Apple last month unveiled the completely reimagined MacBook Pro powered by the all-new M1 Pro and M1 Max and the reviews are rolling in. Available in 14- and 16-inch models, MacBook Pro delivers groundbreaking processing, graphics, and machine learning (ML) performance whether running on battery or plugged in, as well as amazing battery life — enabling workflows previously unimaginable on a notebook.
The new MacBook Pro also features a stunning Liquid Retina XDR display, a wide range of ports for advanced connectivity, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, and the best audio system in a notebook. Combined with macOS Monterey, which is engineered down to its core to take full advantage of M1 Pro and M1 Max, the user experience is simply unrivaled. Shattering the limits of what a notebook can do, MacBook Pro is designed for developers, photographers, filmmakers, 3D artists, scientists, music producers, and anyone who wants the world’s best notebook.
The new laptop also has the most advanced CPU, GPU, and NPU ever included in a consumer laptop and display technology that has never been seen in mainstream consumer products.
Apple claims it can achieve 1,600 nits of peak brightness on highlights, or 1,000 nits of sustained full-screen brightness. That’s frankly nuts for a laptop screen; it’s comparable to what we see in the most expensive HDR television sets. This is a huge deal for people in certain fields who want to do things like HDR color grading on the go, which hasn’t really been possible without impractical and ludicrously expensive mobile workstations. For the rest of us, it means higher brightness to fight the sunlight or overhead lights and outstanding contrast and highlights in HDR video content like movies and TV shows…
In short, you can expect both the M1 Pro and the M1 Max to deliver monster performance in creative applications. For more on that, stay tuned in the coming weeks—we will publish a direct comparison between the first iteration of the last MacBook Pro design (the 2016 Touch Bar 15-inch model) and the new one, including video encoding and Xcode benchmarks…
This is without question the best MacBook Pro yet released. Yes, the screen notch is a little awkward, and we would have liked to see more future-proofed ports, but the performance and screen are what a MacBook Pro is all about, and the new models raise the bar far beyond where it was not long ago.
For the most part, Apple has reverted all the worst changes the MacBook Pro line has seen over the past few years while keeping the best ones and making almost universally good new tweaks.
MacDailyNews Take: Intentionally or not, likely the latter, Apple is practicing a bit of wabi-sabi with that notch.
Regardless, the objective MacBook Pro reviews are universally gushing, thanks to the M1 Pro, M1 Max, mini-LED display, and the complement of ports, including MagSafe!
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Been using mine since Monday, I love it!