Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019) vs Macbook Air (M1, 2020)
You can select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Review
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Case
Design, materials, durability and usability
NanoReview Score
Key Differences
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019)
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 4 versus 2
- Features a much bigger (~100%) battery – 100 against 49.9 watt-hours
- Thinner bezels and 6% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Can run popular games at about 13-17% higher FPS
- Provides 25% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 400 nits
Advantages of the Apple Macbook Air (M1, 2020)
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 750 grams less (around 1.65 lbs)
- Supports next-generation Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Around 10% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
- Much smaller footprint: 27% more compact case (100.1 vs 136.4 square inches)
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Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
Weight | 2.04 kg (4.5 lbs) | 1.29 kg (2.84 lbs) |
Dimensions | 357.9 x 245.9 x 16.2 mm 14.09 x 9.68 x 0.64 inches |
304.1 x 212.4 x 16.1 mm 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.63 inches |
Area | 880 cm2 (136.4 inches2) | 646 cm2 (100.1 inches2) |
Screen-to-body ratio | ~84.3% | ~79.4% |
Side bezels | 6.6 mm | 8.8 mm |
Colors | Silver, Gray | Silver, Gold, Gray |
Transformer | No | No |
Opening angle | 135° | - |
Size comparison
Cooling system | Active | Passive |
Vapor chamber | No | Yes |
Number of fans | 2 | - |
Max. fan speed (RPM) | 5616 RPM | - |
Noise level | 46.1 dB | - |
Display
Size | 16 inches | 13.3 inches |
Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
PPI | 226 ppi | 227 ppi |
Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:10 |
Resolution | 3072 x 1920 pixels | 2560 x 1600 pixels |
HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, HDR10 |
Touchscreen | No | No |
Coating | Glossy (Antireflective) | Glossy (Antireflective) |
Contrast | 1331:1 | 1069:1 |
sRGB color space | 100% | 99.8% |
Adobe RGB profile | 88.8% | 85.9% |
DCI-P3 color gamut | 99.4% | 98.6% |
Response time | 43 ms | 35 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
Voltage | - | 11.4 V |
Full charging time | 1:30 hr | 2:23 hr |
Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
Replaceable | No | No |
Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
USB Power Delivery | Yes | Yes |
Charging port position | Left, Right | Left |
Charge power | 96 W | 30 W |
Cable length | 2 meters | 2 meters |
Weigh of AC adapter | 359 gramm | 172 gramm |
CPU
CPU name
Base frequency | 2.6 GHz | 2.1 GHz |
Turbo frequency | 4.5 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
Cores | 6 | 8 |
Threads | 12 | 8 |
L3 Cache | 12 MB | - |
Integrated GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | Apple M1 GPU |
Fabrication process | 14 nm | 5 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
TGP | 50 W | 15 W |
Type | Dedicated | Integrated |
Fabrication process | 7 nm | 5 nm |
GPU base clock | 1000 MHz | 450 MHz |
GPU boost clock | 1250 MHz | 1278 MHz |
FLOPS | 3.2 TFLOPS | 2.6 TFLOPS |
Memory size | 4 GB | System Shared |
Memory type | GDDR6 | LPDDR4X |
Memory bus | 128 bit | 128 bit |
Memory speed | ~12 Gbps | 4.27 Gbps |
Shading units (cores) | 1280 | 1024 |
Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 80 | 64 |
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 32 | 32 |
GPU performance
RAM
RAM size
Channels | 2x8 GB | 2x4 GB |
Clock | 2666 MHz | 4266 MHz |
Type | DDR4 | LPDDR4X |
Upgradable | No | No |
Total slots | 2 | - |
Storage
Storage size
Bus | Custom | Custom |
Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
Channels | 1x512 GB | 1x256 GB |
Upgradable | No | No |
NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
Speakers | 4.2 | 2.0 |
Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Loudness | 82.3 dB | 79.6 dB |
Microphones | 3 | 3 |
Connectivity
Wi-Fi standard | v5 | v6 |
Bluetooth | v5 | v5 |
Fingerprint | Yes | Yes |
Optical drive | No | No |
Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
Webcam resolution | 1280 x 720 | 1280 x 720 |
USB-A | No | No |
USB Type-C | 4x USB 3.1 | 2x USB 3.1 |
Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 3 | Thunderbolt 3 |
HDMI | No | No |
DisplayPort | No | No |
VGA | No | No |
Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
Ethernet (RJ45) | No | No |
SD card reader | No | No |
Proprietary charging port | No | No |
Input
Keyboard type | Island | Island |
Numpad | No | No |
Backlight | Yes | Yes |
Key travel | 1 mm | 1 mm |
Size | 15.5 x 9.9 cm | 12.1 x 8.1 cm |
Surface | Glass | Glass |
Windows Precision | No | No |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can be different depending on the laptop’s particular configuration or region.
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