It’s been five years since Apple released a totally redesigned version of the MacBook Pro, a laptop that opened the company up to years of criticism for everything from its flawed keyboard design and the Touch Bar to its lack of any ports besides USB-C. But as expected, Apple is giving the MacBook Pro a complete do-over again, and it sounds like it’ll be an improvement in a number of areas over the models it replaces.
The laptops come in 14.2- and 16.2-inch models, with increased resolutions over the earlier models. The 14-inch model features a 3,024 x 1,964 resolution. ProMotion high refresh rate is on board here, too, up to 120Hz. But, the laptops have a camera notch, just like the iPhone, something that was just rumored over the weekend. The notch is about the size of the menu bar, so while it’s a bit strange it still offers way more screen real estate than before. And, both laptops are using mini LED technology, similar to what’s in the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Naturally, Apple’s latest laptops are using the company’s own custom silicon — this time, it’s the M1 Pro. As the rumors predicted, it’s a 5-nanometer, 10-core chip with eight high-performance cores and two efficiency cores. It’s 70 percent faster than the M1, and has one 16 graphics cores. Apple also announced an M1 Max, which has twice the memory bandwidth as the M1 Pro (400GB/s), and it also has 32 graphics cores. The M1 Max also supports up to 64GB memory, a huge improvement over the 16GB of memory that was supported by the M1.
When it comes to ports, those of us out there who miss the plentiful options on older MacBooks should be pretty happy here. The new MacBook Pro unsurprisingly features three USB-C / Thunderbolt ports, but it also brings back an HDMI port and SD card slot, two much-missed options. There aren’t any USB-A ports here, but the SD card slot and HDMI port should definitely reduce the number of dongles or specific cords MacBook Pro owners need.
Another old friend from MacBooks past is making a return. Apple has implemented a new version of its MagSafe connector, which it used on its laptops for years prior to 2016. It’s different from the old connector, so you won’t be able to bust out a charger from years past and expect it to work, unfortunately. That said, you can still charge via USB-C if that’s your jam.
This story is developing. Follow all of the news from Apple’s Mac event right here.
