MacBook Pro (14/16-inch, M1 Pro/Max Chip)

2021, October 18

The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, unveiled on October 18, 2021, and powered by the new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, represented a major redesign. These professional laptops introduced powerful custom Apple Silicon, Liquid Retina XDR displays with ProMotion, and, notably, restored several legacy ports while eliminating the Touch Bar.

Key Features and Connectivity

M1 Pro and M1 Max Chips: These professional-grade chips delivered significantly higher performance and memory bandwidth than the original M1, with support for more external displays and massive unified memory configurations.

Liquid Retina XDR Display: The new displays utilized mini-LED technology for exceptional contrast (1,000,000:1) and brightness (up to 1,600 nits peak), and introduced ProMotion adaptive refresh rate technology (up to 120Hz).

Design and The Notch: The aluminum unibody design was new, featuring flatter edges and thinner bezels, which led to the introduction of a camera notch at the top center of the display to house the improved 1080p FaceTime HD camera.

Ports (Return of Legacy Ports): In response to professional user demand, Apple reintroduced several ports:

MagSafe 3 power port (faster charging)

HDMI 2.0 port

SDXC card slot

Three Thunderbolt 4 ports (USB-C connector) 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones.

Keyboard: Apple replaced the Touch Bar with a row of full-height physical function keys and maintained the reliable scissor-mechanism "Magic Keyboard" with Touch ID.

Audio: Included a high-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-canceling woofers and studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming.