50 MACWORLD DECEMBER 2021
FEATURE REVIEW: 14 -INCH MACBOOK PRO (M1 PRO)The 14-inch MacBook Pro measures
12.31 by 8.71 by 0.61 inches and weighs 3.5
pounds. It’s actually the same height as the
13-inch M1 MacBook Pro while it’s about
0.34 inches wider, 0.35 inches deeper, and
half a pound heavier. However, the 14-inch
model feels much more solid than the
13-inch model. Compared to the older
15-inch MacBook Pro, the 14-inch model is
a lot smaller.
D I S PL AY
Apple’s laptops have lagged behind the
rest of the industry with the displays, but
that finally changes with the MacBook Pro.
It uses a lot of technology that makes it
stand out, starting with ProMotion, a
feature that varies the refresh rate based
on what’s happening on screen. It can dial
things up to a maximum of
120Hz (versus 60Hz on every
other laptop Apple makes),
and when it does, it’s oh so
satisfying. Scrolling is buttery
smooth and on-screen motion
is very fluid. The lower refresh
rates kick in when there’s less
happening on screen, helping
to preserve battery life.
Then there’s the excellent
color and image quality. The
Liquid Retina XDR display uses
mini-LED technology, and it’s
capable of 1,600 nits of
brightness at its peak and 1,000 nits of
sustained brightness when viewing HDR
content. Standard content is the same as
the Intel-based MacBook Pros and the
13-inch M1 MacBook Pro with 500 nits of
brightness, but the detail is incredible,
especially in shadows and highlights, and
the lighting looks even throughout the
display. This is the best ever display on a
MacBook, by a wide margin.THE NOTCH
The MacBook Pro has a notable new
feature that stands out when you open the
laptop: a notch, like the one you find on
the iPhone. Apple made the bezels on the
laptop super thin in an effort to provide the
user as much screen space as possible.
But there is a module that cuts into theThe new 14-inch MacBook Pro sitting on the older 15-inch
MacBook Pro, which was discontinued in 2019.