New Apple MacBooks Pro 14/16: faster, longer runtime, more memory and with Liquid Retina XDR mini LE

[23:39 Mon,18.October 2021 by Thomas Richter]

Along with the two new high-end versions M1 Pro and M1 Max of its SoCs, Apple has introduced matching new MacBook Pro 14" and 16" models. The innovations of the two MacBook Pros include up to 4x faster performance compared to the M1, up to 64 GB of storage, a much improved battery life, an extremely good mini-LED Retina XDR display as well as an HDMI interface, an SDXC card reader and a Magsafe charging port again. Rather secretly, the Touch Bar has been omitted. Apple has now integrated a dedicated ProRes de/encoder in the new M1 chips especially for professional work with video.

Apple MacBooks Pro 14 and 16

New M1 Pro and M1 Max SoCs enable improved performance and features

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The core enhanced capabilities of the new MacBook Pros rely on the two new M1 versions, which are SoCs that represent their hollow-integrated heart that includes the CPU, GPU, memory, and other elements such as a media, neural, and display engine, as well as I/O and security components.

Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max

For example, the Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max SoCs (system-on-a-chip), manufactured in 5 nanometer technology, for the first time have up to 10 CPU ( eight high-performance cores as well as two high-efficiency cores) and 32 GPU cores as well as a maximum unified (CPU/GPU) memory of 64 GB (for comparison: the M1 could be equipped with a maximum of 16 GB). The GPU in the M1 Pro is up to 2 times faster than the M1, the CPU up to 70%, while the GPU in the M1 Max is up to 4 times faster than the M1, according to Apple. Also improved over the previous M1 model is the memory bandwidth (M1: 68.25GB/s), which is 200GB/s in the M1 Pro and up to 400GB/s in the M1 Max.

Apple MacBooks Pro 16

Energy efficiency and battery life

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The new M1 Socs also enable battery runtimes that surpass all previous Macs - for example, a single charge on the new MacBook Pro 14 is enough for up to 17 hours of video playback - seven hours more than the previous model - and as much as 21 hours on the 16-inch model. Remarkably, the new models do not lose performance when not plugged in. Thus, the MacBook Pro delivers the same level of performance regardless of whether it is plugged in or using the battery.

For the first time with Retina XDR Display

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For the first time, the new MacBook Pros feature a mini-LED technology-based 10-bit Retina XDR display, which is also used in the iPad Pro. This delivers a sustained brightness of up to 1,000 nits across the entire screen size, as well as a peak brightness of 1,600 nits, a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 and supports the professional DCI-P3 color space. Also used is ProMotion technology, familiar from Apple&s latest iPhone and iPad models, which enables adaptive refresh rates of up to 120 Hz and automatically adjusts the refresh rate to match the movement of the screen content.

Final Cut Pro

In video editing, it is also possible to set a refresh rate that is optimal for editing the material in question. Both models are equipped with a larger display than the previous generation - the 16-inch model offers a large 16.2" display with 7.7 million pixels, the 14-inch model offers with an active area of 14.2".

Interfaces

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The new MacBook Pros offer more connectivity options than any Mac notebook has ever had. Both models feature three Thunderbolt 4 ports for connecting high-speed peripherals, an SDXC card slot, an HDMI port, and an improved headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones. MagSafe 3 brings the MagSafe connector back to the MacBook Pro in place of USB-C. MagSafe 3 can deliver more power than ever before, making it easier to plug in a charging cable while protecting the MacBook Pro from accidents caused by tripping over cables.

External monitors on MacBook Pro with M1 Max.

In addition, for the first time, there is a fast charging function for the Mac that charges the system by up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. Models with the M1 Pro can now connect up to two Pro Display XDR, via M1 Max up to three Pro Display XDR as well as a 4K TV. For wireless connectivity, the MacBook Pro also offers WLAN 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

Interfaces

Prices and availability

The new MacBook Pro models with M1 Pro and M1 Max are available for order now. They will begin shipping on Tuesday, October 26 and will be available at select Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Prices for the new 14-inch MacBook Pro start at ,249, and the 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at ,749 - each model can be configured with the M1 Pro or M1 Max, as well as varying amounts of RAM (up to 64GB) and SSD storage (up to 8TB). In the maximum configuration, the MacBook Pro 16 costs 6,839 Euros. It will be interesting to see which programs in the field of video editing know how to use the possibility of up to 64 (minus X) GB of shared CPU/GPU memory as well as the ProRes en/decoder for clear performance controls.

more infos at bei www.apple.com

deutsche Version dieser Seite: Neue Apple MacBooks Pro 14/16: schneller, heller, mehr Speicher, längere Laufzeit,