The MacBook Pro we’ve all been waiting for is here
Apple has finally unleashed its high-end professional laptop.
We’re now about halfway through Apple’s two-year transition away from Intel processors in the Mac to Apple Silicon, Apple’s term for the system-on-a-chip that it designs itself in-house. Last November, Apple shipped the first Apple Silicon Macs running on its then-new M1 processor: The MacBook Air, the Mac mini, and the 13-inch low-end MacBook Pro. This Spring, Apple added the completely redesigned 24-inch iMac to the M1 family. That completed the migration of all of Apple’s consumer-oriented Macs to Apple Silicon.
But what about Apple’s pro Macs? What would Apple call the pro version of its M1 processor? Would it still be a complete system-on-a-chip design, or would high-end Mac laptops feature a discrete GPU the way most of the rest of the industry does things? Yesterday Apple answered these questions for us. Here’s what you need to know:
M1 Pro and M1 Max
There was much debate over the last year about what Apple would call the pro version of its Apple Silicon chip. I went with “M2,” and most others were going with “M1X.” Instead, Apple released not one pro chip, but two: the M1 Pro and the M1 Max. And they are genuinely unique chips, both from each other, and from the M1. They have larger surface areas that afford room for more processing cores, more RAM, and more GPU cores. Whereas the M1 processor is an 8-core CPU with a 7 or 8-core GPU, the M1 Pro has either an 8 or 10-core CPU, a 16-core GPU, and either 16 GB or 32 GB of RAM. The M1 Max has either 24 or 32 GPU cores and supports up to 64 GB of RAM.
As with the M1 chip, the story of the M1 Pro and M1 Max is that of unification. A traditional computer logic board layout has the CPU, GPU, and memory as entirely separate components that communicate with each other via a data pipeline called a bus. Like a traffic jam on a real highway, moving lots of information along these buses can negatively impact speed. The M1/Pro/Max is a system-on-a-chip in which the CPU, GPU, and RAM are all part of one package, allowing a much faster flow of information.
These chips are also incredibly power efficient. Intel CPUs and the kind of discrete GPUs used throughout the industry generate a lot of heat and draw a lot of power. That means when they’re unplugged from the wall and running entirely off of the battery, most laptops are forced to power down these energy-hungry components, so you get significantly reduced performance when you’re mobile. But the M1/M1 Pro/M1 Max chips are able to maintain a high level of performance whether the Mac is plugged in or not. That means that your Apple Silicon Mac is going to stay cool, quiet, and with incredible battery life compared with other laptops on the market.
Embracing its inner truck
Years ago, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs used a “cars and trucks” metaphor to describe the emerging role he saw for the iPad and the Mac. The iPad would become the new family sedan: the computing device you used for most of your day-to-day tasks. The Mac then would become the truck: a computer that is purpose-built for specialized tasks where lots of raw power and versatility is required. The new MacBook Pro embraces the “truck” role more than ever. Thinness is no longer its main goal. It’s now thicker and heavier, with room for more powerful components. It also dispenses with the USB-C-only strategy. The new MacBook Pro has three USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, but brings back HDMI, SDXD, and the beloved MagSafe charging system. Gone is the Touch Bar, replaced by a traditional row of physical function keys. These had all been things that many pro users had been clamoring for. It took Apple five years to change course, but they did eventually demonstrate that they do listen to what these passionate pro users think about the MacBook Pro.
The display is greatly improved as well. It has thinner bezels, higher pixel density, and features the mini-LED display technology that debuted with the M1 iPad Pro this year. It also supports ProMotion, Apple’s name for its variable refresh rate display. It can soar up to 120 Hz when needed, which is great for smooth scrolling and fast-motion videos, but it can ramp down to save battery life when high refresh rates aren’t required. And while the previous generation smaller MacBook Pro came with a 13-inch display, the new model has a 14-inch display instead. The larger MacBook Pro’s display remains 16-inches. Happily, as far as I can tell, you can configure both the 14-inch and 16-inch models with the same internals, so if you prefer the 14-inch model’s more portable form factor, you can still get the M1 Max with 64 GB of RAM.
Probably the only real controversy about the design of the new MacBook Pro is that it introduced a “notch” in the top center of the display which houses the camera system, much like the iPhone has had since 2017. Unfortunately though this doesn’t mean the new MacBook Pro has Face ID. It’s still limited to Touch ID. By embracing the notch though, Apple was able to dramatically reduce the size of the bezel at the top of the display. I’m not bothered by the addition of the notch in principle, just like its presence on the iPhone doesn’t bother me. Of course hopefully future technological improvements will allow it to disappear completely, but I find it a reasonable design trade-off given the current limits of technology. I’ll withhold full judgement until I actually get my hands on one of these new MacBook Pros so I can see how it actually affects using macOS.
These new MacBook Pros are slightly more expensive than the previous generation models, but they offer more ports, a dramatically faster system-on-a-chip, and a much more advanced display. These actually represent a pretty amazing value, possibly the biggest generation-over-generation improvement ever seen in the Mac’s history. This is the MacBook Pro you’ve been waiting for, and I can’t wait to see what people do with them.