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MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015) vs. MacBook Air (M1, 2020) - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here is a side by side comparison between MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015) and MacBook Air (M1, 2020) specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Conor Banett September 20, 2020 10:43 am

MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015) vs. MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

The MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015) features the 47W 4th Generation Intel Crystal Well quad-core Intel Core i7-4770HQ up to quad-core Intel Core i7-4980HQ with the boost speed up to 4.00 GHz. While the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) features the 10W Apple M-Series ARM 64-bit 8-core Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores) up to 8-core Apple M1 with a clock speed of 3.20 GHz.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 15.4″ MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015) and the 13.3″ MacBook Air (M1, 2020) , we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015) vs. MacBook Air (M1, 2020): Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015) See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it MacBook Air (M1, 2020) See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new		Better Performance With the new Apple M1 Chip, it now 3x times faster in exporting a project in iMovie, 5x times faster applying 3D effects in Final Cut Pro, editing multiple streams 4K ProRes video in Final Cut Pro with no frame drop, 2x times faster in exporting photos in Lightroom, and more. Better Battery Life It's a MacBook Air with the longest battery life ever made, with up to 18-hours of watching movies and 15 hours of web browsing. Better FaceTime HD camera With the latest Apple Image Single Processor (ISP) in the M1 chip, image quality is better in noise reduction, greater dynamic range, and improved auto white balance. Better Display It now supports P3 wide color with 400-nits of display brightness. More Supports latest USB 4 Supports latest Wi-Fi 6 Better security with new Secure Enclave in M1 chip
What's missing		Supports only one extended [email protected] display, while the older Intel version supports up to two [email protected] Not supports for external Thunderbolt-3 enabled graphics processors (eGPUs).

Availability	MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015)	MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Released	2015	2020
Release Info	Announced on March 9th, 2015 Available on March 9th, 2015	Announced on November 10th, 2020
Pricing	$1,999 Intel Core i7 4770HQ\| 16GB RAM \| 256GB SSD $2,499 Intel Core i7 4870HQ \| 16GB RAM \| 512GB SSD	$999 Apple M1 Chip (7 cores GPU) \| 8GB RAM \| 256GB SSD $1,249 Apple M1 Chip (8 cores GPU) \| 8GB RAM \| 512GB SSD

MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015) Price
	Mid 2015 Apple MacBook Pro with 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4870HQ (15 inches, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) Silver (Renewed) By Apple $575.00	See at Amazon
	2015 Apple MacBook Pro with intel I7 (15-inch, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD)- Silver (Renewed) By Apple $465.00	See at Amazon
	Apple MacBook Pro 15in Laptop Intel Quad Core i7 2.7GHz (ME665LL/A) Retina Display, 16GB Memory, 512GB Solid State Drive, (Renewed) By Apple $700.00	See at Amazon
MacBook Air (M1, 2020) Price
	Apple 2020 MacBook Air Laptop M1 Chip, 13" Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Space Gray By Apple $899.00 Was: $999.00	See at Amazon
	2020 Apple MacBook Air Laptop: Apple M1 Chip, 13” Retina Display, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Space Gray By Apple $1,199.96	See at Amazon
	Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13 inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Gold (Renewed) By Apple $798.49	See at Amazon

Display	MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015)	MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Size	15.4 Inches	13.3 Inches
Info	Retina display 15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2880-by-1800 native resolution at 220 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors Supported scaled resolutions: 1920 by 1200 1680 by 1050 1280 by 800 1024 by 640 300 nits brightness Standard color gamut (sRGB) 900:1 contrast ratio	Retina display 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors Supported scaled resolutions: 1680 by 1050 1440 by 900 1024 by 640 16:10 aspect ratio 400 nits brightness Supports wide color (P3) True Tone technology

Exterior	MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015)	MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Size Comparison
Dimensions	14.13” x 9.73” x 0.71” (358.9 mm x 247.1 mm x 18 mm)	Width: 11.97 inches (30.41 cm) Depth: 8.36 inches (21.24 cm) Height: 0.16–0.63 inch (0.41–1.61 cm)
Weight	Starting at 4.49 lb (2.04 kg)	Starting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg)
Colors	Silver	GoldSpace GraySilver
Keyboard and Trackpad	Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys, including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys (inverted “T” arrangement) with ambient light sensor Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures	Backlit Magic Keyboard with: 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys in an inverted-T arrangement Ambient light sensor Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures
Ports	2 x Thunderbolt 2 ports Supports data transfers up to 20 Gbps. 2 x USB 3.0 ports Supports data transfers up to 5 Gbps. 1 x HDMI port 1 x 3.5 mm headphone jack 1 x SDXC card reader 1 x MagSafe 2 power port	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 (USB‑C) ports with support for: Charging DisplayPort Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40Gb/s) USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)

Internal Specs	MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015)	MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Processor	4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4770HQ 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.20 → 3.40 GHz, 5 MB Cache, 47W 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4870HQ 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.50 → 3.70 GHz, 6 MB Cache, 47W 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4980HQ 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.80 → 4.00 GHz, 6 MB Cache, 47W	Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores) 8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W Apple M1 8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W
Integrated Graphics	4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4770HQ Intel® Iris® Pro Graphics 5200 40 Execution Units, 200 → 1200 MHz 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4870HQ Intel® Iris® Pro Graphics 5200 40 Execution Units, 200 → 1200 MHz 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4980HQ Intel® Iris® Pro Graphics 5200 40 Execution Units, 200 → 1300 MHz	Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores) Apple M1 iGPU 7 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz Apple M1 Apple M1 iGPU 8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
Discrete Graphics	AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
Memory	16GB 1600 MHz DDR3L onboard memory	8GB 4266 MHz LPDDR4X onboard memory Configurable to 16GB
Storage	256GB512GB configurable to 1TB SSD	256GB512GB SSD Configurable to 1TB or 2TB

Connectivity	MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015)	MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Wi-Fi	802.11ac Wi‑Fi wireless networking IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible	802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 wireless networking IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.2 wireless technology	Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology

Battery	MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015)	MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Size	99.4 Wh lithium‑polymer battery	49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life	Up to 9 hours of wireless web Up to 9 hours of iTunes movie playback Up to 30 days of standby time	Up to 15 hours wireless web Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback
Power Supply	85W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter With cable management system; MagSafe 2 power port.	30W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software	MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015)	MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
OS	Shipped with OS X Yosemite	Shipped with macOS Big Sur
Built-in Apps	PhotosiMovieGarageBandPagesNumbersKeynoteSiriSafariMailFaceTimeMessagesMapsNotesCalendarContactsRemindersPhoto BoothPreviewiTunesiBooksApp StoreTime Machine	PhotosiMovieGarageBandPagesNumbersKeynoteSiriSafariMailFaceTimeMessagesMapsNewsStocksHomeVoice MemosNotesCalendarContactsRemindersPhoto BoothPreviewMusicPodcastsTVBooksApp StoreTime MachineFind MyQuickTime Player

Camera & Audio	MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015)	MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Camera	720p FaceTime HD camera	720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio	Stereo speakers Dual microphones 3.5 mm headphone jack Support for Apple iPhone headset with remote and microphone Support for audio line out (digital/analog)	Stereo speakers Wide stereo sound Support for Dolby Atmos playback Three-mic array with directional beamforming 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc	MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015)	MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Sensors	Ambient light sensor	Touch ID sensor Ambient light sensor
Security		Touch ID sensor Apple T2 Security Chip
In the box	15‑inch MacBook Pro MagSafe 2 Power Adapter Power cord AC wall plug	MacBook Air 30W USB‑C Power Adapter USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
Warranty	Your MacBook Pro with Retina display comes with 90 days of free telephone support and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan to extend your service and support to three years from your computer’s purchase date. Only the AppleCare Protection Plan provides you with direct telephone support from Apple technical experts and the assurance that repairs will be handled by Apple‑authorized technicians using genuine Apple parts. For more information, visit Apple Support or call 800-823-2775.	Your MacBook Air comes with 90 days of complimentary technical support and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase AppleCare+ to extend your coverage to three years from your AppleCare+ purchase date and add up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other repairable damage, plus applicable tax.
More	Video Support Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 3840 by 2160 pixels on up to two external displays, both at millions of colors Thunderbolt digital video output Native Mini DisplayPort output DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI, and HDMI output supported using Mini DisplayPort adapters (sold separately) HDMI video output Support for 1080p resolution at up to 60Hz Support for 3840-by-2160 resolution at 30Hz Support for 4096-by-2160 resolution at 24Hz	Video Support Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and: One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz Thunderbolt 3 digital video output Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output supported using adapters (sold separately)

MacBook Pro 15” Retina (2015) Price
	Mid 2015 Apple MacBook Pro with 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4870HQ (15 inches, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) Silver (Renewed) By Apple $575.00	See at Amazon
	2015 Apple MacBook Pro with intel I7 (15-inch, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD)- Silver (Renewed) By Apple $465.00	See at Amazon
	Apple MacBook Pro 15in Laptop Intel Quad Core i7 2.7GHz (ME665LL/A) Retina Display, 16GB Memory, 512GB Solid State Drive, (Renewed) By Apple $700.00	See at Amazon
MacBook Air (M1, 2020) Price
	Apple 2020 MacBook Air Laptop M1 Chip, 13" Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Space Gray By Apple $899.00 Was: $999.00	See at Amazon
	2020 Apple MacBook Air Laptop: Apple M1 Chip, 13” Retina Display, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Space Gray By Apple $1,199.96	See at Amazon
	Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13 inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Gold (Renewed) By Apple $798.49	See at Amazon

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