DECEMBER 2021 MACWORLD 53image quality. On the MacBook Pro, the
front camera has finally been upgraded,
and it gets the same 1080p camera found
in the 24-inch iMac (fave.co/3AvIV7y),
which has a new four-element lens, a
wider aperture, and a new image sensor.
It’s a welcome change and produces much
better image quality than the 13-inch
MacBook Pro.
But it’s still not a camera worthy of a
pro laptop. With prices starting at $1,999,
buyers should get more than a bare-
minimum camera, and Apple has one:
The iPad’s 12MP Ultra Wide FaceTime
HD camera has a 122-degree field of
view, an ƒ/2.4 aperture, HDR for photos,
1080p HD video recording, and, most
important of all, support for Center
Stage, Apple’s technology, which keeps
you right in the center of the frame even
if you move.
This is the one major miss for the new
MacBook Pro. People are participating in
virtual meetings and gatherings more than
ever, and putting the 12MP FaceTime
camera on the MacBook Pro would give
pro users a top-notch videoconferencing
experience. The 1080p camera isn’t a
deal-breaker and is certainly better than
the 720p camera it replaces, but it could
absolutely be better.PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS
When I reviewed the 13-inch M1 MacBook
Pro (fave.co/2PXzhbw) last year, I wrote
that the performance left me “awestruck.”
After that review, the concept of just how
much better the performance could get
was beyond my
comprehension. Perhaps I’m
just a jaded old-timer, but I’m so
used to seeing gains of 15 or
maybe 20 percent between
upgrades of Intel-based
laptops, and it clouded my
sense of what is possible. I
need to change my thinking
because I was wonderstruck
after my experience with the
10-core M1 Pro in the 14-inch
MacBook Pro.
The laptop I tested has a
10-core M1 Pro processor, aThe 1080p FaceTime camera in the notch isn’t the camera
that professionals deserve.