2021 MacBook Pro cheat sheet: Everything you need to know

The caller 2021 MacBook Pro successful 14" and 16" models. 

Image: Apple

Apple amazed everyone with the announcement of a 2nd autumn lawsuit astatine which it released respective caller products, but it was the 2021 MacBook Pro that stole the show. 

The caller MacBook Pro has each the accustomed upgrades you'd expect from a caller procreation of laptop: amended screen, improved memory, faster hard drives and the like. It's not those things that marque the caller MacBook Pro exciting, though.

It's the caller chips, the M1 Pro and M1 Max, wherever the caller MacBook Pro truly shines. The monolithic show boosts that some caller chips connection is definite to beryllium of involvement to professionals, and immoderate whitethorn reasonably question interrupting their upgrade rhythm with the merchandise of this beast of a machine. 

What is the 2021 MacBook Pro?

The previous update to the MacBook Pro was a large woody internally (with the summation of the Apple Silicon M1), but not overmuch changed that was noticeable to users. Complaints from erstwhile generations (like the Touch Bar and deficiency of ports) went nowhere, and Pro users were yet near wanting more.

Consider the 2021 MacBook Pro to beryllium Apple saying, "Yeah, we heard you."

The interaction barroom is gone, and successful its spot is simply a beautiful, full-sized enactment of relation keys. The caller Pro is down to lone 3 USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, but that's not a atrocious happening erstwhile you recognize what's returned: other, much utile ports that don't necessitate a dongle.

SEE: More must-read Apple coverage (TechRepublic connected Flipboard)

To the near of the keyboard sits a beauteous sight: A MagSafe jack, 2 USB-C ports, and a headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones. To the close is different USB-C port, on with an HDMI larboard and an SDXC Card slot. That's right: You tin yet enactment that dongle successful a table drawer to cod dust.

In summation to those changes, the caller procreation of MacBook Pro, which comes successful 16" and 14" models, is besides getting a large boost successful size acknowledgment to the simplification successful bezels. Compared to the erstwhile MacBook Pro model, the 2021 mentation has 24% thinner broadside bezels and a 60% thinner apical bezel. That large simplification connected apical comes with a tradeoff: There's a camera bump astatine the apical of the surface now. Luckily, Apple made bully usage of that bump and, similar connected newer iPhones, enactment the paper barroom speech the notch to supply much surface existent property for apps. 

The beforehand camera, which sits successful that notch, has received a immense boost to 1080p. It besides has doubly the low-light show and uses instrumentality learning to heighten ocular quality. A caller three-mic array with a 60% little sound level is besides included, arsenic is simply a six-speaker dependable strategy with caller woofers that Apple said supply 80% much bass and tin spell fractional an octave deeper than its erstwhile woofer design. 

Specs

The biggest caller feature: M1 Pro and M1 Max Apple Silicon chips

The M1 spot has been a successful endeavor for Apple, and the announcement of 2 caller versions of the M1 system-on-a-chip (SoC) is simply a glimpse into the aboriginal of Apple's silicon instauration capabilities that, if the inclination continues, volition beryllium impressive. 

The caller procreation of MacBook Pros comes with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, some of which stroke the archetypal M1 retired of the h2o successful presumption of performance. 

The M1 Pro, for example, has 3 times the representation bandwidth of the M1, with speeds susceptible of reaching 200 GB/s, Apple said. In addition, the M1 Pro supports up to 32 GB of unified memory, has doubly the fig of transistors, has a 10-core CPU with 70% faster show implicit the M1 and a 16-core GPU with doubly the graphics performance. 

SEE: How to migrate to a caller iPad, iPhone, oregon Mac (TechRepublic Premium)

Unsatisfied with making the M1 look obsolete, the M1 Max was besides created for this caller procreation of MacBook Pro. It improves connected the Pro by offering treble the representation bandwidth (400 GB/s), a 32-core GPU with 4 times the show of the M1 and up to 64 GB of unified memory.

For those not funny successful abstract numbers, Apple provides this adjuvant mode to visualize what these chips are susceptible of. The M1 Pro tin enactment up to 20 streams of 4K ProRes video playback, and the M1 Max tin grip up to 7 streams of 8K ProRes video. 

Apple calls the caller MacBook Pros "supercharged." Absent a hands-on, the specs (if accurate) look to enactment that claim. 

Is the 2021 MacBook Pro a bully laptop for professionals?

With each caller laptop, smartphone and tablet released the question is the same: Are the caller features and show upgrades worthy the outgo of upgrading? With each that Apple has brought to the caller MacBook Pro successful presumption of plan changes and features there's a compelling lawsuit to beryllium made for upgrading, peculiarly if you're a nonrecreational idiosyncratic handicapped by the drawbacks of erstwhile models, similar a deficiency of ports.

SEE: 10 indispensable apps and utilities for your Mac (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Mikako Kitagawa, probe manager astatine Gartner, echoes those sentiments. "These products are precise bully for the originative nonrecreational who has been waiting for an M1 device," Kitagawa said. She besides said that the show boost of the caller M1 chips was impressive, and mightiness adjacent beryllium a crushed for those who presently ain an M1 MacBook to bargain the latest Pro models regardless.

It isn't conscionable originative professionals who tin marque bully usage of the caller MacBook Pros with the M1 Pro and M1 Max: Anyone who needs precocious show computing successful a tiny bundle volition find a bully acceptable successful the 2021 MacBook Pro, Kitagawa said. 

Much of the determination to upgrade whitethorn travel down to price, and these machines (like erstwhile MacBook Pro models earlier them) aren't cheap. The 14" exemplary starts astatine $1,999 and the 16" astatine $2,499, making them a hefty purchase, particularly if you're inactive paying disconnected past year's M1 MacBook Pro. 

Still, the show boosts that Apple is advertizing are beauteous caput blowing, and could unfastened up a caller satellite of portable high-performance computing for professionals of each stripes, beryllium they information analysts oregon graphic designers.

When volition the 2021 MacBook Pro beryllium available?

Interested parties tin place an bid for a caller MacBook Pro now, and the machines volition beryllium mostly disposable starting October 26, 2021. 

Two colors are available, Silver and Space Grey, and some models tin enactment the M1 Pro and M1 Max, arsenic good arsenic having the aforesaid caller features and improvements. You're escaped to prime the features, with the lone existent quality being however ample a surface you want.