Apple MacBook Pro 14 and Pro 16 (2021) with M1 Pro and M1 Max processor
from David Wurm 
on October 18, 2021, 20:10 p.m. | Write a comment
Together with the new Apple M1 Pro and Apple M1 Max processors, there are the new MacBook Pro 14 and Pro 16. The two new notebooks come in a new design and, among other things, say goodbye to the Touch Bar.
It was time again for a new generation of Apple's MacBook Pro series - it was to be expected in advance. The MacBook Air will not get any of the new processors, these will only be available for the new MacBook Pro 14 and MacBook Pro 16. This means that the Air series will use the "normal" processor in the future and the Pro series will use the Pro and Max processors. The naming was probably inspired by other product series.
With notch
Image: Apple
Yes, the two new MacBooks do come with a notch. In general, the design has changed a bit, the frames are now more rounded than before (somewhat reminiscent of the earlier MacBooks) and there is more connectivity again. It seems as if Apple is now going the other way with the "connection economy". The Pro 14 is exactly 14,5 inches, the Pro 16 has 16,8 inches. The smaller frames are also noticeable, from the display to the edge it is now only 3,5 millimeters - the lid is generally 24 percent thinner than before. Despite the large notch, there is no Face ID - weird.
Take care, dear Touch Bar. (Image: Apple)
Both models are again made entirely of aluminum and offer 1x HDMI on the sides, a total of 3 x Thunderbolt 4 and an SD card reader. In addition, there is a headphone jack again and MagSafe is back. This holds the MacBook magnetically on the charger - alternatively, it can still be charged via one of the three Thunderbolt ports. With the keyboard, Apple is now finally saying goodbye to the Touch Bar and replacing it with physical F-keys, which are now the same size as the keys below. The fingerprint sensor has also grown a bit.
MagSafe is back. (Image: Apple)
Those who like to work with many monitors at the same time will also enjoy the new models: two Pro displays can be connected to the 14-inch model, and three Pro displays and an additional 16K monitor can be connected to the 4-inch model at the same time.
More power, less charging
Image: Apple
The new one is under the hood Apple M1 Pro or M1 Max processor, which is now cooled even better. The new MacBooks are said to have half more cooling capacity. In contrast to the MacBook Air, two fans are still installed, but they should only rarely start - if at all. The new Liquid Retina XDR display, which now offers a repetition frequency of up to 120 Hz, adaptively adjusted, also offers more power. Static content is regulated down, with fast scrolling there is the full 120 Hz. As an extra, this value can be individually adjusted in the settings.
A little deeper into the details: the Apple M1 Pro processor is equipped with a 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine and a maximum of 24-core GPU. The M1 Max goes a little further up: 32-core GPUs are possible here. All configurations support up to 64 GB of RAM and a maximum of 8 TB of internal storage. Since the RAM and internal storage in the new M1 processors are in one package, all components are not upgradeable.
We also see an improvement in the integrated camera - which is in the notch - which finally has a resolution of 1080p and comes with an aperture of f / 2.0 for even more light. In line with this, the microphones and speaker setup in the 16-inch device have also been increased.
In general, the two models are said to be up to 3,7 times faster than the previous MacBook Pro with an i9 processor from Intel. This has now also been completely abandoned - no new Intel model is available from Apple. With even more power, you also have to plug in less often - the 14-inch model should be able to watch up to 17 hours of video and the 16-inch model up to 21 hours of video playback. With the new Fast Charge feature in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, it should be charged to half, i.e. 30 percent, within 50 minutes.
Prices and availability
In addition to all the improvements, there are - as expected - also higher prices. The MacBook Pro 14 starts at 2.249 euros, the 16-inch device at 2.749 euros. But we are talking about the entry-level models with M1 Pro processor. The exact variants can be configured as usual on the Apple website. The new models will be available from next week. The original MacBook Pro 13 will also remain, but will keep its M1 processor.