Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

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

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max) compared with MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

	AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro / M1 Max)	AppleMacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
Overview
Released
Released	October 2021	May 2015
Display
Screen size
Screen size	16.2″	15.4″
Resolution
Resolution	3456 × 2234 (better)	2880 × 1800
Panel
Panel	Mini-LED	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	120 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	500 nits (better)	300 nits
HDR peak brightness
HDR peak brightness	1,600 nits	–
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting	Retina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours
Pixel density
Pixel density	254 ppi	220 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours	Standard colour gamut (sRGB)
Display features
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	Apple specifies a 900:1 contrast ratio; scaled resolutions of 1920 × 1200, 1680 × 1050, 1280 × 800 or 1024 × 640
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M1 Pro or Apple M1 Max	Intel Core i7-4770HQ, Intel Core i7-4870HQ or Intel Core i7-4980HQ
CPU cores
CPU cores	10	4
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	8
Graphics
Graphics	16-core GPU, 24-core GPU or 32-core GPU	Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 or AMD Radeon R9 M370X (2 GB GDDR5)
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better)	16 GB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 8 TB (better)	256 GB to 1 TB
CPU
CPU	M1 Pro or M1 Max with 10-core CPU, comprising 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores	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	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 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.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
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
Memory bandwidth	200 GB/s (M1 Pro); 400 GB/s (M1 Max)	–
Storage type
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; 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 21 hours	Up to 9 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	99.6 Wh (better)	99.5 Wh
Weight
Weight	2.1 kg	2.04 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	16.8 mm (better)	18 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	355.7 × 248.1 mm	358.9 × 247.1 mm
Battery life detail
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	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	140 W USB-C power adapter included	85 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management system
Fast charging
Fast charging	With the included 140 W USB-C adapter and USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable	–
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure	Aluminium enclosure
Colours
Colours	Silver, Space Grey	–
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 2, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, headphone jack, SD card slot, MagSafe 2
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6	Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.0	4.2
Webcam
Webcam	1080p FaceTime HD	720p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
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 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	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	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	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, inverted-T arrow keys and ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures
Speakers
Speakers	Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos	Stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming	Dual microphones
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	–
In the box
In the box	16-inch MacBook Pro, 140 W USB-C adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m)	MacBook Pro; MagSafe 2 Power Adapter; power cord; AC wall plug