DECEMBER 2021 MACWORLD 59the $1,999 model—you have to pay an
extra $20 to upgrade. For the 14-inch
laptop (which has a 69.6 watt-hour battery),
fast charging can be done through
MagSafe or a Thunderbolt port, but on the
16-inch model, you must use MagSafe.
That sounds like a lot of conditions, but
if you have the right adapter and cable,
fast charging will work as advertised. With
the 14-inch MacBook Pro battery out of a
charge, it filled up exactly to 50 percent at
the 30-minute mark using either the
bundled 96W power adapter and MagSafe
or a USB-C port. I also tried charging the
battery at 27 percent battery life for 30
minutes and reached 72 percent—not
quite a 50 percent improvement, but
close. Charging starts to slow down after a
certain point to help maintain the battery’s
overall health.
While we’re on
the subject of battery
life, Apple claims 17
hours of battery life
while watching a
1080p video in the
Apple TV app. That’s
exactly what I got
while looping a
full-screen video until
the battery ran out.
For general use,
you’ll have no
problem making it
through the day on just the battery. Even
people who do more intensive work—
video or graphics rendering or compiling
code—will be able to go for a very long
time without needing to plug in.PORTS
Apple has added Thunderbolt/USB 4 to
the MacBook Pro, but the number of ports
the company gives you seems puzzling.
Both the 14- and 16-inch models include
three ports, which, for the 14-inch model, is
one more than the 13-inch M1 MacBook
Pro. But a large portion of the audience
this laptop is intended for are professional
in the graphics and video fields, and those
folks are using multiple displays and other
gear. Those ports will be quickly occupied,
which means you’ll need to resort to a
Thunderbolt hub. We’re never going toA MagSafe 3 port (left) is on the left side of the MacBook Pro, along
with a couple of Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports and a headphone jack.