LaptopApple91% by External Reviewers

Apple MacBook Pro 14

Laptop

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Product Overview

Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is the long-awaited redesign of Apple's popular premium laptop now powered by a proprietary M1 Pro or M1 Max SoC based on the ARM architecture. It is set eventually to replace the MacBook Pro 13 with M1 and includes a number of notable upgrades.

The most obvious change is the display. The new Liquid Retina XDR panels are now surrounded by much reduced bezels. Perhaps as a homage to its popular smartphones, Apple has decided to include a "camera cutout" top center of the display. In real-world use, this is less of a nuisance as the new Liquid Retina XDR display is taller than the 16:10 displays found in earlier MacBook Pros: Applications incompatible with the cutout can simple use the lower, 16:10 display area, while compatible applications gain more display area.

Much like the "million-dollar" Apple XDR display, the new Liquid Retina XDR panel is backlit with mini LEDs. It is able to reproduce rich color gamut with high color accuracy, and is exceptionally bright for an IPS display.

Another key upgrade is the inclusion of Apple's home-grown M1 Pro and M1 Max SoCs. Up to 64GB of high-bandwidth memory and up to 8TB of storage are supported, too. Together, these features make the MacBook Pro 14 (2021) one of the fastest ultra-portable laptops on the market today. That many power-hungry professional applications require Windows to run, however, remains the downside today.

Also worth mentioning are the use of six speakers around the laptop to provide an authentic 3D soundstage, something that Apple has been reluctant to do before. There is also a FHD webcam with large aperture that gives video call a quality bump.

Last but not least, full-size HDMI, SD card reader, and a redesigned MagSafe 3 power connection have made a return.

The MacBook Pro 14 is unveiled alongside the more powerful new MBP 16.

Ratings

What we found

Pros

Powerful M1 Pro & Max processors
Beautiful XDR (Mini-LED) screen
Great selection of ports, including three Thunderbolt 4 ports
Comfortable keyboard

Cons

Nothing in particular

What external reviewers found

External score 91%

Pros

Excellent performance
Good battery life
Good speakers

Cons

No SD card slot
No Thunderbolt 3 port
No Thunderbolt 3

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Specifications

[{"Ft":"Connectivity","Fn":"Ports","Fv":"3x Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 + 1x 3.5mm headphone jack + 1x HDMI + 1x SD card reader"},{"Ft":"Connectivity","Fn":"Wireless Connectivity","Fv":"WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Battery | Capacity","Fv":"70 Wh"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Camera | Front","Fv":"FHD (1080p)"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Colors","Fv":"Silver, Space Gray"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Form Factor","Fv":"Clamshell laptop computer"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Microphone","Fv":"Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Speakers","Fv":"Six speakers with force-cancelling woofers"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Size | Depth","Fv":"8.71 inches (22.12 cm)"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Size | Height","Fv":"0.61 inch (1.55 cm)"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Size | Width","Fv":"12.31 inches (31.26 cm)"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Weight","Fv":"3.5 pounds (1.6 kg)"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Brightness","Fv":"1000 nits max, 1600 nits peak"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Contrast Ratio","Fv":"1,000,000:1"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Display Backlight","Fv":"Full-Array LED (Mini LED)"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Display Color Depth","Fv":"10 bit (1.07B colors)"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Display Diagonal","Fv":"14.2 inch"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Display Type","Fv":"IPS, Liquid Retina XDR"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Gamut","Fv":"100% DCI-P3, True Tone technology"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Pixel Density","Fv":"254 ppi"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Refresh Rate","Fv":"120 Hz"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Resolution","Fv":"3024 x 1964"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Chipset","Fv":"Apple M1 Pro SoC, or M1 Max"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Fast Charging","Fv":"With 96W charger"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Graphics","Fv":"14-core, 16-core, 24-core, or 32-core GPU"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Keyboard Backlight","Fv":"Yes"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Operating System","Fv":"macOS Monterey"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Operating Temperature","Fv":"50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Processor","Fv":"8-core CPU with 6 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores, or 10-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Security","Fv":"Touch ID sensor"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Sensor","Fv":"Ambient Light Sensor"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Touchpad","Fv":"Force Touch trackpad"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Video Codecs","Fv":"Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Battery Life","Fv":"Up to 11 hours wireless web / Up to 17 hours Apple TV app movie playback"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Memory | Capacity","Fv":"16, 32, or 64 GB"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Memory | Type","Fv":"200GB/s memory bandwidth"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Power Supply","Fv":"67 or 96 W, with USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Storage","Fv":"512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD"},{"Ft":"Production","Fn":"Availability","Fv":"2021-10-26"},{"Ft":"Production","Fn":"Debut","Fv":"2021-10-18"}]

External Reviews

laptopmag^[1]

Reviewer score 95% (normalized by Neofiliac)

Reviewers from laptopmag have found:

Both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBooks support fast charging. With the 96W USB-C power adapter included with my review unit, the notebook can obtain a 50% charge in 30 minutes. The notebook’s design is lightweight and sleek with plenty of room for HDMI and an SDXC card reader.

Pros

Sleek, lightweight design
Excellent performance
Excellent battery life

Cons

No SD card slot
No Thunderbolt 3

macworld^[2]

Reviewer score 89% (normalized by Neofiliac)

Reviewers from macworld have found:

Apple has added Thunderbolt/USB 4 to the MacBook Pro, but the number of ports the company gives you seems puzzling. The decision to dump the Touch Bar is definitely one that will raise the ire of some MacBook Pro users. The MacBook Pro’s reputation as a top-performing laptop of status lost some of its its luster over the years.

Pros

Sleek, stylish design
Full-sized function keys
Excellent battery life

Cons

Touch Bar isn’t for everyone
No Thunderbolt 4

notebookcheck^[3]

Reviewer score 90% (normalized by Neofiliac)

Reviewers from notebookcheck have found:

The MacBook Pro 14 supports quick charge (both via MagSafe and USB-C), but not with the default 67 W power adapter. The keyboard changes are mainly of a cosmetic nature. Thunderbolt 4 meets this requirement, but HDMI 2.0 and Wi-Fi 6 with 80 MHz do not. An Ethernet port would have been nice as well, just like a 5G module.

Pros

High-quality aluminum case
Excellent performance
Good battery life
Good speakers

Cons

No Thunderbolt 4
No Thunderbolt 3

pcmag^[4]

Reviewer score 80% (normalized by Neofiliac)

Reviewers from pcmag have found:

All of our benchmarks run natively on Apple silicon and Intel silicon with the exception of the PugetBench test for simulating image editing in Adobe Photoshop. Both machines trounce the performance of the M1-equipped 13-incher, illustrating why you're better off avoiding that model, if you can afford to.

Pros

Sleek, lightweight design
High-quality keyboard and touchpad
Long battery life
Comfortable keyboard

Cons

M1 Max is more expensive than the 16-inch MacBook Pro
No Thunderbolt 3 port

techradar^[5]

Reviewer score 99% (normalized by Neofiliac)

Reviewers from techradar have found:

Apple has never made a gaming laptop, but the new MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch are the closest it's got thanks to the powerful M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. We finally have a 1080p webcam on a MacBook, which is a serious upgrade from the 720p hardware that Apple used to include. When it comes to recording audio, Apple has included what it calls are ‘studio-quality' microphones.

Pros

Powerful M1 Pro and M1 Max chips
Long battery life
Excellent webcam

Cons

No Thunderbolt 3

tomsguide^[6]

Reviewer score 92% (normalized by Neofiliac)

Reviewers from tomsguide have found:

The 14-inch MacBook Pro 2021 features amazing performance from the super-fast M1 Pro. It also has a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display that's both bright and speedy. You could have similarly thin bezels with the Dell XPS 13 with OLED, and they'd cost you a lot less.

Pros

Super-fast performance
Beautiful Liquid Retina display
Sleek design
Great battery life

Cons

No MagSafe
No Thunderbolt 3

Also Check

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References

^ MacBook Pro 14 review. [laptopmag].
^ 14-inch MacBook Pro (M1 Pro) review: Life just keeps getting better for Mac users. [macworld].
^ Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Laptop in Review: How much "Pro" do you get with the base model?. [notebookcheck].
^ Apple MacBook Pro 14-Inch Review. [pcmag].
^ MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) review. [techradar].
^ MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) review. [tomsguide].

Apple MacBook Pro 14

Product Gallery

Product Overview

Ratings

What we found

What external reviewers found

Your rating:

Price Comparison

Specifications

Related Products

External Reviews

laptopmag[1]

macworld[2]

notebookcheck[3]

pcmag[4]

techradar[5]

tomsguide[6]

Also Check

References

laptopmag^[1]

macworld^[2]

notebookcheck^[3]

pcmag^[4]

techradar^[5]

tomsguide^[6]