Comparison Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 [MNWC3] vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 [MK1E3]

Each series combines chips that are similar in general level, purpose, and often also in individual specific features. At the same time, most series include processors of several generations at once, which can differ significantly in actual characteristics. It is worth noting that until recently, laptops were almost exclusively equipped with processors from AMD or Intel - until in 2020, Apple introduced its own chip Apple M1(with updated versions of Apple M1 Pro and Apple M1 Max), Apple M2(2022) with productive chips M2 Pro, M2 Max and Apple M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max(2023). Then Qualcomm entered the arena with its Snapdragon processors.

At the moment, the following series are mainly relevant in laptops:

— AMD Ryzen 3. The cheapest series of AMD chips in the Ryzen family (Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, Ryzen 9 and Ryzen AI), using the Zen microarchitecture. In ter...ms of general design, Ryzen 3 is similar to its older brothers, but half of the computing cores are deactivated. Nevertheless, it is quite advanced and is even found in ultrabooks.

— Ryzen 5. The second series on the Zen architecture is a more affordable alternative to the Ryzen 7 chips. Ryzen 5 chips have slightly more limited performance characteristics (in particular, a lower clock frequency and, in some models, L3 cache volume). Otherwise, they are completely similar to the "sevens" and are also positioned as high-performance chips for gaming and workstations. For more details, see "Ryzen 7" below.

— Ryzen 7. The first series of processors from AMD, built on the Zen microarchitecture. It was introduced in March 2017. In general, Ryzen chips (of all series) are promoted as high-end solutions for gamers, developers, graphic designers and video editors. One of the main differences between Zen and previous microarchitectures was the use of simultaneous multithreading, due to which the number of operations per clock was significantly increased at the same clock frequency. In addition, each core received its own floating-point calculation unit, the speed of the first-level cache memory increased, and the L3 cache volume in Ryzen 7 chips is 16 MB by default.

— Ryzen 9. AMD Ryzen 9 processors on the Zen microarchitecture debuted in 2019. The series became the top among all Ryzens, displacing Ryzen 7 from this position. First of all, the CPU line is usually used for professional tasks (design, video editing, 3D rendering), games, streaming and other high-load applications. The first Ryzen 9 models had 12 cores and 24 threads, in later ones this number was increased to 16 and 32, respectively.

— Ryzen AI. The Ryzen series of processors with artificial intelligence was launched in 2024. The first in the lineup was the AMD Ryzen AI 300 subfamily. It introduces the new Zen 5 computing core architecture, has integrated RDNA 3.5 graphics, and a powerful XDNA 2 neural processor with a performance of up to 50 TOPS (trillion operations per second). The Ryzen AI chips are perfect for a wide range of tasks — from everyday work to complex calculations using AI algorithms.

— Atom. Processors specially developed by Intel for mobile devices (including smartphones). Used mainly in ultra-compact laptops.

— Core M. Processors designed for portable devices (in particular, ultra-compact laptops) and featuring extremely low heat generation, allowing the use of passive cooling systems. They were introduced in 2014 as the first serial chips using the 14 nm process technology.

— Celeron. The most budget series in the modern line of desktop processors from Intel. However, the latest generations are equipped with integrated graphics.

— Pentium. Budget desktop processors from Intel, slightly superior in characteristics to Celeron, but not up to the Core i3. Also have integrated graphics.

— Processor. A line of entry-level processors that precedes the Core i3 family in Intel's modern hierarchy. These chipsets are found in entry-level laptops designed for everyday home or office use, as well as undemanding games.

— Intel Core i3 / Core 3. A series of entry-level and mid-range processors, the most budget-friendly in the Core family. However, in terms of characteristics and computing power, the processors of this line are superior to the Pentium and Celeron series (see above).

— Intel Core i5 / Core 5. A line of mid-range processors — both in general and by the standards of the Core family in particular. Most often, the processors of the series contain from 4 to 10 cores, and in terms of performance, they are between the relatively inexpensive i3 (Core 3) and the powerful i7 (Core 7).

— Intel Core i7 / Core 7. A series of high-performance processors from Intel. Before the i9, it was the most advanced in the Core family, but then it gave way to the "nine". Core 7 chips have at least 4 cores and integrated graphics.

— Core i9. Top-end processors released in 2017; the most powerful line of consumer-grade notebook processors at the time of their release, displacing Core i7 chips from this position. They have 6 cores and a large L3 cache.

— Core Ultra 5. A transformation of the popular series of mobile processors of the strong mid-range Intel Core i5, which received the Ultra prefix since the end of 2023 — when the Meteor Lake generation of chipsets debuted. The main feature of the Core Ultra 5 processors is a separate NPU, which gives advantages when working with AI models.

— Core Ultra 7. A pre-top series of high-performance mobile processors from Intel, which replaced the Core i7 family at the end of 2023 (with the advent of the new generation of Meteor Lake chipsets). A mandatory attribute of the Ultra models has become a neural coprocessor, responsible for accelerating the operation of artificial intelligence algorithms.

— Core Ultra 9. The most powerful line of laptop processors from Intel, released to replace the Core i9 family at the end of 2023. The premiere of models with the Ultra addition took place in the Meteor Lake chipset generation. A distinctive feature of Intel Core Ultra 9 is the presence of a separate NPU to improve the efficiency of using artificial intelligence models.

— Apple. A series of processors from Apple, which debuted in November 2020 with the release of the next generations of MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. In the initial configurations, they are equipped with 8 cores - 4 productive and 4 economical; the latter, according to the creators, consume 10 times less energy than the former. This, combined with the 5 nm process technology, made it possible to achieve very high energy efficiency and, at the same time, performance. It is also worth noting that the processors of this series are made according to the system-on-chip scheme: a single module combines a CPU, a graphics adapter, RAM (in the first models - 8 or 16 GB), a solid-state NVMe drive and some other components (in particular, Thunderbolt 4 controllers).

— Snapdragon. Snapdragon processors are essentially mobile solutions — they are traditionally installed in smartphones and tablets. Separate lines of Snapdragon chips have been released specifically for laptops (for example, X Elite on ARM architecture). Many laptops based on such processors are equipped with built-in LTE or even 5G modules. Their advantage is also high energy efficiency.

The number of cores in the laptop CPU.

The core is a part of the CPU designed to process one thread of instructions (and sometimes more, for such models, see "Number of threads"). Nowadays, in laptops you can find dual-core, quad-core, six-core, eight-core, ten-core, 12-core, 14-core CPUs. Also note that recently configurations with different types of cores as part of a single CPU are gaining popularity. Such chips are built on a hybrid architecture that combines high performance and energy-efficient cores. They operate at different clock speeds, have different amounts of pre-installed cache memory and are designed to solve different problems. In particular, such CPUs are found in Intel CPUs (from the 12th generation) and Apple.

Theoretically, more cores means higher performance, especially in parallel computing tasks or when processing multiple resource-intensive tasks at the same time. However, in practice this is true only all else being equal – that is, with a similar microarchitecture, clock frequency, cache volumes and other key parameters. Modern CPUs can vary greatly on these parameters – in itself, a greater number of cores does not mean superiority. This is especially true for dual- and quad-core chips: a mobil...e-level CPU (for example, Snapdragon, see "CPU series") with 4 cores may well be inferior in capabilities to a dual-core desktop series chip (like Core i3 or i5, which are often used in universal laptops with the "optimal" set of specifications for different tasks). When evaluating CPUs with two or four cores, it is necessary to look, first of all, at the general set of characteristics. But the presence of six, eight or more cores is almost certainly a sign of a powerful CPU. Such equipment is typical mainly for advanced gaming and professional laptops.

The clock speed of the processor installed in the laptop (for multi-core processors, the frequency of each individual core).

Theoretically, a higher clock speed has a positive effect on performance, as it allows the processor to perform more operations per unit of time. However, in fact, the capabilities of the CPU depend on a number of other characteristics — primarily on the series to which it belongs (see above). It even happens that of the two chips, the more performant in the overall result is the slower one. With this in mind, it makes sense to compare by clock frequency only processors of the same series, and ideally, also of the same generation; and the laptop as a whole should be judged by the complex characteristics of the system, as well as by the results of tests (see below).

GeForce graphics cards from NVIDIA: RTX represented by RTX 2060, RTX 2060 Max-Q, RTX 2070, RTX 2070 Max-Q, RTX 2070 Super, RTX 2070 Super Max-Q, RTX 2080, RTX 2080 Max-Q, RTX 2080 Super, RTX 2080 Super Max-Q, RTX 3050, RTX 3050 Ti, RTX 3060, RTX 3060 Max-Q, RTX 3070, RTX 3070 Max-Q, RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3080, RTX 3080 Ti, RTX 4050, RTX 4060, R TX 4070, RTX 4080, RTX 4090 ; MX1xx represented by MX110, MX130 and MX150, MX2xx(MX230 and MX250), MX3xx(MX330 and MX350), MX450, GTX which represent GTX 1050, GTX 1060, GTX 1060 Max-Q, GTX 1070, GTX 1070 Max-Q, GTX 1080, GTX 1080 Max-Q, GTX 1650, GTX 1650 Max-Q, GTX 1650 Ti, GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q and. AMD also offers video cards Radeon 520, Radeon 530(535), Radeon 540X, Radeon 610(625, 630), Radeon RX 550 (550X, 560), Radeon RX 640, Radeon RX 5500M, Radeon RX 6800M and Radeon Pro.

Note that all the above models are discrete. Actually, for a configuration with discrete graphics, it is the model of a separate video adapter that is indicated; if it is supplemented by an integrated module, the name of this module can be clarified by the official characteristics of the processor.

It is also worth mentioning that this paragraph does not give the full name of the model, but only its name within the series (the series itself is given separately - see above). However, knowing the series and model, one can easily find detailed information about the graphics card.

Wi-Fi standards supported by the laptop.

In modern laptops, most often there are wireless communication modules that support Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be). Earlier standards appear infrequently; First of all, this is Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n), which ensures compatibility of the laptop with legacy wireless equipment. Here are the features of each of these standards:

- Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). Standard introduced in 2013. It operates exclusively on the 5 GHz frequency, which is why it is only compatible with Wi-Fi 4 and newer versions. Provides a theoretical maximum speed of up to 1 Gbps with a single-channel connection and up to 6 Gbps with multiple channels in MIMO format, while consuming significantly less power than its predecessor.

- Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax). A standard developed as a direct development and improvement of Wi-Fi 5. A priori, it operates at standard frequencies of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz (including equipment of earlier standards), but if necessary, it can connect additional bands in the range from 1 to 7 GHz. The maximum data transfer speed has increased to 10 Gbps, but the main advantage of Wi-Fi 6 is not even this, but the further optimization of the simultaneous operation of several devices on the same channel. Wi-Fi 6 provides a minimal drop in speed under conditions...of high channel load.

- Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax). The Wi-Fi 6E standard is technically called 802.11ax. But unlike basic Wi-Fi 6, which is named similarly, it provides for operation in an additional unused 6 GHz band. In total, the standard uses 14 different frequency bands, offering high throughput in the most crowded places with many active connections. And it's backwards compatible with previous versions of Wi-Fi.

— Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be). The technology, like the previous Wi-Fi 6E, is capable of operating in three frequency ranges: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz. At the same time, the maximum bandwidth in Wi-Fi 7 was increased from 160 MHz to 320 MHz - the wider the channel, the more data it can transmit. The IEEE 802.11be standard uses 4096-QAM modulation, which also allows more symbols to be accommodated in a data transmission unit. From Wi-Fi 7 you can squeeze out a maximum theoretical information exchange speed of up to 46 Gbps. In the context of using wireless connections for streaming and video games, the implemented MLO (Multi-Link Operation) development seems very interesting. With its help, you can aggregate several channels in different ranges, which significantly reduces delays in data transmission and ensures low and stable ping. And Multi-RU (Multiple Resource Unit) technology is designed to minimize communication delays when there are many connected client devices.

Technology for direct wireless communication between various devices, in particular for connecting speakers, headphones, for transferring files, etc. Version plays a key role in Bluettoth's abilities. In modern realities, Bluetooth wireless protocols below revision 4 are no longer relevant. More about them:

— Bluetooth v 4.0. A fundamental update (after version 3.0), which introduced another data transfer format — Bluetooth Low Energy (LE). Bluetooth LE allows you to significantly save energy with such a connection.

— Bluetooth v 4.1. Development and improvement of Bluetooth 4.0. One of the key improvements was the optimization of collaboration with 4G LTE communication modules — so that Bluetooth and LTE do not interfere with each other. In addition, this version has the ability to simultaneously use a Bluetooth device in several roles.

— Bluetooth v 4.2. This version did not introduce fundamental updates, however, it received a number of improvements regarding reliability and noise immunity, as well as improved compatibility with the Internet of Things.

— Bluetooth v 5.0. Version introduced in 2016. The key innovations were the further expansion of the possibilities associated with the Internet of Things. In particular, in the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol (see above), it became possible to double the data transfer rate (up to 2 Mbit / s) at the cost of reducing the range, as well as quadruple the range at the cost of redu...cing the speed; in addition, a number of improvements have been introduced regarding the simultaneous work with numerous connected devices.

— Bluetooth v 5.1. Update of the version described above v 5.0. In addition to general improvements in the quality and reliability of communication, this update has implemented such an interesting feature as determining the direction from which the Bluetooth signal is coming. This makes it possible to determine the location of connected devices with an accuracy of up to a centimeter, which can be useful, for example, when searching for wireless headphones.

— Bluetooth v 5.2. The main innovations in this release are a number of security improvements, additional power optimization in LE mode, and a new audio signal format for synchronizing parallel playback on multiple devices.

Maximum laptop operating time on a single battery charge, without recharging. In this case, usually, the operating time in the maximum energy saving mode is implied: disabled wireless modules, minimum screen brightness, a small load on the processor, etc. Accordingly, the time of actual work on a charge is usually noticeably less than this indicator. Nevertheless, it can be used both for a general assessment of the battery life of a laptop, and for comparing it with other models. And choose work laptop ( from 7 operation hours) or with more powerful battery (from 11 operation hours).

The maximum power of the power supply in watts from which the laptop is supplied with power. Note that in this case the maximum power level is indicated, and this is achieved only when performing the most energy-intensive tasks, such as playing games, video rendering, etc. The rest of the time the power supply consumes an order of magnitude less power. This parameter may be useful when calculating the load when connecting a laptop computer to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or other means of autonomous power supply. When choosing a power supply yourself, you need to purchase it with parameters similar to the original unit or with a small power reserve on the larger side.