Apple MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max unveiled

Apple presented the new generation of the MacBook Pro at an event. The new version of the notebook features the company’s latest chips, the M1 Pro and M1 Max, which result in a significant performance increase. We have summarized all information about the Apple MacBook Pro 2021.

Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max with more power

Inside the MacBook Pro works the latest generation of the specially developed CPUs M1, which go by the names M1 Pro and M1 Max and differ in terms of performance. The M1 Pro comes with 33.7 billion transistors and thus offers more than twice as many wirings as the previous M1 (16 billion).

The M1 Max even increases significantly and comes with 57 billion transistors. Apple combines eight high-performance (Firestorm) and two energy efficiency cores (Icestorm) here. The high-performance cores each offer a 192 kB L1 instruction cache and a 128 kB L1 data cache. The L2 cache is expanded from 12 to 24 MB. The energy-efficient cores each use 128 kB instruction and 64 kB data L1 caches, while the L2 cache is 4 MB for two cores.

Up to 32 GB LPDDR5 RAM is used, which has a memory bandwidth of 200 GB/s via a 256 bit wide memory interface. The integrated GPU with 16 cores is also twice as big as in the case of the previous M1. Overall, the M1 Pro in the MacBook Pro thus comes to 5.2 TFLOPS performance (compared to 2.6 TFLOPS in the M1).

In the new M1 Max, the GPU has been doubled once again with 16 cores. Here we arrive at 4,096 execution units and a computing power of 10.4 TFLOPS. In addition, all new Apple M1 chips have a Thunderbolt 4 controller, which increases the connectivity.

Apple MacBook Pro 2021: 21h battery life and 120 Hz mini LED display

The “most powerful MacBook Pro ever” will be offered with either a 14-inch or 16-inch display. Apple still relies on the familiar design language and uses a unibody case made of aluminum, optionally in the colors space gray or silver.

However, a lot has changed under the hood. The 14-inch variant of the MacBook Pro uses the M1 Pro chip and combines an 8-core CPU with a 14-core GPU. Alternatively, a variant with 10 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores is available.

The M1 Max, reserved exclusively for the 16-inch variant, relies on the combination of a 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU, which is even supposed to be able to take on dedicated high-end graphics chips according to Apple. In order to cope with this performance, Apple installs an optimized cooling system, where two large fans can transport 50 more air than the predecessor, but are quieter at the same time.

Apple MacBook Pro 2021: 21h battery life and 120 Hz mini LED display

.
The “most powerful MacBook Pro ever” will be offered with either a 14-inch or 16-inch display. Apple continues to rely on the familiar design language and uses a unibody case made of aluminum, optionally in the colors space gray or silver.

However, a lot has changed under the hood. The 14-inch variant of the MacBook Pro uses the M1 Pro chip and combines an 8-core CPU with a 14-core GPU. Alternatively, a variant with 10 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores is available.

The M1 Max, reserved exclusively for the 16-inch variant, relies on the combination of a 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU, which is even supposed to be able to take on dedicated high-end graphics chips according to Apple. In order to cope with this power, Apple installs an optimized cooling system, where two large fans can transport 50 more air than the predecessor, but are quieter at the same time.

Improved battery life and display in MacBook Pro

Despite tremendous added performance, Apple promises much better battery life in the new MacBook Pro. For example, the 14-inch model is said to achieve 17 hours of video playback on a single charge. The 16-inch MacBook Pro is even supposed to reach 21 hours.

The 120 Hz fast ProMotion display has also been revised; Apple calls this a “Liquid Retina XDR display”. The frame rate dynamically adapts to the content on the screen. Thanks to mini-LED backlighting with thousands of LEDs, the MacBook Pro achieves a brightness of up to 1,000 nits on the entire screen or a peak brightness of 1,600 nits when displaying HDR content.

MacBook Pro comes with notch

The most controversial innovation of the Apple MacBook Pro, however, concerns the built-in notch in the display, which the notebook has inherited from the current iPhone models. According to Apple, this is necessary to reduce the screen’s edges to 3.5 millimeters on three sides and to improve the webcam at the same time by installing a larger sensor.

It has a resolution of 1,080p and offers twice as much brightness at the same time. Acoustically, the notebook relies on a total of six speakers, which are made up of four woofers (80 percent more bass performance than the predecessor) and four tweeters with Spatial Audio Support. Voice recordings are possible with the help of the microphones, which offer a “studio quality” according to the manufacturer.

The new Apple MacBook Pro also offers more in terms of ports, with three Thunderbolt ports (USB-C), an SD card reader, a headphone jack and a MagSafe charger. The M1 Pro also allows connecting a maximum of two 6K displays, while the M1 Max even supports three 6K displays and an additional 4K display.

Prices and Availability

The new Apple MacBook Pro 2021 is now available for pre-order directly from Apple. Delivery is scheduled to start on October 26. The 14-inch notebook with 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD starts at 2,249 Euros. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with more CPU and GPU cores, as well as 1 TB of SSD storage, is priced at 2,749 euros.

The 16-inch variant starts at 2,749 euros, while the model with M1 Max chip, 32 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD is available from 3,849 euros. In the top configuration with 64 GB RAM, 8 TB SSD storage and with the full software package consisting of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, the Apple MacBook Pro 2021 with M1 Max chip comes in at a whopping 7,338.98 Euros.