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Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max)AppleMacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
Overview
ReleasedOctober 2021February 2011
Display
Screen size16.2″17″
Resolution3456 × 22341920 × 1200
PanelMini-LED–
Refresh rate120 Hz–
Brightness500 nits–
HDR peak brightness1,600 nits–
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting17-inch LED-backlit glossy or optional antiglare display at 1920 × 1200. Exact panel technology, brightness and refresh rate are unpublished in the maker sources read.
Pixel density254 ppi–
Colour rangeWide colour (P3); 1 billion colours–
Display features1,000,000:1 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
ProcessorApple M1 Pro or Apple M1 MaxIntel Core i7 2.2 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2011) or Intel Core i7 2.3 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2011)
CPU cores104
Graphics16-core GPU, 24-core GPU or 32-core GPUAMD Radeon HD 6750M (1 GB GDDR5) + Intel HD Graphics 3000
Memory16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB4 GB or 8 GB
Storage512 GB to 8 TB128 GB to 750 GB
CPUM1 Pro or M1 Max with 10-core CPU, comprising 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency coresQuad-core Intel Core i7 at 2.2 GHz with 6 MB shared L3 cache or optional 2.3 GHz with 8 MB. Generic maker-clock records avoid an unverified Intel SKU assumption. TechRadar identifies Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz for the tested 2.2 GHz model; unpublished optional-processor peak clocks are omitted.
GPUM1 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 acceleratorsAMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1 GB GDDR5 plus Intel HD Graphics 3000 using at least 384 MB shared DDR3 memory; automatic graphics switching.
AI engine16-core Neural Engine–
Memory typeUnified memory; 16 GB or 32 GB with M1 Pro, 32 GB or 64 GB with M1 Max4 GB or 8 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots.
Memory bandwidth200 GB/s (M1 Pro); 400 GB/s (M1 Max)–
Storage typeSSD; 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 options750 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 500 GB 7200-rpm hard drive or 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB SSD with either processor. 8× SuperDrive with double-layer DVD writing.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)Up to 21 hoursUp to 7 hours
Battery capacity99.6 Wh95 Wh
Weight2.1 kg2.99 kg
Thickness16.8 mm25 mm
Width × depth355.7 × 248.1 mm393 × 267 mm
Battery life detailUp 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 footnoteBuilt-in lithium-polymer battery; up to seven hours in Apple wireless-web testing. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger140 W USB-C power adapter included85 W MagSafe Power Adapter
Fast chargingWith the included 140 W USB-C adapter and USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable–
Materials100% recycled aluminium enclosureAluminium unibody enclosure and glass trackpad
ColoursSilver, Space GreySilver
Connections
Ports3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack3 × USB-A, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6AirPort Extreme 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth5.02.1 + EDR
Webcam1080p FaceTime HDFaceTime HD camera (720p, Macworld)
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Port detailThree 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 supportOne Thunderbolt port up to 10 Gbps, three USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, ExpressCard/34, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and optical digital audio output/headphone output. No SD card slot.
External displaysM1 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 HzSupports an external display up to 2560 × 1600 alongside the built-in screen. Thunderbolt provides native Mini DisplayPort output; optional DVI, VGA or dual-link DVI adapters and third-party HDMI adapters provide other connections.
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keysBacklit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys.
TrackpadForce Touch trackpadGlass Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate and three/four-finger gestures.
SpeakersSix-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby AtmosBuilt-in stereo speakers with subwoofers
MicrophonesStudio-quality three-mic array with directional beamformingOmnidirectional microphone under the left speaker grille; supports an iPhone headset microphone.
BiometricsTouch ID–
In the box16-inch MacBook Pro, 140 W USB-C adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m)MacBook Pro, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, display cleaning cloth, software DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife ’11 and FaceTime; Apple Remote and display adapters sold separately.

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