Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)

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MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) compared with MacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)

	AppleMacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)	AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M5 Pro or M5 Max)
Overview
Released
Released	June 2012	March 2026
Display
Screen size
Screen size	15.4″	16.2″
Resolution
Resolution	1440 × 900 or 1680 × 1050	3456 × 2234 (better)
Panel
Panel	TN LCD	Mini-LED
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	120 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	–	1,000 nits
HDR peak brightness
HDR peak brightness	–	1,600 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	15.4-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, millions of colours; TN technology identified in Macworld's comparison test of its Mid-2012 non-Retina unit. Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.	Liquid Retina XDR display
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	254 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	–	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Screen finish
Screen finish	Standard glossy screen; configurable to a 1680 × 1050 higher-resolution glossy or antiglare screen	Standard, or nano-texture as an option
Display features
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
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i7-3615QM, Intel Core i7-3720QM or Intel Core i7-3820QM	Apple M5 Pro or Apple M5 Max
CPU cores
CPU cores	4	18
CPU threads
CPU threads	8	–
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M (512 MB GDDR5) or NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M (1 GB GDDR5)	20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPU
Memory
Memory	4 GB or 8 GB	24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	128 GB to 1 TB	1 TB to 8 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Quad-core Intel Core i7-3615QM at 2.3 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz and 6 MB L3 cache, or Core i7-3720QM at 2.6 GHz with up to 3.6 GHz and 6 MB cache; the higher base is configurable to Core i7-3820QM at 2.7 GHz with up to 3.7 GHz and 8 MB cache. Exact identities documented by EveryMac.	18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores
GPU
GPU	Intel HD Graphics 4000 plus NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with automatic graphics switching; 512 MB GDDR5 on the 2.3 GHz base or 1 GB GDDR5 on the 2.6 GHz base and its 2.7 GHz upgrade	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
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Memory type	1600 MHz DDR3 memory; 4 GB on the 2.3 GHz base, configurable to 8 GB as two 4 GB modules; 8 GB on the 2.6 GHz base. Configurations retain the maker-supported 8 GB ceiling, excluding larger aftermarket upgrades.	Unified memory
Memory bandwidth
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
Storage type	2.3 GHz base has a 500 GB 5400 rpm hard drive; 2.6 GHz base has 750 GB at 5400 rpm. Either offers 750 GB at 7200 rpm, 1 TB at 5400 rpm or 128/256/512 GB SSD; the lower base also offers 750 GB at 5400 rpm. Configurations list the distinct capacities; the two 750 GB rotational-speed options remain explicit here. Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive.	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)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 7 hours	Up to 24 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	77.5 Wh	99.6 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	2.56 kg	2.14 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	24.1 mm	16.8 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	364 × 249 mm	355.7 × 248.1 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Built-in 77.5 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 7 hours wireless web under Apple's test conditions. Reference 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
Charger	85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management	Sold separately in the UK; needs at least 140 W over USB PD
Fast charging
Fast charging	–	With a 140 W or higher USB PD power source
Materials
Materials	Aluminium unibody enclosure	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 45% recycled content overall
Colours
Colours	Silver	Space Black, Silver
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Thunderbolt, MagSafe, Ethernet, headphone jack, SD card slot	3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g	Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	4.0	6
Webcam
Webcam	720p FaceTime HD	12MP Center Stage
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	Two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s, Thunderbolt up to 10 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output, Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800 up to 800 Mb/s, SDXC, MagSafe and separate digital/analogue audio line input and output; Apple iPhone headset remote and microphone supported. Kensington lock slot and built-in SuperDrive; no HDMI port.	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
External displays	Built-in screen plus one external display up to 2560 × 1600, with millions of colours; DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI or HDMI audio/video through separate Mini DisplayPort adapters	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
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, four arrow keys and ambient light sensor	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys
Trackpad
Trackpad	Glass Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap and drag	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers with subwoofer	High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	Omnidirectional microphone	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes
Biometrics
Biometrics	–	Touch ID
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, with a free Mountain Lion upgrade offered to eligible launch buyers	16-inch MacBook Pro, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only); power adapter sold separately