MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max review: laptop of the year
MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max review: laptop of the year
Apple’s new MacBook Pro 14 and MacBook Pro 16 are a triumphant success — they have excellent performance, stunning battery life, useful ports, and incredible displays. The only knock against them is you’re going to pay a lot for all that good stuff.
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0:00 Intro
0:26 Specs & prices
0:51 Design & hardware
3:08 Mini LED Display (and the notch)
7:32 Speakers
8:00 Processors
9:22 Benchmarks
12:27 Gaming
13:38 Video Editing
16:06 Final Cut Pro
16:33 After Effects
17:03 Battery life
19:37 M1 Pro vs M1 Max
20:32 Conclusion
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@13:32. Ok. So. No option for someone who wants to create and play games. Why o why can’t Apple give a product good/great for both? Do you need more cash?
Well this silver-surfer enjoyed your analysis & ability to explain it’s strength & weakness without confusing me. Thanks.
If don’t know why you need 32 gpu cores then you don’t need 32 gpu cores lol. They have room for socketed ports but not nvme drives. Hmm weird it’s like they do that on purpose. They could use this charger on the new mini or charge via USB C. Free up some room for cooling and a nvme slot they’ll never go back to. With the exception of the I devices I have yet to see where soldered storage has been needed or even provided any benefit.
Who. Is. This. Laptop. For.
what do you need to do GPU for? I do after effects and final cut pro, is that GPU intensive? when does one need those extra gpu cores?
These new machines are really awesome for video and photo editors on the go. Unfortunately not great for software and web developers (but it also depends on your workflow of course).
There are a few great things these new Macs bring to the table for everyone:
– they prove ARM architecture is now capable of providing superior performance compared to x86 in portable devices
– 5nm TMSC is great which probably guarantees big performance and efficiency improvements from upcoming AMD chips
– big little architecture makes sense on laptops (we already knew this long time ago for phones); Intel already embraced it so let’s hope AMD will as well
I don’t hate macOS but it just doesn’t work for me which is why I hope rest of the industry will catch up soon.
The Notch is unnecessary. It works on the iPhone but not on MacBooks
Thank you so much this was very helpful!
Wow! Finally got to this after viewing other reviews. Didn’t think I needed to see it, which might be true, but is beside the point. This was a brilliantly realized review. Kudos to everyone involved. I won’t make the same mistake in the future.
On this years pro I loved the engraving on the Botton casing
IMPORTANT TO KNOW: In fact is that Apple sell Devices define it self as PRO Devices but limited Pro users how they can work with them! I’m very disappointed about that, that i uses a new 2021 MacBook Pro 16 M1 MAX and a 32" Apple Display XDR (6K Display) but can not uses 4k in normal OR HiDPI on basic Systemmenü configuration! That absolutely nothing todo with Pro Device! When Apple will limited things like that they have to sell this as a endcustomer NORMAL Device not as PRO Device. Without Betterdummy there is NO way that i can use 4k in HiDPI with these Devices. Also without additional Software it also perhaps NOT possible to set 4k!! I can not believe in this but its reality…
You forgot two VERY important points of differentiation … RESALE value and LONGEVITY. The M1 series of Macs (all types) are holding incredibly high resale value AND laptops historically will stand up to the test of time (and support updated OS) for 6-8 years!
Giveaway? Lol
I think the full $5k XDR display is not a full apples to apples comparison. One is simply a very nice and bright laptop display. The other can do Various display modes simultaneously and other features that competes with $30k display units professional studios use for editing video.
The display of the new MacBook Pro is very good on everything beside the response time which is incredibly slow. From RGB 0 to 255, it takes over 100ms. It doesn’t make sense for a 120Hz display. To display a reasonable sharp moving image, a 120Hz display is required 8.33ms or lower response time. Even a 60Hz display has better response time then MacBook Pro display.
By the way, it is almost the best laptop display on current market for content creator. I believe that they can tune it to have better response time by overclocking the display panel a little bit.
Great Review. 2 feedback points. There needs to be reference to the importance of UM size/selection – in your Summary, you could have mentioned the cost v value uplift of the Pro v Max >>if<< you go for 32GB UM (or above). For future-proofing, ease of resale and avoiding buyers remorse, the uplift to the Max is worth factoring-in as it’s a 10% uplift on an already BIG spend! Second, the Review excluded a) virtual machine needs and also b) 3D CAD/Modelling. It would be a broader review to expand to other Use Cases apart from Graphics/Creatives use.
why is everyone hating on the touchbar lmao
I don’t think everybody is a gamer.
This is an Amazing & Wonderful Video Review on The Apple MacBook Pro M1 Pro & M1 Max….😝😝👻😛👽
120hz on a machine that can’t play games
Thank you thank you, finally one of the big channels includes Premiere Pro in the new MacBook reviews.
A couple quick questions: Is the depth of that notch, its distance from the top down to the notch’s bottom edge, is that included in the screen’s measurements that make up the 16" size and its 16×10 aspect ratio, thus because of that notch we actually get less usable space? Or did I hear something you said near the start, that they actually add a bit to the height of the screen so that they can keep the notch for the benefit of that better quality camera but not lose that useable space? I hope I’m asking it clearly.
It would be a wonderful surprise to learn that the notch and its space along the upper edge of the screen is simply extra, and does not substract from the useable screen space. I think I read somewhere that this is actually a 16.2" screen, not just 16", so maybe this issue is why? Fantastic if that’s the case. And thumbs up on the review!
Ok we get it M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pros are beasts in video/photo editing but when will Apple realize they need to tap into the gaming market? Is the gaming industry not worthwhile at all for Apple when compared to creative works? They are exploiting the Tile tracking/noise cancellation headphones market but not gaming,feels very strange.
This was a great review ! Good job verge.
I agree that the notch on this MacBook Pro completely ceases to be a big deal. Disagree that the notch on the iPhone has ever ceased to be a big deal. It’s still the worst. Thank you for your awesome review.
Thanks for this information. I edit videos and do some after effect for work and wasn’t sure which one to get. I currently have a 2014 15" and still use this machine for editing 4k video. It lags sometimes but still works. I’m sure the base 16" is more than enough for now and the future.
Fantastic analysis that really helped me determine which flavor of the new MBpro to get. I do a ton of editing in FCP and zoom calls for work.
12:30 . It all might suddenly change in just one Apple event if apple become serious about Gaming,
Because they have a very serious level of control over these chips
After testing it at the Apple store recently with my wife. I think they made the exterior a bit downgrade feel instead of more metallic premium feels like the 2020 MacBook Pro a slimmer and lighter feel. The new 2021 MacBook Pro is heavier and thicker, way too thick. I didn’t feel any premium sturdy feel, it felt like it’s going to have overheat problems. I’m happy with my 2020 MacBook Pro premium metallic. 💯
Wish there was a benchmark against the Air M1 from 2020.
I would never want or use a touchscreen on a laptop, never.
Is the backing for the keyboard coated in something? I felt my friends model and it felt like it but I can’t tell cause everyone says its anodized aluminum. I know the material under it is, just trying to work out if there’s a coating. For context, I am allergic to the metal and can put dbrand skins and cases everywhere else, except there. If that is coated, it would mean that I can get it!
I love the Touch Bar. It’s the reason that I bought the 13 inch Pro M1 instead of the the MacBook Air .
Once Monica started talking about Premiere Pro & how good it works I knew it’s time to upgrade from my base model 16” 2019 MBP my biggest issue has been running Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop & 5-10 safari windows my computer slows down (freezes & glitches) and the fans come on for awhile
my favourite feature is no TouchBar
So how does AE perform when Ram bottlenecked?
coming from a fully specked out 2015 15" MacBook Pro to the new 2021 16" M1 Pro felt like a proper upgrade. I skipped 2016-2020 MacBooks because they were not impressive in terms of the overall package and am glad I waited. Now my new MacBook still keeps MagSafe and almost has the exact same ports too.
good job guys. honestly just thank you. really great work guys. still slept on smh
What about memory sizing? You can take the M1 Pro to 32gb is that a viable investment?
Hello. Help to select the 14 inch whether to go for 8 core with 16 or 32 gigs of ram. Or 10 core with 16 or 32 gigs. Which one to select as I am going to using matlab as well as. Swift language.
The MacBook Air will have M1 Pro with out A Fan. with a Notch.
For content creators yeah. For your average joe this is overkill and overprice.
That’s just enough cleavage. 10:50
If I’m only using the MacBook for audio, is there any benefit from having the higher memory bandwidth in the M1 Max? If not, I’ll just get the 16" M1 Pro with 32 GB of RAM.
Absolutely the best review of these laptops. As a professional (photo and video productions) I was looking more into real life usage than numbers from benchmarks. Your Senior Editor did a great job explaining her experience while using these new M1 chips and laptops. I was ready to sell my maxed out MBP 16 i9, but the prices went way downhill with the hype, so maybe I’ll wait for the next gen before switching to Apple silicon. At the school I work we’ve just received some new iMacs with M1, and I can’t wait to test them a little bit in real life. Thanks again for this complete reivew! Long time channel zapper, but now I’ve subscribed!
Robust is good.
This review has sold me on one
Where’s the battery life charts?
Has anyone else gotten 16 Hours of use with their m1 pro 16 inch?
I cant get over 10-12 Hours with normal use.
There seems to be a lot of concern about battery life between the pro and the max. However, most of us don’t rely completely on battery life for over 10 hours anyway. Personally I’m plugged in over 90% of the time at a work station so I’m not sure that battery life is going to take precedence over performance.