There’s a lot to unpack in today’s news, but here are some details I’ve noticed already:
- The Touch Bar is dead and the display has a notch that the macOS menu bar will wrap around.
- MagSafe 3 isn’t a new charger; it’s a USB-C cable with the new magnetic attachment at one end. A spare 2 meter one will run you $49, but one comes in the box.
- One of the new models are thicker than the machines it replaces. The Intel 16-inch MacBook Pro was .64 inches thick, and the new one is .66 inches. The 14-inch MacBook Pro is .61 inches thick, just like the previous 4-port 13-inch Intel MacBook Pro
- The 14-inch MacBook Pro can be outfitted with a 8 or 10-core CPU with the M1 Pro. The 8-core machine comes with a 14-core GPU and 67W USB-C power adapter, while the 10-core comes with a 96W model charger and a 16-core GPU. The larger MacBook Pro requires a 140W charger. Fast charging requires the 96W or 140W adaptor. Neither come in fun new colors.
- The 140W charger has some cool tricks.
- The 14-inch can be equipped with a M1 Max with 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU and 32 GB of unified memory, same as the 16-inch. Both top out at 8 TB of storage.
- The smaller notebook comes with a 70-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery; the 16-inch has a 100-watt-hour unit.
- The new design features more prominent feet than before. The sides make me think of the old polycarbonate unibody MacBook in a weird way.
- The 14-inch is (as expected) slightly larger in area than the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The old machine is 11.97 inches (30.41 cm) wide and 8.36 inches (21.24 cm) deep. The new 14-inch MacBook Pro is 12.31 inches (31.26 cm) wide and 8.71 inches (22.12 cm) deep. If you use a form-fitting case of bag, you may need to made adjustments for this new notebook.
- The new thermal system can move 50% more air than before, but Apple says the fans will remain motionless for most daily tasks.
- As foretold, the new displays will run at a native 2x resolution by default at 254 pixels per inch. The 13-inch model clocks in at 227 pixels per inch.
I ordered a 14-inch model with these specs:
- Apple M1 Pro with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
- 32GB unified memory
- 2TB SSD storage
- 96W USB-C Power Adapter
- 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display
I opted for Space Gray this time around. I usually prefer silver but thought this new size deserved a different color from my soon-to-be-for-sale 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro.