Apple debuts 14-inch MacBook Pro with HDMI, MagSafe, and a notch

AppleInsider · October 18, 2021 5:38PM

Apple has unveiled its 14-inch MacBook Pro, the long-rumored notebook adding a new size and mini LED to the MacBook Pro lineup.

Launched as part of the "Unleashed" Apple event on Monday, the 14-inch MacBook Pro is intended as a mid-tier alternative slotting between the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the 16-inch MacBook Pro. As part of the change, a major factor is its display, which Apple has switched from 13.3 inches to a 14-inch variant.

That Liquid Retina Pro XDR display is also significant for its backlighting, as Apple is using mini LED instead of LED. By dividing the backlight into thousands of localized dimming zones, the mini LED display offers considerably improved contrast ratio at 1,000,000:1, better color representation, and brightness over older models, as high as 1,000 nits sustained and 1,600 nits at peak.

For the 14-inch model, the screen has a 14.2-inch usable area, with a resolution of 3,024 by 1,964. It also includes support for refresh rates as high as 120Hz, while its bezels are a mere 3.5mm on the top and sides.

That minimal bezel means the display has the infamous notch from the iPhone in the middle of the top area. The notch includes a 1080p FaceTime HD camera with an advanced image signal processor, with computational video support.

The M1 Pro and M1 Max will make the 14-inch MacBook Pro an impressively powerful notebook.

Driving the new MacBook Pro size is an Apple Silicon chip, continuing Apple's transition away from Intel processors. It can be configured with either the M1 Pro or the M1 Max, while memory can be configured from 16GB to up to 64GB.

The change in processor also improves the video-output capability of the MacBook Pro from the M1 edition, with it able to drive two external 6K displays on the M1 Pro, or up to three external 6K displays and an extra 4K display on the M1 Max.

Storage starts from 512GB, rising up to 8TB at the highest capacity.

The Touch Bar from earlier MacBook Pro models has disappeared, in favor of full-size function keys. Touch ID is still available, in the top-right of the keyboard.

On the sides are ports that are making a return to the device. This includes an SD card reader slot, as well as HDMI for video out on the left-hand side alongside one Thunderbolt 4 port, while the other side has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a headphone jack, and MagSafe 3, which enables fast charging in the Mac for the first time.

HDMI and SD card support return to the MacBook Pro after a few years away.

For wireless connectivity, there is support for Wi-Fi 6, as well as Bluetooth 5.0. Audio is provided by a six-speaker system with force-canceling woofers, with support for spatial audio on the speakers themselves.

A studio-quality three-mic array with beamforming is included. Meanwhile, the headphone jack includes advanced support for high-impedance headphones.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts from $1,999 with an 8-core M1 Pro with 14-core GPU, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of SSD storage.

If you push the configurator to the other end of the scale, you can set up a 10-core M1 Max with the 32-core GPU, 64GB of memory, and 8TB of storage. Adding these options brings the maximum cost for the model up to $5,899, excluding pre-installed software options.

Preorders for the 14-inch MacBook Pro are now open, with orders expected to arrive with customers from October 26.

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80s_Apple_Guy · October 18, 2021 5:40PM

Lots of cool stuff. Not sure about the notch and no Face ID to boot. Why add this. With full screen and no menu bar which can be done this will be very visible.

DAalseth · October 18, 2021 5:53PM

Most of the time the notch will set in the menu bar and be no problem, especially with Dark Mode and a black menu bar. Watching a video, which will usually be letterboxed it also will disappear. In a few cases it could be annoying, but for most it will be like the notch on our iPhones, Much Ado About Nothing.
Not that the chattering class on the Web won’t have a stroke over this “failure” “disaster” “idiocy” and call for Cook’s head on a platter.
Overall the Macs are very impressive.
I have to say though, when they started with the Voice Plan, Home Pod, and the Air Pods 3, I was getting worried. Three items that are just not of any interest to me didn’t bode well for the rest of the presentation. But I guess they were just warm up acts.

bala1234 · October 18, 2021 5:56PM

Everything I hoped for and more!

aa4 · October 18, 2021 5:58PM

This is just amazing.... I was expecting the notch and MagSafe but the other features are beyond my expectations

slow n easy · October 18, 2021 6:00PM

I don’t want to be overly dramatic about the notch, but even with it in the menu bar, I still think it will be distracting.

crowley · October 18, 2021 6:02PM

slow n easy said:

I don’t want to be overly dramatic about the notch, but even with it in the menu bar, I still think it will be distracting.

I think you're right. I predict you'll be distracted three whole times, and then you'll forget about it.

DuhSesame · October 18, 2021 6:05PM

Apple is really good at ticking those self-proclaimed pros off.

want your HDMI? Sure, but just when they feel good about themselves, throw that notch on top so they’ll never be happy.

but hey most of them will pay nonetheless.

mr. h · October 18, 2021 6:06PM

slow n easy said:

I don’t want to be overly dramatic about the notch, but even with it in the menu bar, I still think it will be distracting.

There are photos/renderings on Apple's website that seem to imply that you can set the screen resolution so that there is effectively no notch - i.e. it's not notched out of the menubar, it's that the pixels either side of the camera are just turned off and not used.

The camera shouldn't be thought of as a notch out of the useable screen, it should be thought of as apple giving more pixels to use either side of the camera, if you want.

techrider · October 18, 2021 6:07PM

Does this mean that a USB-C dock that is capable of charging still deliver I/O and charging to the MacBook, or will both the USB-C cable and Magsafe charger need to be connected?

adyb · October 18, 2021 6:09PM

The UK Apple site has just updated with the new models - I think that the days of my 2012 rMBP as my main machine could be limited!!

DuhSesame · October 18, 2021 6:13PM

That said, the 16-inch will most likely have more cores in the future due to better cooling and being a higher tier.

I bet most likely will be 16+4. 8+2 is great but isn’t what I’m looking for. I’ll wait.

carthusia · October 18, 2021 6:25PM

I just snatched up a 14" 16GB/1TB SSD. With education pricing and tax, it was just over 2k. Considering this should last at least 5 years, I consider it well worth the wait. It also is the first Macbook Pro I have ever bought. Usually I go for a minimal specced Air. I prefer a bit more future-proofing nowadays and much more capability.

arbar · October 18, 2021 6:30PM

Looks like the old iBook corners and edges interesting…. Those corners are going to get dented fast…. Ugg

digitol · October 18, 2021 6:38PM

Phrauck Apple! Fphraucking froauck the notch on screens!!!!! Fire Tim The Coook. I goes the apple second market just went up in value!

jony0 · October 18, 2021 6:53PM

digitol said:

Phrauck Apple! Fphraucking froauck the notch on screens!!!!! Fire Tim The Coook. I goes the apple second market just went up in value!

I think you either forgot the /s tag or a letter "r" (and another "l" for proper syntax) somewhere near the end of your alias.

williamh · October 18, 2021 6:53PM

techrider said:

Does this mean that a USB-C dock that is capable of charging still deliver I/O and charging to the MacBook, or will both the USB-C cable and Magsafe charger need to be connected?

Apple announced that you can still charge over USB-C, so you shouldn’t need to connect both.

jony0 · October 18, 2021 7:05PM

mr. h said:

slow n easy said:

I don’t want to be overly dramatic about the notch, but even with it in the menu bar, I still think it will be distracting.

There are photos/renderings on Apple's website that seem to imply that you can set the screen resolution so that there is effectively no notch - i.e. it's not notched out of the menubar, it's that the pixels either side of the camera are just turned off and not used.

The camera shouldn't be thought of as a notch out of the useable screen, it should be thought of as apple giving more pixels to use either side of the camera, if you want.

That was exactly my first thought. I don't hide my menu bar so there's no screen loss for me, just a smaller laptop altogether, about 5mm less bezel on top.

mr. h · October 18, 2021 7:12PM

jony0 said:

mr. h said:

The camera shouldn't be thought of as a notch out of the useable screen, it should be thought of as apple giving more pixels to use either side of the camera, if you want.

That was exactly my first thought. I don't hide my menu bar so there's no screen loss for me, just a smaller laptop altogether, about 5mm less bezel on top.

Having checked the pixel ratios of the screens, it appears that what I said is indeed the case - the screen area either side of the camera is an additional 74 pixels in height, beyond the usual 16:10 ratio of a MacBook Pro screen. The 16" screen is 3456 x 2234 pixels, whereas a 16:10 ratio would be 3456 x 2160.

docno42 · October 18, 2021 7:25PM

techrider said:

Does this mean that a USB-C dock that is capable of charging still deliver I/O and charging to the MacBook, or will both the USB-C cable and Magsafe charger need to be connected?

I don't know why two would have to be connected - it should be either/or. Indeed, they focused on increased power delivery for the new MagSafe so I suspect it will be either close to or the same as USB C. Otherwise why draw attention to it?

dk49 · October 18, 2021 7:36PM

I think Apple knocked it out of the park with these new machines. Incredibly powerful, amazing battery life, no touch bar, pro motion, amazing mini led display, smaller bezels, bigger screens, more ports. I think this is just what the Pros wanted.

Apple debuts 14-inch MacBook Pro with HDMI, MagSafe, and a notch

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