Review: the 14-inch MacBook Pro (M1 Pro)
Let's go back to the fall of 2020, remember this shock that shook the tech industry? It was Apple's M1 making its debut. It amazed the Mac world, but also the PC world with its amazing performance.
After the debut of the M1, the question was how Apple was going to be able to sustain such a successful launch. Well, here we are already a year later, Apple has once again gone “boom”, this one maybe even bigger. This time it's two SoCs, M1 Pro and M1 Max, and they shatter the M1. After spending some time with the M14 Pro-equipped 1-inch MacBook Pro, it's clear that Apple is on a roll with its silicon. And, the M1 Pro is simply an amazing chip.
It's not just a new MacBook Pro with a new chip. Indeed, we can already tell you that this portable Apple has much more to offer, both in terms of design and hardware, which has proven to be powerful. Given its results, this MacBook Pro is really designed for professionals who demand the most from their hardware.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro we tested has the following specs:
- 10-core CPU (eight performance and two efficiency cores).
- 32 GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 200 GB memory bandwidth
- 16-core neural motor
- 16-core GPU
- 1 TB SSD
This laptop is a custom configuration of the $2 model with 749GB of RAM, down from 32GB, bringing the price to $16.
Design
Upon discovering the MacBook Pro, the first word that came to mind was “magnificent”. The 100% recycled aluminum casing gives the impression of being covered with a silky “coating”. When closed, you notice that the edges are rounded. It's a stark contrast to the design of its predecessor, as Apple paid attention to even the smallest details.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro measures 31,26 x 22,12 x 1,55 cm, and weighs 1,6 kg. It's much stronger than the 13-inch model. Also, compared to the older 15-inch MacBook Pro, the 14-inch is much smaller.
Displays and Signage
Apple's laptops lagged the rest of the industry when it came to screens, but it's finally catching up with the MacBook Pro. The latter embeds many technologies that allow it to stand out, starting with ProMotion, a feature that varies the refresh rate depending on what is happening on the screen.
It can reach a maximum frequency of 120 Hz (compared to 60 Hz on all other Apple laptops). In our experience, scrolling is smooth, as is on-screen movement. Plus, lower refresh rates automatically take over when less is happening on screen, helping to conserve battery life.
Then there's the excellent color and image quality. The Liquid Retina XDR display uses mini-LED technology and is capable of reaching 1 nits of brightness at its peak and 600 nits of brightness when displaying HDR content. Standard content is the same as the Intel 1-inch MacBook Pro and M000 Pro, with 13 nits of brightness, but detail is amazing, especially in shadows and highlights, and lighting looks even across the screen. screen. It's the best screen ever installed on a MacBook, by far.
The notch
The MacBook Pro has a notable new feature that stands out when you open the laptop: a notch, similar to the iPhone.
Apple has made the edges of the computer very thin in order to provide the user with as much space as possible. The notch accommodates the FaceTime 1080p camera. Importantly, it doesn't encroach on the screen real estate, you still have a 16:10 screen, so the notch area is "extra" space compared to the old Macbook Pro.
The menu appears in the notch by default, but there is an option to place it below the notch in fullscreen mode. When enabled, the space around the notch is blacked out, making the edges look like the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
With the notch in play, menus will show up on the other side of the notch when needed, but at the expense of your menu bar icons, they will be temporarily removed and replaced when space is obtained by changing or quitting an application.
This behavior has always existed in macOS, but it was rarely a problem since there aren't many apps with menu items that stretch that far. But now that the notch is taking up valuable menu bar space, it's likely to happen more frequently.
This suddenly makes the Control Center a more valuable item. The latter can be used to access settings (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Volume) that may be unavailable, in a cluttered menu bar.
All this to say that the notch stands out. Since iPhone users are used to this notch, accommodating that of the MacBook Pro most likely won't be a problem. However, overloaded menu bars and items are going to be a big problem for a lot of users.
Despite having a notch as wide as the iPhone, the MacBook Pro does not have Face ID. We were hoping these high-end MacBook Pros would have it, but it still doesn't. For now, the MacBook Pro has the iMac M1's new Touch ID sensor and it works well.
FaceTime camera
MacBook Pros have long had an outdated 720p camera that produced poor image quality. On the MacBook Pro, the front camera has finally been upgraded, and it gets the same 1080p camera as the 24-inch iMac, which has a new lens, wider aperture, and new sensor. 'picture. It's a welcome change and besides the image quality is much better than the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
However, it's still not a camera worthy of a pro laptop. At such prices, we should be getting more than a minimal camera, and Apple has one: the iPad's 12MP FaceTime HD Ultra Wide Camera, with a 122-degree field of view, ƒ /2,4, HDR for photos, 1080p HD video recording and, most importantly, support for Center Stage, Apple's technology that keeps you in the center of the frame if you move.
It's the one big thing missing from the new MacBook Pro. In these times when we are engaging in virtual meetings and get-togethers more than ever, and adding the 12MP FaceTime camera to the MacBook Pro would give business users a top-notch video conferencing experience. The 1080p camera isn't a deal breaker and is certainly better than the 720p it replaces, but it absolutely could be better.
performances
The laptop we tested has a 1-core M10 Pro processor, 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and memory bandwidth 200 GB, with a 1 TB SSD, it costs €3.
We compared it to the performance of the following Macs:
- The 16-inch MacBook Pro with a 9GHz 8-core Core i2,4 processor from Intel, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, an AMD Radeon Pro 5500M discrete GPU with 8GB of GDDR6 video memory, and a 2TB SSD.
- The 13-inch MacBook Pro with an 1-core M8, 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, an 8-core GPU and a 256GB SSD.
- The 24-inch M1 8-core Mac, 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, an 8-core GPU and a 512GB SSD.
14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro Geekbench 5
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With Geekbench 5, the M1 Pro multi-core processor showed nearly a 65% improvement over the M1 Macs. This is not far from the 70% announced by Apple. And the M1 Pro is 70% faster than the 16 2019-inch MacBook Pro (Intel's 9GHz 8-core Core i2,4).
Geekbench 5's single-core CPU test revealed nothing surprising, with the M1 Pro and M1 showing the same results. The M1 Pro (and the M1) is 39% better than Intel's 9GHz Core i2,4 CPU.
14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro Cinebench R23
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We see more power from the M1 Pro in our Cinebench R23 results, a 60% improvement over the M1 in the multi-core test. Cinebench single-core results, like Geekbench single-core CPU results were basically the same on Silicon Macs.
14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro Blackmagic Disk Test
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Apple advertises read speeds of 7,4 GB/s with the SSD in the new MacBook Pro, which is more than double the 3,3 GB/s they advertise with the SSDs in the Mac M1s. We didn't get those numbers when testing with Blackmagic's Disk Speed Test with the 1TB SSD, but we saw an improvement of over 100% compared to the M1 Pro during playbacks. The M1 Pro's SSD was 126% faster than the 16 Intel 2019-inch MacBook Pro's SSD.
With the AmorphousDiskMark benchmark test on the M1 and M1 Pro, the latter came close to Apple's specs, with a read of 6,77 GB/s. The M1 posted a read rate of 2,4 GB/s.
14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro Handbrake 1.4
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This test involved converting a 4K video to 1080p. Using the H.265 x265 setting, the M1 Pro showed a 155% speed improvement over the M1 and a 91% improvement over the 16 Intel 2019-inch MacBook Pro. With the H.265 VideoToolbox setting, the M1 Pro and the M1 show quite similar performance.
Graphics performance
The M1 Pro takes graphics performance much more seriously than the M1. Our loaner MacBook's GPU has 16 cores, double that of the M1.
14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro Videogame benchmarks
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Rise of the Tomb Raider and Civilization VI are older games made for Intel, but the M1 Pro is a huge improvement over the M1, and there's no reason to use lower graphics settings. You can choose high settings and enjoy games as they are meant to be.
Compared to the 5500GB AMD Radeon Pro 8M discrete GPU in the Intel 16-inch MacBook Pro, the M1 Pro's GPU either beat it or kept up with it. It's impressive, whereas, let's remember, it's the standard model of Apple's new chips. The M1 Max is available with a 24 or 32 core GPU, which is up to 4 times faster than the M1.
14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro Geekbench 5 Compute
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We also used the Compute test in Geekbench 5, which evaluates GPU performance using OpenCL or Metal APIs. Since the M1 Pro has twice as many GPU cores as the M1, we saw twice the performance. Compared to the 5500GB AMD Radeon Pro 8M GPU in the Intel 16-inch MacBook Pro, the M16 Pro's 1-core GPU showed a 69% improvement in Metal and 15% improvement in OpenCL.
In addition to the tests mentioned above, we performed graphics to compare the M1 and the M1 Pro. Predictably, the M1 Pro topped the M1, but it's interesting to see by how much. Unless otherwise stated, these benchmarks are not native to the M1 and run with Rosetta.
- 3DMark Wild Life is actually an iOS app (which makes it native to Apple's silicon), and you can run iOS apps on Apple's silicon Macs. This graphical test uses Apple's Metal API. The M1 Pro is 249% more powerful compared to the M1. See the results.
- BasemarkGPU uses a "game scene" and can be configured to run the Metal API. The M1 Pro's score was more than 2,5 times higher than the M1's. See the results.
- Blender Benchmark tests the time it takes to render a 3D image. The M1 Pro outperformed the M1 by 185%. See the results.
- Corona Benchmark is a 3D rendering test. The M1 Pro was 140% faster than the M1. See the results.
- V-Ray 5 Benchmark uses the V-Ray rendering engine with two tests. In the V‑Ray 5 CPU test, the results of the M1 Pro show a 194% improvement compared to the M1. In the V-Ray 5 GPU CUDA test, the M1 Pro had a 272% increase over its predecessor. See the results.
AC adapter and battery
MagSafe makes a welcome return to the MacBook Pro after four years. This is a connector that magnetically attaches to the power adapter port. It's a safety device that we really missed.
Another positive point: the included USB-C to MagSafe cable is braided, which makes it a little more resistant. Try not to lose that MagSafe cable. If you don't want to use MagSafe, then opt for the USB-C charging cable and charge the battery via one of the Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports.
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro both support a new fast-charging feature, allowing the battery to go from zero to 50 percent in 30 minutes. However, fast charging on the 14-inch requires the 96W power adapter, which is included in the standard $2 configuration, but not the $749 model. For the 2-inch, fast charging can be done via MagSafe or Thunderbolt port, but on the 249-inch, you're limited to MagSafe.
With the 14-inch MacBook Pro battery nearing the end of its charge, it filled to exactly 50% after 30 minutes using either the included 96W power adapter and MagSafe, or a USB-C port. We also tried charging the battery to 27% for 30 minutes and hit 72%, not quite a 50% improvement, but close. Charging begins to slow after a certain point to help maintain overall battery health.
About autonomy, Apple announces 17 hours of autonomy while watching a 1080p video via Apple TV. This is exactly what we achieved by looping a full-screen video until the battery ran out. For general use, you'll have no problem lasting all day on this single charge.
Ports
Apple added Thunderbolt/USB 4 to the MacBook Pro, but the number of ports the company gives you seems confusing. The 14-inch and 16-inch models both include three ports, which for the 14-inch model is one port more than the 1-inch MacBook Pro M13. But a lot of the audience this laptop is aimed at are graphics and video professionals, and those people use multiple screens and other gear. These ports will fill up quickly, which means you'll need to resort to a Thunderbolt hub. We'll never see a laptop with six Thunderbolt/USB-C ports, but four would have been more convenient, even with MagSafe as a charging option.
The SDXC slot is another important feature for content professionals who want an easy way to transfer work from their hardware. High-end cameras, audio recorders and other devices use SDXC cards, and it is convenient to take the card out of the device and insert it to the MacBook Pro.
Apple now offers a full-size HDMI 2.0 port, which might seem odd for high-end professional work, but this port is important for people who give presentations often. You can plug in a large external display without needing an adapter, and that's one less thing to worry about when you're on the go. The HDMI 2.1 port would be better for the future, but it'll probably be a few years before high-end 4K 120Hz displays are affordable enough to be mainstream.
Apple also includes a headphone jack, and as part of its policy to give professionals what they need, the company has improved the jack, so that it can support high-impedance headphones. Which is quite appreciable.
The port we were expecting was Ethernet like the one found on the 24-inch iMac.
Absence de Touch Bar
The decision to ditch the Touch Bar is sure to annoy some MacBook Pro users. Apple preferred to replace Touch Bar with full-size function keys, not the half-height ones found on the MacBook Air. Having full size function keys is a boon for business users who use these keys in their applications. With the Touch Bar, you could switch it to function key mode, but the on-screen function buttons weren't tangible and the lack of feedback was unsatisfactory. This change is therefore welcome!
The Touch Bar hasn't completely disappeared from Apple's lineup, however. It's still part of the M13 1-inch MacBook Pro, so if your devotion to the Touch Bar trumps everything else then you can pick one up before it sells out. Apple hasn't made any announcements, but don't be surprised if the 13-inch MacBook Pro eventually disappears.
Price and availability
The 14-inch MacBook Pro, Apple M1 Pro chip with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine, 32 GB of unified memory and a 1 TB SSD, is a device with multiple advantages, and signing the return of features both missed.
It is marketed at €2 for its basic version and at €249 for the one including 2 GB of RAM. If you want to add additional storage or even more generous RAM, then plan to invest 749 € or 16 € more respectively.
This MacBook Pro is on sale at Apple Spain, but also at other official retailers such as Amazon (with 16 GB of RAM), La Fnac, Darty, Boulanger, Cdiscount, LDLC, all with 16 GB of RAM.
Don't forget that Black Friday is a golden opportunity to take advantage of significant discounts. This year, it will take place on November 26, it could be that the 14-inch MacBook Pro could benefit from a nice discount, wait a few more weeks. Also, do not hesitate to regularly consult our good Apple plans and our page dedicated to bargains.
Conclusion
The MacBook Pro's reputation as a performance laptop has lost some of its shine over the years. Recent updates were incremental and even the very latest 16-inch model was in dire need of an overhaul. This is no longer a problem.
According to an Apple computer engineer, this new MacBook Pro has been in the works since 2019, and judging by its looks, this laptop has been given a lot of thought. Starting with the design, with its elegant look and robustness. And, when you get to work, MacBook Pro responds without hesitation, as if it knows what you want to do and how fast you want to do it.
Make no mistake, the new MacBook Pro is a truly satisfying laptop, and it can, without hesitation, come highly recommended.
This article is adapted from the test by Roman Loyola and published on our sister site Macworld.com.
