SIDE-BY-SIDE HARDWARE AUDITZero Pricing • Objective Specification Advantage Highlighting
Apple MacBook Pro 15 (2016 Touch Bar) vs Apple MacBook Air (Original Envelope Launch)
Compare processor microarchitectures, maximum GPU TGP, display color accuracy, RAM upgradability, and battery Watt-hours with automated win badge analysis.
Slot 1 • Apple2016
Apple MacBook Pro 15 (2016 Touch Bar)
15.4" IPS LCD • 1.83 kg • x86_64
Slot 2 • Apple2008
Apple MacBook Air (Original Envelope Launch)
13.3" TFT LCD • 1.36 kg • x86_64
Reasons to Choose Apple MacBook Pro 15 (2016 Touch Bar)
- ✓Thinner Profile (15.5 mm vs 19.3 mm)
- ✓Higher Peak Brightness (500nits vs 300nits)
- ✓Larger Battery Capacity (76Wh vs 37Wh)
- ✓Higher Charger Wattage (87W vs 45W)
- ✓Higher Max GPU TGP (35W vs 15W)
- ✓More Thunderbolt Ports (4ports vs 0ports)
Reasons to Choose Apple MacBook Air (Original Envelope Launch)
- ✓Lighter Chassis (1.36 kg vs 1.83 kg)
01.Platform & Compute Subsystem
Processor architecture, graphics envelope, and power ceilingProcessor / SoC
Intel Core i7-6700HQ / i7-6820HQ (Skylake 14nm)
Intel Core 2 Duo (Merom 65nm, 4MB L2 cache)
CPU Core Architecture
4-core / 8-thread (2.6 GHz base, 3.5 GHz Turbo)
2-core / 2-thread (1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz)
ISA Architecture
x86_64
x86_64
Graphics Hardware
AMD Radeon Pro 450 / 455 (2GB GDDR5) or Radeon Pro 460 (4GB GDDR5)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA X3100 (144MB shared)
Maximum Graphics TGP
35 W+20 W
15 W
Operating System
macOS Sierra
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
02.Memory & Storage Upgradability
RAM capacity, SODIMM vs soldered, and NVMe expansionRAM Capacity Options
16 GB LPDDR3 (Soldered)
2 GB (Soldered onboard)
RAM Technology / Speed
LPDDR3-2133 MHz
DDR2-667 MHz SDRAM
RAM Upgradability
Soldered Onboard
Soldered Onboard
RAM Sockets / Form Factor
Soldered Onboard
Soldered Onboard (Non-upgradable)
M.2 SSD Expansion Slots
0 Slots
0 Slots
Storage Bus & Architecture
Apple soldered PCIe 3.0 NVMe storage array
1.8-inch Parallel ATA (ZIF connector drive bay)
03.Display & Color Accuracy
Panel technology, screen resolution, refresh rate, and luminancePanel Technology
IPS LCD
TFT LCD
Screen Diagonal Size
15.4 inches
13.3 inches
Aspect Ratio
16:10
16:10
Resolution
2880 × 1800 px (220 ppi)
1280 × 800 px (113 ppi)
Display Refresh Rate
60 Hz
60 Hz
Color Gamut Coverage
100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut
65% sRGB
Peak Brightness
500 nits+200 nits
300 nits
04.Chassis, Thermals & Battery
Enclosure weight, profile thickness, battery capacity, and chargingChassis Weight
1.83 kg
1.36 kg-0.47 kg lighter
Chassis Thickness
15.5 mm-3.8 mm lighter
19.3 mm
Chassis Materials
All-metal aluminum unibody, Force Touch glass trackpad
Precision CNC-machined aluminum unibody enclosure
Cooling Solution
Split dual-fan system with thin blades
Single ultra-slim centrifugal blower with copper heatpipe
Battery Capacity
76 Wh+39 Wh
37 Wh
Bundled Charger Wattage
87 W+42 W
45 W
USB-C Power Delivery
Yes
No
05.I/O Ports & Connectivity
High-speed buses, external display outs, and media card readersPort Complement
4x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C 40 Gbps, DisplayPort, Charging), 3.5mm headphone jack, OLED Touch Bar with Touch ID
1x USB 2.0 (flip-down door), Micro-DVI video out, 3.5mm analog headphone jack, MagSafe power port
Thunderbolt Ports
4x Thunderbolt+4 ports
None
HDMI Revision
None (Native DisplayPort over USB-C / HDMI via dongle)
Micro-DVI to DVI / Micro-DVI to VGA adapter
Card Reader
None Reader
None Reader
3.5mm Headphone Jack
✅ Present
✅ Present
Wireless Networking
802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2
AirPort Extreme 802.11a/b/g/draft-n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR