Review: Apple MacBook Pro (14-Inch, 2021)

At some point over the past six years, Apple turned its MacBook Pro lineup into a test bed for innovation—or lack thereof. These expensive computers have been victim to the infamous Butterfly keyboard, the unintuitive Touch Bar, and a severe reduction in ports. That's on top of already existing software issues like overheating and lackluster battery life. 

Apple's new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros are the beacon of hope you've been waiting for. They come with a lot of firsts: a new display size, the option to mix and match Apple's most powerful chipsets, a screen notch with a 1080p webcam. But many of the most important changes are features the company is bringing back: more ports, a MagSafe charger, physical function keys, and improved battery life. It finally feels like the MacBook Pro is designed for creative professionals again.

That's if you can get past the $2,000 starting price. The highest configuration for the 14-inch MacBook Pro costs an astronomical $5,900—a little more than double the price of a maxed-out 24-inch iMac (though still less than a Mac Pro). But if you've been holding out with an aging 2015 MacBook Pro and its HDMI port, well, the new MacBook Pro is worth the price of admission.

Photograph: Apple

In addition to two sizes for the new MacBook Pro, Apple also has two new chipsets: the M1 Pro and the M1 Max—it no longer sells any Intel-powered laptops. These Apple-made chips are more powerful than last year's M1 that debuted in the 13-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. 

For either model, you can upgrade the RAM, the number of GPU cores, and the amount of internal storage, but it's hard to say exactly how to configure it since this all heavily revolves around what the MacBook Pro will be used for. (If there's one thing most people should upgrade, it's probably bumping the 16 GB of unified memory to 32 GB.) 

Apple sent me a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Max, configured with a 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 64 GB of unified memory, and a 2-terabyte solid state drive, which adds up to $4,099.  This is clearly overkill for someone like me. I use my MacBook for word processing, surfing the web, and video calls. Naturally, it crushed all of those tasks without so much as a whir of the fan. 

We break down which models are best for you in our guide to the Best MacBooks. But the long and short of it is, most people should stick with the M1 inside Apple's sub-$1,300 MacBooks. We haven't tested the M1 Pro yet, but if you're regularly running more intensive apps like Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, then it's the better option. If you're editing feature-length documentaries, whipping up complex 3D models, and are generally leaning heavily on graphically intense apps, then you probably know the M1 Max is what you want (it starts at $2,899). 

Many of the changes sound dramatic, but you'll still know this is a MacBook from a mile away. Take a closer look and you'll notice the chassis is slightly boxier, with squared-off corners just like the newest iPad Mini and iPhone 13. The all-black keyboard gives it a snazzy look. 

The first-ever 14-inch MacBook has an even bigger 14.2-inch display, but the machine's overall size isn't much different from the 13-inch MacBook Air. That's because the borders around the screen are slimmer. For someone whose job requires staring at a screen all day, it's the perfect in-between size if you don't want the cramped 13-incher or uber-large 16-inch Pro. If you're stuck between the 14- and 16-inch, I can assure you the latter is much bigger. I've had much less time with it, but it's absolutely monstrous. 

Photograph: Apple

Speaking of staring at screens, it's near impossible not to marvel at the difference going from an LCD to a Mini LED panel on these new machines. Apple used it first in its 2021 iPad Pro, but you're getting much deeper blacks, allowing for excellent contrast, and colors look rich. All of this is very noticeable, whether you're coloring video footage, playing a game, or just watching a movie. Then there's ProMotion, another iPad Pro first that's trickling its way into the MacBook. This bumps the screen's refresh rate from 60 to 120 frames per second (also on the new iPhone 13 Pro). Just sliding the cursor around the desktop looks smoother and feels more fluid.  

Yes, there's a notch, which is where the webcam sits. No, it's not eating into your 14-inch screen real estate, because the menu bar moves up and flanks the camera. It really isn't as big a deal as a lot of people make it out to be. It disappears when you're in full screen on an app, and you can also hide it using a dark background. What is a big deal is the camera: It's finally 1080p. The image is no longer grainy, and it works really well in relatively dark conditions. 

It's too bad this camera doesn't support Face ID (which would at the very least warrant the need for a notch). There is a Touch ID sensor that works just fine for authenticating purchases, unlocking the screen, and approving app downloads. I'm happier there's no more Touch Bar. Instead, there's a physical row of function keys. (Yes, that includes Do Not Disturb, playback and volume controls, and brightness.) No more accidentally tapping a weird oblong display.

Photograph: Apple

But let's talk about the return of the ports! You now get the beauty of three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, a high-impedance headphone jack, and a MagSafe port for charging. The latter disconnects the cord from the MacBook if you accidentally trip over it, just like the MacBooks of old. I would've loved to see at least one USB-A port; I still had to desperately search for a dongle to plug in a USB mic when I joined a recent Gadget Lab podcast episode. But I didn't need one to plug in an external monitor or SD card—what a concept. 

Common day-to-day tasks went swimmingly with the M1 Max. I always have at least 30 Chrome tabs open at once, and this thing was fast as lightning. But this machine was built for so much more. So, I handed it to a professional video creator (and friend) and watched him stress-test it.

We uploaded a stream of RED raw video footage (20 gigabytes at a 4:1 compression, to be exact) to Final Cut Pro, altered saturation, contrast, brightness, ISO, color temperature—and the fans only kicked in right before the clips were fully rendered (barely at that). Meanwhile, editing photos in Pixelmator was buttery smooth even with ML Super Resolution (which doubles the image size), something that made the M1 MacBook Pro hiccup.

Photograph: Apple

His final thoughts? Using the M1 Max felt one-to-one with the Mac Pro—Apple's $6,000-plus professional workstation. The Pro didn't struggle whatsoever, and he was more than excited at the prospect of editing videos on the go without feeling a loss in power over a traditional desktop.

As for gaming, it's still tough to find a ton of new games made for Macs. But Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran pretty well. Not flawlessly—graphics struggled to render at times, and the fans were spinning the whole time—but it was still an enjoyable experience. 

The glaring issue? Battery life. Apple claims up to 17 hours of video playback. During a typical workday, using apps like Chrome, iMessage, Slack, Telegram, and Zoom, I hit seven hours at most. That's good enough. But good luck staying away from the charger for long when using it for power-hungry tasks. Editing heavy-duty video footage or playing video games saw the battery dying after just an hour, at most. So yes, it's a portable machine. But power users will want to sit near an outlet. At least it recharges fast. I hit the advertised 50 percent in just 30 minutes of charging.

The M1 Max-powered MacBook Pro can handle nearly any task creators will throw at it. It's a portable MacBook you can feel confident relying on when you're away from your desktop, and you won't need any dongles (just the charging adapter). That is, if the price isn't tough to swallow.