With all the COVID pandemic disruptions on our regular lives, the year – like last year – has been somewhat rough. Thankfully, the storm seems to be subsiding with the mass vaccine drive happening across the globe. If you work a lot on your computer, you probably had to push through the thick of it with a lot of screentime on your working/gaming rig. It sure made observing all the Coronavirus-induced public safety rules like staying at home more tolerable.
For that reason, perhaps it is time to reward yourself with a new, beefier, and more monstrous rig. Apple certainly seems to think so, and boy have they got an upgrade for you; you know the Cupertino company is not playing around when it comes to computing power.
Apple’s proprietary M1 chips run so efficiently and don’t overheat that the M1 laptops come without any cooling fans. They also give less beating to the battery that you can work on your laptop for up to 20 hours on a single charge. Think of it as a smartphone, but on a bigger screen with keyboards, a touchpad, and all. No, they do all that without compromising on the CPU/GPU power and torque. They execute heavy tasks just as swiftly as the Intel CPUs in the high-end class, if not faster.
The MacBook Pro unveiled at the Apple Event
The Displays
The newest members of the MacBook Pro (MBP) family come in two screen sizes; 14- and 16-inch variants. The last time Apple made a 14-inched laptop was in 2005; the iBook G4.
Apple describes the displays as Liquid Retina XDR, “the best display ever in a notebook” featuring “Extreme Dynamic Range and a million to one contrast ratio,” giving you spectacular “highlights, incredible detail in shadows, and vibrant, true-to-life colors.”
The display has an additional feature dubbed ProMotion. A first for any MacBook and improve how things change on the display for a better scrolling and responsive superfluid gaming experience. The display refresh rate hits as high as 120Hz, with the screen adjusting to match the content’s movement.
The 16-inch model has a 3456×2234 resolution, while the 14-inch model has a 3024×1964 resolution. Both screens are pretty bright, lighting up at 1,000 nits on sustained brightness and hitting 1,600 nits at peak performance.
The New, Powerful M1 Chips
We mentioned earlier Apple was on a new and better frontier with their proprietary M1 chips. Well, they have tweaked them up and then some, making them more powerful. The new MBPs come in variants of two M1 chips; M1 Pro and M1 Max.
Apple says these new chips have pushed the M1 chip architecture to newer heights, with more CPU and GPU cores fitted inside a unified chip. They feature an even more powerful Neural Engine for even swifter performance. Of the two, the M1 Max Pro is superior and robust, able to swiftly execute heavier and numerous tasks. Both chips come with 10-cores CPUs, but the M1 Max Pro can max that to 24- and 32-cores.
The base model for both variants comes with 16GB RAM, but you can upgrade to 32GB RAM. However, the M1 Max Pro can be maxed to 64GB RAM. They both come running the new macOS Monterey; more on that in a later article.
Ports and Portability
The 14-inch model weighs 1.58 Kg and measures 15.5 mm at its thickest point. The 16-inch model weighs 2.13 Kg and measures 16.8mm at its thickest.
Apple, this time around, did consumers justice while taking away business from third-party Apple accessories manufacturers. The new MBP comes with a lot of options in terms of connectivity. It has one HDMI port, SD card reader, a MagSafe 3 port, a standard Thunderbolt port.
Winding-up
The new MBPs come with standard function keys instead of the infamous Touch Bar. The new macOS Monterey comes with an improved user experience across the ecosystem. The two laptops start shipping on October 26th. You can start making your order now at the Apple website.
The base model for the 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999, and the 16-inch MBP starts at $2,499. However, the ceiling for all the beefier upgrades hits $6,099.
Apple just went God Mode on the 16″ MacBook Pro @ $6,099 with 64GB RAM, 8TB SSD, 140W Powered USB-C charging system.#AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/hdNSLlJbis
— Felix Omondi (@flexxmosh) October 18, 2021
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