Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max) | AppleMacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | October 2021 | July 2014 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 16.2″ | 15.4″ |
| Resolution | 3456 × 2234 (better) | 2880 × 1800 |
| Panel | Mini-LED | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | – |
| Brightness | 500 nits | – |
| HDR peak brightness | 1,600 nits | – |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting | Retina LED-backlit IPS display, millions of colours; native 2880 × 1800, with scaled modes of 1920 × 1200, 1680 × 1050, 1280 × 800 and 1024 × 640. Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple. |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | 220 ppi |
| Colour range | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours | – |
| Display features | 1,000,000:1 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 | ||
| Processor | Apple M1 Pro or Apple M1 Max | Intel Core i7-4770HQ, Intel Core i7-4870HQ or Intel Core i7-4980HQ |
| CPU cores | 10 | 4 |
| CPU threads | – | 8 |
| Graphics | 16-core GPU, 24-core GPU or 32-core GPU | Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 or NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M (2 GB GDDR5) |
| Memory | 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better) | 16 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB to 8 TB (better) | 256 GB to 1 TB |
| CPU | M1 Pro or M1 Max with 10-core CPU, comprising 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores | Quad-core Intel Core i7-4770HQ at 2.2 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz), i7-4870HQ at 2.5 GHz (up to 3.7 GHz), or i7-4980HQ at 2.8 GHz (up to 4.0 GHz); all with 6 MB shared L3 cache. Exact identities documented by Primate Labs. Lower base offers either faster processor; higher base offers the 2.8 GHz upgrade. |
| GPU | M1 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 accelerators | Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 on all configurations; the higher base adds NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 2 GB GDDR5 and automatic graphics switching. Upgrading the lower base processor does not add the NVIDIA GPU, as distinguished in Macworld's exact-model review. |
| AI engine | 16-core Neural Engine | – |
| Memory type | Unified memory; 16 GB or 32 GB with M1 Pro, 32 GB or 64 GB with M1 Max | 16 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L onboard memory |
| Memory bandwidth | 200 GB/s (M1 Pro); 400 GB/s (M1 Max) | – |
| Storage type | SSD; 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 options | PCIe-based flash storage; Iris Pro-only base has 256 GB, configurable to 512 GB or 1 TB, with any of its three processor choices. NVIDIA-equipped base has 512 GB, configurable to 1 TB, with the 2.5 GHz or 2.8 GHz processor. |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 21 hours | Up to 8 hours |
| Battery capacity | 99.6 Wh (better) | 95 Wh |
| Weight | 2.1 kg | 2.02 kg (better) |
| Thickness | 16.8 mm (better) | 18 mm |
| Width × depth | 355.7 × 248.1 mm | 358.9 × 247.1 mm |
| Battery life detail | Up 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 footnote | Built-in 95 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 8 hours wireless web, 8 hours iTunes movie playback or 30 days standby under Apple's test conditions. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. |
| Charger | 140 W USB-C power adapter included | 85 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management |
| Fast charging | With the included 140 W USB-C adapter and USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable | – |
| Materials | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure | Aluminium enclosure |
| Colours | Silver, Space Grey | Silver |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | 2 × USB-A, 2 × Thunderbolt 2, MagSafe 2, headphone jack, SD card slot, HDMI |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 | 802.11ac (draft specification); compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| Webcam | 1080p FaceTime HD | 720p FaceTime HD |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | Three 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 support | Two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s, two Thunderbolt 2 ports up to 20 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 2 and headphone jack; support for digital/analogue audio line output and Apple iPhone headset remote and microphone. Ethernet and FireWire require separate Thunderbolt adapters. |
| External displays | M1 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 Hz | Built-in screen plus up to two external displays at 2560 × 1600, with millions of colours; HDMI supports 1080p at up to 60 Hz, 3840 × 2160 at 30 Hz or 4096 × 2160 at 24 Hz. DVI, VGA and dual-link DVI adapters sold separately. |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys | Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, four arrow keys and ambient light sensor |
| Trackpad | Force Touch trackpad | Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap and drag |
| Speakers | Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos | Stereo speakers |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming | Dual microphones |
| Biometrics | Touch ID | – |
| In the box | 16-inch MacBook Pro, 140 W USB-C adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m) | MacBook Pro with Retina display, MagSafe 2 Power Adapter, AC wall plug and power cord; OS X Mavericks, iLife apps and qualifying free iWork apps |
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