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Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max)AppleMacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011)
Overview
ReleasedNovember 2024October 2011
Display
Screen size16.2″17″
Resolution3456 × 22341920 × 1200
PanelMini-LED–
Refresh rate120 Hz–
Brightness1,000 nits–
HDR peak brightness1,600 nits–
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina XDR display17-inch LED-backlit glossy or optional antiglare widescreen display. Apple does not specify panel technology, brightness or refresh rate on this exact UK sheet.
Pixel density254 ppi–
Colour rangeWide colour (P3); 1 billion colours–
Screen finishStandard, or nano-texture as an optionGlossy as standard; optional antiglare display
Display features1,000,000:1 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
ProcessorApple M4 Pro or Apple M4 MaxIntel Core i7-2760QM
CPU cores14 or 164
CPU threads–8
Graphics20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPUAMD Radeon HD 6770M (1 GB GDDR5) + Intel HD Graphics 3000
Memory24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB or 128 GB4 GB
Storage512 GB to 8 TB750 GB
CPUM4 Pro: 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores; M4 Max: 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, or 16-core CPU with 12 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores2.4 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with 6 MB shared L3 cache, or optional 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with 8 MB cache. Notebookcheck identifies the standard processor as i7-2760QM. The maker does not identify the optional processor by part number, so it is not assigned a chip record.
GPU20-core (M4 Pro), 32-core or 40-core (M4 Max) GPU with 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 M4 MaxAMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1 GB GDDR5 and Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384 MB shared DDR3; automatic graphics switching.
AI engine16-core Neural Engine–
Memory typeUnified memory; M4 Pro takes 24GB or 48GB; M4 Max takes 36GB (14-core CPU) or 48GB, 64GB or 128GB (16-core CPU)4 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 in two 2 GB SO-DIMMs; two slots support up to 8 GB in Apple’s specification.
Memory bandwidth273 GB/s (M4 Pro), 410 GB/s (M4 Max with 32-core GPU) or 546 GB/s (M4 Max with 40-core GPU)–
Storage typeSSD, configurable up to 4 TB (M4 Pro) or 8 TB (M4 Max)750 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive standard; optional 750 GB 7200-rpm drive or 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB SSD. 8× slot-loading SuperDrive with dual-layer DVD writing.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)Up to 24 hoursUp to 7 hours
Battery capacity99.6 Wh95 Wh
Weight2.14 kg2.99 kg
Thickness16.8 mm25 mm
Width × depth355.7 × 248.1 mm393 × 267 mm
Battery life detailM4 Pro up to 24 hours video streaming and 17 hours wireless web; M4 Max up to 21 hours video streaming and 14 hours wireless web; 100-watt-hour (99.6 Wh actual) lithium-polymer batteryBuilt-in 95 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to seven hours wireless web browsing in Apple’s October 2011 test. Reference weight varies with configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger140 W USB-C Power Adapter included85 W MagSafe Power Adapter
Fast chargingWith the included 140 W USB-C Power Adapter–
Materials100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 40% recycled content overallPrecision aluminium unibody with glass trackpad
ColoursSpace Black, SilverSilver
Connections
Ports3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack3 × USB-A, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6EAirPort Extreme 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth5.32.1 + EDR
Webcam12MP Center StageFaceTime HD camera
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Port detail3 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with charging, DisplayPort 2.1, Thunderbolt 5 and USB 4 (up to 120 Gb/s); HDMI (up to 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz) with multichannel audio output; SDXC card slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone supportOne Thunderbolt port up to 10 Gbps, one FireWire 800 port, three USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, ExpressCard/34, separate digital/analogue audio input and headphone output, plus Kensington lock slot.
External displaysM4 Pro up to two at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt, or one at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt and one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI, or one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz over HDMI; M4 Max up to four (three at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt and one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI), or three (two at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz over HDMI); all alongside the built-in displayBuilt-in screen plus an external display up to 2560 × 1600. Thunderbolt carries native Mini DisplayPort; optional DVI, VGA and dual-link DVI adaptors and a third-party HDMI adaptor support other outputs.
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard, 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 inverted-T arrow keys
TrackpadForce Touch trackpadGlass Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate and three/four-finger gestures
SpeakersHigh-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby AtmosStereo speakers with subwoofers
MicrophonesStudio-quality three-mic array with directional beamformingOmnidirectional microphone below the left speaker grille; supports an iPhone headset microphone
BiometricsTouch ID–
In the box16-inch MacBook Pro, 140 W USB-C Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m), polishing cloth (nano-texture display only)MacBook Pro, display cleaning cloth, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with wall plug and power cord, printed and electronic documentation; OS X Lion and iLife included. Apple’s environmental report identifies 24 October 2011 as introduction; Engadget reported the refreshed range available for immediate shipping from the US store that day.

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