Apple announces new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models
- These macs are powered by Apple’s new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, the most powerful Apple Silicon chips to date.
- The base models start with 16GB/512GB of RAM and storage, respectively.
- Both the 14” and 16” models will be available for pre-order starting today, and their shipments will begin next week.
The long anticipated MacBooks Pros have finally been announced. They feature a complete redesign, with both models receiving an even larger display, powered by mini-LED technology — similar to the one found on the current 12.9” iPad Pro. This means they now feature 120Hz ProMotion and insane brightness levels of up to 1000 nits of sustained brightness, 1600 nits of peak brightness and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio similar to the one found on the Pro Display XDR. Just like the iPad Pros, they have support for HDR content and have rounder corners at the edges.
The camera module is now protruding into the display due to its thinner bezels just like the recently announced iPhones. Unfortunately, there is no support for Face ID. It is unknown what happens when your cursor goes under it as of now. Judging by Apple’s slides, it seems that the “notched” area of the display is simply blacked out in fullscreen app usage.
Additionally, Apple says the overall display bezels are 24-60% thinner. The height of the menu bar has been extended to accommodate the notch height.
These computers come with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage standard, which is twice as much as the amount found on the previous 13” M1 MacBook Pro. MacBook Pros using the M1 Pro chip can also be configured with up to 32GB of unified memory, which again, is double that of the previous limit. The M1 Max allows for double that, configurable with up to 64GB of unified memory. This is the highest amount of RAM found on any Apple Silicon powered device to date. These computers can also go up to 8TB of storage.
In terms of performance, these new computers are a beast, powered by the new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, with the Pro starting with a 8-core CPU and a 14-core GPU (configurable up to a 10-core CPU, 16-core Neural Engine and a 16-core GPU), and the Max starting with a 10-core CPU, 16-core Neural Engine and a 24-core GPU (configurable up to a 32-core GPU).
MagSafe has returned, now named MagSafe 3, with support for faster charging speeds, up to 50% in 30 minutes (charging via the Thunderbolt port is still supported), along with several ports such as an SD card slot and an HDMI port. The headphone jack has also been upgraded with support for high-impedance headphones.
The FaceTime HD camera finally got the much requested 1080p resolution, with up to 2x better low-light performance. The microphone and speaker array has also been upgraded. The speaker tweeters are almost twice as large for increased sound reproduction and Spatial Audio support.
They are available for purchase today, with first shipments starting next week.
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