The battery lasts over 12 hours of light productivity and 9 hours of movie playback thanks to Apple’s M1 Pro and M1 Max SoCs’ remarkable power efficiency. These chips can handle demanding tasks like video editing and 3D animation. Unfortunately, the battery is the only user-replaceable component, so there is no ability to upgrade other parts later. in this article we will show you the Macbook Pro 14-inch review. Our Apple MacBook Pro 14 sports an M1 Pro SoC with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage, 8 CPU cores, and 14 GPU cores. Upgrade to an M1 Pro or M1 Max with 10 CPU cores will only marginally improve multi-thread performance in terms of CPU performance. However, upgrading to an M1 Max with 24 or 32 GPU cores will considerably improve graphic performance. Additionally, the M1 Max processor features more media encoders to boost speed in programmes like video editing software that can take use of hardware acceleration. Upgrading the memory is possible to 32GB or 64GB, but 64GB is only offered on M1 Max variants.
Design
The 14-inch MacBook Pro is a new size category that is evenly spaced between the 13-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. This thin but powerful device weighs 3.5 pounds, with an edge-to-edge display, and a 0.61-inch thick chassis. With an aluminum shell, a sizable trackpad, and a sleek enclosure, this laptop immediately stands out as a MacBook Pro. But there’s a black casing around the keyboard, a notch in the display, and big feet underneath. There is no longer a MacBook Pro logo underneath the display, and there is no room for a webcam in the bezel because Apple extended the panel to the edge. So Apple chose a notch design rather than a flat, substantial bezel surrounding the display. This contentious design incorporates a slight cutaway around the camera module to provide extra screen space in a similar-sized housing. In order to advance towards an edge-to-edge display and house a sophisticated True Depth technology for Face ID, the iPhone X invented the notch design. However, due to the display lid’s extraordinary thinness, Face ID is not available in the most recent MacBook Pro models. According to Apple, the menu bar now occupies the area around the notch, giving apps greater room to take over. Additionally, if they so wish, developers can create their programmes to cover the area around the notch. Even at low fan speeds, the internal layout has been changed to provide a 50% increase in ventilation. The high-end processor requires active cooling, but it won’t always be enabled. Due to the M1 Pro and M1 Max’s efficiency, Apple claims that many routine actions won’t result in the fans spinning up. The 14-inch MacBook Pro should stay reasonably cool while in use thanks to the fans, aluminum chassis, and higher bottom from the larger feet.
keyboard and touch pad
A discussion of a MacBook Pro revision is incomplete without mentioning the keyboard. Apple returned to scissor switches in 2019 after years of problems with a butterfly keyboard. The most recent Magic Keyboard, which has mechanical scissor switches just as sturdy and clicky as older Mac keyboards, advantages the 14-inch MacBook Pro. For the new MacBook Pros, Apple chose black keys with a black frame. The redesigned frame is made to highlight the illuminated keys because of the form-fitting construction. Rather than the Touch Bar, there is now a row of function keys. As an alternate interaction paradigm that would adapt based on the programme being used, Apple unveiled the Touch Bar in 2016. Since accessing these keys—including the much needed escape key was now concealed behind a software interface, the absence of physical function keys irritated many professional users. In a subsequent update, Apple restored the escape key for professionals but stopped caring about the Touch Bar. Apple has finally eliminated the Touch Bar entirely after allowing it to languish for years without any feature updates or improvements. A full-sized set of function keys has been installed in its stead, a first for MacBooks.
Macbook Pro 14-inch review: Display
When combined with HDR content, the MacBook Pro 14’s Mini-LED screen can achieve brightness levels of more than 1500 nits, although it is otherwise restricted to 500 nits or less. This is somewhat bothersome, especially outside when a brighter setting would be beneficial. There is currently an app called Vivid that removes this restriction, allowing you to always use the highest brightness level. The programme functions as tested with our review unit. You receive an additional brightness bar, and using the standard brightness controls, you can easily boost the brightness even more. The highest values line up with the HDR outcomes. On a display that was all white, we measured more than 1100 nits; on our website, we measured about 1300 nits; and in a little window, we measured up to 1600 nits. We advise you to test the software if you frequently use your MacBook Pro outside and would like a brighter image. The panel was also examined using the app, and while there are just slight, barely perceptible improvements in picture quality, the lid becomes substantially warmer. We are unable to predict how using the app may impact the LEDs’ lifespan. With the highest brightness, the battery life is also significantly reduced, and our Wi-Fi test only lasts for 2:28 hours until the battery runs out.
Webcam and microphone
Since many of us now make more video chats to friends, family, clients, and coworkers owing to working remotely, it’s great to see Apple make improvements here as well. A laptop’s webcam and microphone are now extremely crucial. We now have a 1080p webcam on a MacBook, a significant improvement above the 720p technology that Apple previously included. Additionally, this camera has a lens with a larger aperture that admits more light to assist reduce any background noise (that weird, static-like fuzz). You won’t need any elaborate lighting to look your best because the camera boasts two times better low-light performance thanks to a bigger image sensor with more effective pixels. The quality of the webcam during video conversations pleased us during our time with the MacBook Pro 14-inch. We could have logged in simply staring into the webcam if there had been Face ID capabilities (like we can with modern iPhones, or by using Windows Hello-compatible webcams with Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices). Apple includes what it refers to as “studio-quality” microphones when it comes to audio recording. These are an enhancement over the already excellent microphones found in the MacBook Pro 16-inch (2019) model. Excellent clarity is produced via a three-mic array with improved signal-to-noise ratio. It works incredibly well for video chats and meetings, and if you don’t have an external microphone with you, it may also be used to capture vocals and instruments for podcasts and spontaneous jam sessions. The fact that you don’t have to plug in this laptop is just one more thing. you can read this article on Macbook Pro 14-inch review.
Graphics and gaming
M1 Max sits in M1 Pro’s shadowHigh-resolution gaming still leaves you wanting more
The 16-core GPU in the 14-inch MacBook Pro that we evaluated is an addition to Apple’s new M1 Pro system-on-chip. And it’s proving to be a beast, as we discovered when playing Rise of the Tomb Raider, where the wintry opening sequence went without a hitch even though Lara was being tormented by snow and wind on a cliff. The 14-inch MacBook Pro scored 39 frames per second on Rise of the Tomb Raider (at 1920 x 1200), whereas the 16-inch model skyrocketed to an incredibly smooth 73.87 frames per second. The 16-inch still couldn’t reach 30 frames per second (fps) at 3456 x 2234, and the 14-inch only managed a choppy 17 fps at 3024 x 1964. read our Macbook Pro 14-inch review. Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm operated on the 14-inch MacBook Pro at a smoother frame rate of 46 frames per second than it did on the XPS 13 (with Intel Iris Xe Graphics), which was playing the game at 1080p and 1512×982. At a frame rate of 46 frames per second, the 16-inch MacBook Pro ran it. In this case, 30 frames per second is playable, although we would want to see a higher figure. The Surface Laptop Studio’s (66 fps) and Dell XPS 15’s (67 fps) Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPUs made this smoothness possible. The 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited test revealed the shortcomings of the M1 Pro when compared to the M1 Max. There, the 16-core GPU of the M1 Pro scored 10,386 at 62.17 frames per second, whereas the 32-core GPU of the 16-inch MacBook Pro scored 20,220 at 121 frames per second.
Macbook Pro 14-inch review: Performance
The Apple M1 Pro SoC, which offers significantly more power than the M1 from the 13-inch MacBook Pro upgrade from a year ago, is new to us. Apple is establishing new distinctions between the MacBook Air and its Pro notebooks. The M1 Pro is constructed using the same 5nm technology and the same architecture as the M1. There are now six (or eight) high-performance cores and just two efficiency cores, as opposed to four high-performance and four efficiency cores in the past. Additionally, there are now seven or eight, fourteen, or sixteen GPU cores. Even though memory is still integrated, the M1 Pro offers up to 32GB of memory and a quicker connection. Of course, these numbers increase even more with the M1 Max CPU option. this is the one of the best laptop you can read this Macbook Pro 14-inch review. A 16-core “neural engine” for accelerating AI and machine learning is present in all three M1 iterations. Professionals working in video production and content creation may find the new “media engine” feature, a hardware encode/decode block for HEVC, H.264, and Apple’s proprietary ProRAW and ProRES codecs, in the M1 Pro and M1 Max useful. Furthermore, the M1 Pro and M1 Max-powered devices may drive up to two and three external 6K screens, respectively. Briefly put, Apple’s new hardware tiers differ from what we’re used to seeing from traditional CPU makers and PC brands in that there are a number of capabilities to consider when selecting the best model for your requirements. Again, nothing can be upgraded, so you must decide everything at the time of purchase.
Battery life and heat
Our battery tests reveal that the MacBook Pro 14 with the M1 Max SoC has shorter runtimes than the standard model, which was already indicated by the greater idle usage. Our Wi-Fi test at 150 nits, which is 7 large steps and 2 tiny steps below the maximum brightness, yields a result of around 11.5 hours and only 5.5 hours at maximum brightness. It is able to watch videos for almost 13 hours at 150 nits. Due to various problems, YouTube’s HDR playback was disabled immediately after it launched, but HDR video playback is now completely trouble-free. Our HDR test film lasts 3:47 hours at maximum brightness, which is 20 minutes less than the entry-level model. you can check our article on Macbook Pro 14-inch review Fast charging is not possible, not even with the 96W power supply. When the laptop is turned on, a complete recharge takes 1 hour and 43 minutes (30% after 21 minutes, 50% after 31 minutes, and 80% after 57 minutes). As we tested the new MacBook Pro, we noted that it only got somewhat warm, hardly anything to even notice. Our heat gun detected temperatures below 95 degrees Fahrenheit on its touchpad (85 degrees), keyboard, and underside after we streamed 15 minutes of Full HD film on it (both 89.5 degrees).
Configuration options
In terms of hardware and design, the new MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) is a laptop that aims to meet the needs of creative professionals who want powerful mobile hardware. As a result, this laptop is quite pricey. a hefty laptop in price. It costs $1,999 / £1,899 / AU$2,999 ($1,899 for education) for the MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) with an 8-Core CPU, 14-Core GPU M1 Pro with 16GB unified memory, and 512GB SSD storage, while the more potent 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU M1 Pro with 16GB Unified Memory and 1TB SSD storage costs a hefty $2,499 / £2,399 / AU$3,749. The price of the MacBook Pro 14-inch will increase if you want to customize it with more RAM and storage space. You may choose between 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of unified memory and up to 8TB of SSD storage. The M1 Pro chip can be upgraded to the significantly more potent M1 Max chip. With faster RAM (up to 64GB of it), graphics performance is increased by twofold. The M1 Max with a 10-core CPU and 24-core GPU will cost an additional $500, £500, or AU$750, while the M1 Max with a 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU will cost an additional $700, £700, or AU$1,050.
Conclusion
With the new MacBook Pro family, Apple has welcomed change, even at the expense of acknowledging its errors. It’s just unfortunate that it took so long because many customers, even long-time Mac users, were vocal in their criticism of the previous generations’ port and slot shortages as well as how the Touch Bar made the keyboard less usable. The business has now realized that a high-end laptop and a laptop for professionals are not the same thing. Although we had anticipated the notch to be a major issue, we eventually found it to be manageable. It’s still annoying, and you’ll need to pick wallpapers carefully to cover it up, but it’s not a deal-breaker. It’s not a problem if you operate with apps in full-screen mode the majority of the time. Hopefully Apple will make the menu bar in macOS invisible once more.
