Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max) vs Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

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

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MacBook Pro 16″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max) compared with MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
AppleMacBook Pro 16″ (M4 Pro or M4 Max)AppleMacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
Overview
ReleasedNovember 2024May 2015
Display
Screen size16.2″15.4″
Resolution3456 × 2234 (better)2880 × 1800
PanelMini-LEDIPS LCD
Refresh rate120 Hz–
Brightness1,000 nits (better)300 nits
HDR peak brightness1,600 nits–
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina XDR displayRetina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours
Pixel density254 ppi220 ppi
Colour rangeWide colour (P3); 1 billion coloursStandard colour gamut (sRGB)
Screen finishStandard, or nano-texture as an option–
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 ToneApple specifies a 900:1 contrast ratio; scaled resolutions of 1920 × 1200, 1680 × 1050, 1280 × 800 or 1024 × 640
Performance
ProcessorApple M4 Pro or Apple M4 MaxIntel Core i7-4770HQ, Intel Core i7-4870HQ or Intel Core i7-4980HQ
CPU cores14 or 164
CPU threads–8
Graphics20-core GPU, 32-core GPU or 40-core GPUIntel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 or AMD Radeon R9 M370X (2 GB GDDR5)
Memory24 GB, 36 GB, 48 GB or 128 GB (better)16 GB
Storage512 GB to 8 TB (better)256 GB to 1 TB
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 coresQuad-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.
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 MaxIntel 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 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)16 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L onboard memory
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)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)Up to 24 hoursUp to 9 hours
Battery capacity99.6 Wh (better)99.5 Wh
Weight2.14 kg2.04 kg (better)
Thickness16.8 mm (better)18 mm
Width × depth355.7 × 248.1 mm358.9 × 247.1 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 batteryLithium-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.
Charger140 W USB-C Power Adapter included85 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management system
Fast chargingWith the included 140 W USB-C Power Adapter–
Materials100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 40% recycled content overallAluminium enclosure
ColoursSpace Black, Silver–
Connections
Ports3 × Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SD card slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack2 × Thunderbolt 2, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, headphone jack, SD card slot, MagSafe 2
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6EWi-Fi 5
Bluetooth5.34.2
Webcam12MP Center Stage720p FaceTime HD
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 supportTwo 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 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 displayTwo 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.
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard, 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keysFull-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, inverted-T arrow keys and ambient light sensor
TrackpadForce Touch trackpadForce Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures
SpeakersHigh-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; Spatial Audio with Dolby AtmosStereo speakers
MicrophonesStudio-quality three-mic array with directional beamformingDual microphones
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; MagSafe 2 Power Adapter; power cord; AC wall plug

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