New M1 Pro & M1 Max

Apple launched the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops at its recent October event. The new laptop features a new redesign with smaller bezels, a new screen, new ports, new Apple silicone, and more.

Performance (Processor, RAM, graphics)

The M1 Pro and M1 Max are the newest Apple System on a Chip (SoC), following the M1 that was released last year. I am not mentioning all the detail specs here as you can easily see at apple official website. Both of 14 and 16inches are in beast mode as they improve at all aspects, also more expensive.

Screen Display

The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are the first Apple laptops to use a mini LED screen, which Apple calls the Liquid Retina XDR. The mini LED used in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is a backlight technology with more LEDs than currently implemented. This gives you better backlight control, better image contrast, and greater dynamic range. These laptop displays are also the first displays to support a 120Hz refresh rate using ProMotion technology, previously found only on Apple’s iPhone and iPad Pro.

Design & Color

The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro features a new aluminum case design that makes your notebook smaller than its predecessor. The bezel (the border around the screen) has been significantly reduced so that the MacBook Pro logo appears at the bottom of the laptop instead of at the bottom of the screen. At the top of the screen, like the iPhone, there’s a notch for the FaceTime camera. Apple creates the notch as deep as the menu bar so it doesn’t break into your workspace. The MacBook Pro is available in two colors, silver and space gray.

Ports

I am so glad the real ports are back, no extra dongles. The MacBook Pro comes with three Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports. Apple also includes an SDXC card slot, an HDMI 2.0 port, and a headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones.

Power adapter & battery

The power adapter connects to the new MagSafe connector on your laptop. This is similar to the old MagSafe adapter for MacBooks pre-USB-C. However, the wattage of the adapter depends on the model you purchase. It can be said that the battery life has been dramatically improved. See more details on Apple’s official website.

No more touchbar

Apple introduced a touch bar in 2016 to replace function keys with a “brilliant Retina-quality multi-touch display,” but to say the least, it was a divisive feature. Apple seems to have been persuaded by users who don’t like the touchbar, as the touchbar has been added to the new M1 Pro MacBook Pro and replaced with function keys. These function keys are full size, not half height keys. Like previous MacBook Pro models, it has a Touch ID button in the upper right corner of the keyboard, but with a circular ring like the iMac keyboard. I personally like the solid function keys.

As a conclusion, the new macbook pros are really awesome, both in physical and performance. Apple listens the customers’ feedbacks and add back function keys, ports and other improvements as well. I expected the FaceID login as they are including big notch but not this time, may be next release I guess.

By Yuuma