.2 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz, 2.5 GHz with up to 3.7 GHz, or 2.8 GHz with up to 4 GHz; all with 6 MB shared L3 cache. Exact i7-4770HQ and i7-4870HQ identifiers confirmed by Macworld, and i7-4980HQ by EveryMac.
GPU
GPU	Lower model: AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512 MB GDDR5. Upper model: AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1 GB GDDR5. Both also use Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384 MB DDR3 shared memory and automatic graphics switching.	Intel Iris Pro integrated graphics; discrete-graphics configurations add AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2 GB GDDR5 and automatic graphics switching. Upgrading the processor on the integrated-graphics base does not add the Radeon GPU.
Memory type
Memory type	4 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 in two SO-DIMM slots; configurable to 8 GB.	16 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L onboard memory
Storage type
Storage type	Lower base: 500 GB 5400-rpm hard drive; upper base: 750 GB 5400-rpm hard drive. Maker CTO options: 750 GB at 5400 or 7200 rpm, or 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB SSD. Configuration rows distinguish capacities and CPUs/GPUs; both 750 GB speeds share one capacity row. 8× slot-loading SuperDrive supports DVD±R DL, DVD±RW and CD-RW.	PCIe-based flash storage; 256 GB integrated-graphics base configurable to 512 GB or 1 TB, and 512 GB discrete-graphics base configurable to 1 TB
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 7 hours	Up to 9 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	77.5 Wh	99.5 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	2.54 kg	2.04 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	24.1 mm	18 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	364 × 249 mm	358.9 × 247.1 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Built-in 77.5 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 7 hours wireless web in Apple’s test. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.	Lithium-polymer battery; up to 9 hours wireless web or iTunes movie playback and 30 days standby. Apple's battery tests used the 2.2 GHz Core i7, 16 GB memory and 256 GB storage. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger
Charger	85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management	85 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management system
Materials
Materials	Aluminium unibody enclosure and glass trackpad	Aluminium enclosure
Colours
Colours	Silver	–
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, MagSafe, headphone jack, SD card slot, Ethernet, Thunderbolt	2 × Thunderbolt 2, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, headphone jack, SD card slot, MagSafe 2
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g	Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	4.2
Webcam
Webcam	FaceTime HD camera	720p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	One Thunderbolt port up to 10 Gb/s, two USB 2.0 ports up to 480 Mb/s, one FireWire 800 port up to 800 Mb/s, Gigabit Ethernet, SDXC card slot, MagSafe, separate audio line-in and headphone/audio line-out ports, and Kensington lock slot. Thunderbolt provides native Mini DisplayPort output; DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI and HDMI require separate adapters.	Two Thunderbolt 2 ports up to 20 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort video, two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s, HDMI, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 2 power and 3.5 mm headphone jack with digital/analogue line output and iPhone headset support; separate Thunderbolt Ethernet and FireWire adaptors available
External displays
External displays	Built-in display plus one external display up to 2560 × 1600, both at millions of colours; dual display and video mirroring.	Two external displays up to 3840 × 2160 alongside the built-in screen; HDMI supports 1080p at up to 60 Hz, 3840 × 2160 at 30 Hz or 4096 × 2160 at 24 Hz. Mini DisplayPort adaptors provide DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI and HDMI.
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys.	Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, inverted-T arrow keys and ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Multi-Touch trackpad supports inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three- and four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap and drag.	Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers with subwoofers	Stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	Omnidirectional microphone under the left speaker grille	Dual microphones
In the box
In the box	MacBook Pro, display cleaning cloth, 85 W MagSafe power adapter, AC wall plug, power cord and documentation; OS X Lion and iLife.	MacBook Pro; MagSafe 2 Power Adapter; power cord; AC wall plug