Apple MacBook Pro 14″ (Late 2021) notebook review powered by the Apple M1 Pro SoC

The Apple MacBook Pro 2021 (14in) is a rather interesting new laptop. First of all, it impresses by having a new M1 Pro processor, superior to the previous M1. The laptop also features the Liquid Retina XDR display with improved contrast and refresh rate.

The new device gets the legendary MagSafe charging. The company has also narrowed down the frame of the screen and there is no touch pad. The laptop has an HDMI port and SD card reader.

MacBook 14 design

In its new design, the company decided to remove the tapered lid for a flat top. There’s a branded engraving on the bottom. The front bezels have also been reduced, to around 0.1 inch instead of 0.3 and 0.5. The creators have enlarged the ventilation and sound holes on either side of the laptop.

At the top of the display, there is a black space right in the centre. It resembles the famous “fringes” in the iPhone, where the camera is located. The slimmer front panels make moving the menus to the free space much more convenient. The notch itself cleverly slides down when required.

The novelty features dimensions of 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches and a weight of 3.5 pounds. Its thickness is 1.55 cm, which is slightly less than its predecessor. Get the MacBook Pro 2021 in the traditional colours of silver and Space Gray.

Ergonomics and display

On the left side, there’s a MagSafe port for charging the device. There are two reversible USB-C Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports and a headphone jack. The latter has been upgraded to allow the connection of devices that function at a certain power. On the right-hand side is another Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI output and an SD card reader. The latter features UHS-II format support.

The Retina XDR (3024×1964 pixels, 254ppi) mini LED backlit display provides an incredible experience as it creates a more vibrant and vivid image. Also impressive is the ProMotion 120Hz refresh rate, which delivers a smoother viewing experience. The display reproduces 109.6% of the sRGB gamut. It is very bright, producing up to 487.8 nits of light.

The inner workings

In the Geekbench multi-core test, which is conducted to determine the performance parameter of the devices, the new MacBook Pro managed to score 12,477 points. This is an incredible result that was made possible by decent “stuffing”. The model tested was a model equipped with a 10-core M1 Pro and 32GB of RAM.

The 14-inch new MacBook Pro laptop delivered impressive all-day performance. It functioned for just over 14 hours. Battery life was accompanied by web browsing at a brightness setting of 150 nits. The battery capacity is 70Wh. 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 support are present. RAM and internal storage range from 16GB to 64GB and 512GB to 8TB respectively.