You’ll find big changes inside and out of Apple’s new MacBook Pro. Most strikingly is the new mini LED display, which, if the M1 iPad Pro is anything to go by, will offer an insane contrast ratio and peak brightness. Ports-wise, it’s a fond “farewell” to just two Thunderbolt 4, and “hello” to more Thunderbolt ports, an HDMI out, SD card slot and the return of MagSafe. Oh, and did we mention the Touch Bar is gone? The five-year flirtation Apple had with replacing the perfectly fine function keys with a touch screen that compromised your productivity is over. But of course, the biggest headline about this machine is what lies beneath: the M1 Pro chip. This is a beefy upgrade from last year’s M1, which offers a 70% increase in performance and 2x improvement in graphics. Or you could go even further with the bonkers M1 Max with a 32-core GPU — delivering up to 13x faster graphics. This is a huge upgrade to the prosumer-grade portables and no doubt, a lot of people are pretty excited to snap one up (M1 MacBook Pro users are likely looking on with jealousy in their eyes).
Where to buy the 14-inch MacBook Pro
Should you buy the 14-inch MacBook Pro?
That’s not something we can give a definitive answer to until we review this new prosumer laptop. But given the perfect score on our M1 MacBook Pro review last year, it’s fair to assume that unless there’s some horrific hardware malfunction, this one is probably going to be pretty good.