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2019 MacBook Pro 16” vs. M1 MacBook Air - Specs Comparison

Here is a comparison between the specifications of the 2019 MacBook Pro 16” and M1 MacBook Air, including differences in the chip, memory, storage, display, battery, ports, and more.

By Conor Banett

January 26, 2024 10:15 am

2019 MacBook Pro 16” vs. M1 MacBook Air

The 2019 MacBook Pro 16” features the 45W 9th Generation Intel Coffee Lake 6-core Intel Core i7-9750H up to 8-core Intel Core i9-9980HK with the boost speed up to 5.00 GHz. While the 2020 M1 MacBook Air features the 10W Apple M-Series ARM 64-bit 8-core Apple M1 (8C, 7G) up to 8-core Apple M1 (8C, 8G) 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 16″ 2019 MacBook Pro 16” and the 13.3″ M1 MacBook Air (2020), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

2019 MacBook Pro 16” vs. M1 MacBook Air: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it 2019 MacBook Pro 16”	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it M1 MacBook Air
Key Features
What's new	Largest Retina Notebook Display Ever The new MacBook Pro comes with the largest Retina notebook display ever at 16-inch with 500 nits, P3 wide color gamut and higher resolution at 3072x1920 with a density of 226 ppi. New Magic Keyboard Featuring a new Magic Keyboard with a refined scissor mechanism that delivers 1mm of key travel and a stable key feel, as well as an Apple-designed rubber dome that stores more potential energy for a responsive key press. More Advanced Thermal Design Using the most advanced thermal architecture with a larger impeller with extended blades along with bigger vents to enable the system to run at higher power for sustained periods of time. Powerful Processors and Faster Memory It now comes with the six and eight cores 9th-generation processors with Turbo Boost speeds up to 5.0 GHz. It's even better with faster memory up to 64GB of 2666 MHz DDR4 memory. Next-Generation Graphics Featuring the new AMD Radeon Pro 5000M series graphics — the first 7nm mobile discrete GPUs with up to 8GB GDDR6 video memory to handle GPU-intesive tasks faster than ever. More First 8TB Notebook Higher Fidelity Audio Experience macOS Catalina	Better Performance. With the new Apple M1 Chip, it is 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 of up to 18 hours. The new M1 MacBook Air has the most extended battery life ever, 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, has a better dynamic range, and has an improved auto white balance. Better display. It now supports a P3 wide color with 400 nits of display brightness. Improvements It supports the latest USB 4 and Wi-Fi 6. It has better security with the new Secure Enclave in the M1 chip.
What's missing		Natively supports only one external display. The new M1 chip supports only one extended 6K@60Hz display, while the older Intel version supports up to two 4K@60Hz.

Availability	2019 MacBook Pro 16”	M1 MacBook Air
Released	2019	2020
Release Info	Announced on November 13th, 2019 Available on November 13th, 2019	Announced on November 10th, 2020
Pricing	$2,399 - Intel Core i7 \| 16GB RAM \| 512GB SSD \| Radeon 5300M 4GB $2,799 - Intel Core i7 \| 16GB RAM \| 1TB SSD \| Radeon 5500M 4GB	$999 Apple M1 Chip (7 cores GPU) \| 8GB RAM \| 256GB SSD $1,249 Apple M1 Chip (8 cores GPU) \| 8GB RAM \| 512GB SSD

Display	2019 MacBook Pro 16”	M1 MacBook Air
Size	16 Inches	13.3 Inches
Info	Retina display 16‑inch (diagonal) LED‑backlit display with IPS technology; 3072‑by‑1920 native resolution at 226 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors Supported scaled resolutions: 2048 by 1280 1792 by 1120 1344 by 840 1152 by 720 500 nits brightness Wide color (P3) True Tone technology Refresh rates: 47.95Hz, 48.00Hz, 50.00Hz, 59.94Hz, 60.00Hz	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	2019 MacBook Pro 16”	M1 MacBook Air
Size Comparison
Dimensions	Height: 0.64 inch (1.62 cm) Width: 14.09 inches (35.79 cm) Depth: 9.68 inches (24.59 cm)	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 4.3 pounds (2.0 kg)	Starting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg)
Colors	Space GraySilver	GoldSpace GraySilver
Keyboard and Trackpad	Backlit Magic Keyboard with: 65 (U.S.) or 66 (ISO) keys including 4 arrow keys in an inverted‑T arrangement Touch Bar Touch ID sensor 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	Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB‑C) ports with support for: Charging DisplayPort Thunderbolt (up to 40Gb/s) USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)	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	2019 MacBook Pro 16”	M1 MacBook Air
Processor	9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H 6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.50 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H 8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK 8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W	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	9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 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 Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
Memory	16GB 32GB 64GB 2666MHz DDR4 onboard memory	8GB unified memory Configurable to 16GB
Storage	512GB1TB2TB4TB8TB SSD	256GB512GB SSD Configurable to 1TB or 2TB

Connectivity	2019 MacBook Pro 16”	M1 MacBook Air
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 5.0 wireless technology	Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology

Battery	2019 MacBook Pro 16”	M1 MacBook Air
Size	100 Wh lithium‑polymer battery	49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life	Up to 11 hours wireless web Up to 11 hours Apple TV app 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	96W USB‑C Power Adapter	30W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software	2019 MacBook Pro 16”	M1 MacBook Air
OS	Shipped with macOS Catalina	Shipped with macOS Big Sur
Built-in Apps	PhotosiMovieGarageBandPagesNumbersKeynoteSiriSafariMailFaceTimeMessagesMapsNewsStocksHomeVoice MemosNotesCalendarContactsRemindersPhoto BoothPreviewMusicPodcastsTVBooksApp StoreTime MachineFind MyQuickTime Player	PhotosiMovieGarageBandPagesNumbersKeynoteSiriSafariMailFaceTimeMessagesMapsNewsStocksHomeVoice MemosNotesCalendarContactsRemindersPhoto BoothPreviewMusicPodcastsTVBooksApp StoreTime MachineFind MyQuickTime Player

Camera & Audio	2019 MacBook Pro 16”	M1 MacBook Air
Camera	720p FaceTime HD camera	720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio	High‑fidelity six‑speaker system with force‑cancelling woofers Wide stereo sound Support for Dolby Atmos playback Studio‑quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming 3.5 mm headphone jack	Stereo speakers Wide stereo sound Support for Dolby Atmos playback Three-mic array with directional beamforming 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc	2019 MacBook Pro 16”	M1 MacBook Air
Sensors	Touch ID sensor	Touch ID sensor Ambient light sensor
Security	Touch ID sensor Apple T2 Security Chip	Touch ID sensor Apple T2 Security Chip
In the box	16‑inch MacBook Pro 96W USB‑C Power Adapter USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)	MacBook Air 30W USB‑C Power Adapter USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
Warranty	Your MacBook Pro comes with 90 days of complimentary technical support and a one‑year limited warranty. Purchase AppleCare+ for Mac 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.	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 Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and: Up to two displays with 6016‑by‑3384 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors or Up to four displays with 4096‑by‑2304 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors Thunderbolt 3 digital video output Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output supported using adapters (sold separately)	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)