Apple announces 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro

Apple announces 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro: new design, display notch, 120Hz, M1 Pro chip, HDMI, MagSafe, more

9to5Mac By Benjamin Mayo October 18, 2021

[{"selector":"#anim-8c6e32b8-70fa-4e88-8bff-81ddb1b3874a","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] As part of its October Unleashed event, Apple today unveiled the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The new MacBook Pro features the ‘M1 Pro’ chip, with 8 high-performance cores and 2 high-efficiency cores, a 16-core GPU and 32 GB RAM. There’s also an ‘M1 Max’ chip, which doubles RAM and GPU again. The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1999 and the 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2499.

[{"selector":"#anim-fe56bb41-f535-4e41-be6a-32201cf636f9","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The design of the MacBook Pro has also been completely redesigned, now featuring thinner bezels albeit with a notch housing the webcam. The mini-LED display has more pixels, supports high contrast and 1600 nits of peak brightness, and also runs at 120Hz with ProMotion technology. The MacBook Pro now also features a HDMI port, SD card reader, and MagSafe for magnetic charging.

[{"selector":"#anim-9d6dc9d8-8017-44ad-8bfc-d03ec55da042","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] For the first time, the new MacBook Pro is available with a 14.2-inch size, alongside the 16-inch model. The screen resolutions have also been substantially increased for even higher DPI displays. The overall industrial design of the laptop has also been revised, with a boxier shape.

[{"selector":"#anim-60f3adf2-1c97-4703-a15e-c358297a5ec4","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] There are a total of 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports available, and even the headphone jack has been upgraded. MagSafe returns with a higher power throughput, but you are still able to charge through the Thunderbolt ports if you would like.

[{"selector":"#anim-4da0f156-453d-43f1-b08b-72acf505820e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The M1 Pro chip is an upscaled version of the M1 chip, with up to 200 GB/s memory bandwidth, up to 32 GB RAM, and more than double the number of transistors. Apple said the CPU performance is about 70% faster than M1, and GPU performance is about double. M1 Max doubles RAM to 64 GB, and doubles the GPU size to 32 cores.

[{"selector":"#anim-d1ef89b0-385e-45b6-8999-2ccf289889e2","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Due to the power efficiency of Apple Silicon, customers will be able to edit 8K video on battery power — unheard of in other laptops of this size class.

[{"selector":"#anim-cdbcd50d-7e27-4ebf-b306-f518446aee0d","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Apple is also touting up to 2-4x longer battery life when performing intensive tasks. Video playback is rated at 17 hours for the 14-inch model, and 21 hours for the 16-inch model. You can also fast charge the battery, topping up to 50% capacity in 30 minutes.

[{"selector":"#anim-ed863d23-16a0-4587-9a90-9dc8578513e1","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] One of the more controversial design decisions about this generation will inevitably be the display notch. Apple says overall display bezels are 24-60% thinner. The height of the menubar is extended to accommodate the notch height.

[{"selector":"#anim-454173af-44c9-46a8-92fb-a610b81be648","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The webcam is upgraded to 1080p resolution, with up to 2x better low-light performance. The microphone and speaker array has also been upgraded. The speaker tweeters are almost 2x larger for increased sound reproduction, with Spatial Audio sound reproduction.

[{"selector":"#anim-cf5a5824-7af7-4f0a-b482-a1c06f743f19","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro are available in silver and space gray color options. Pricing starts at $1999, and the new MacBook Pro models are available to order today with first shipments starting next week.