The new MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro has now had its biggest upgrade in several years. Announced this Monday (18/10/21), in a 14 and 16-inch size format with the all-new M1 and M1 Max Chips, which Apple says are much faster and more than likely will replace the Pro performance laptops power by intel CPUs. Starting at £1,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 16-inch model at £2,399.
However, Apple has not mentioned what they are going to do with the Intel laptops it used to sell – when it comes to battery life, Apple says, the new MacBook Pro gets up to 21 hours of video playback with the 16 inch and 17 hours with the 14 inch. As well as Apple’s new MagSafe 3 charger can charge the MacBook Pro up to 50% in a half hour.
The new MacBook Pro 2021 boasts a built-in GPU that is 4x more powerful than the Radeon Pro 5600M, as seen in previous models. Apple has also updated the audio components (microphones and speakers) to allow for high input and output quality.
Apple is set to bring back its MagSafe Charging, SD Card Slot and a HDMI Port. They have also removed the TouchBar, and in its place will be using its Magic Keyboard.
Addionally, Apple’s new M1 Max Chip is much more powerful and has far better GPU performance than the M1 and M1 Pro Chips. Apple’s Chips also has 64GB of memory and a 32GB core GPU, and with 70% less power consumption (100W less) compared to its highest end GPU laptop chip.
The new macOS Monterey
What Macs are compatible with macOS Monterey? Here is a list from Apple:
- MacBook, early 2016 and later
- MacBook Air, early 2015 and later
- MacBook Pro, early 2015 and later
- Mac Pro, late 2013 and later
- Mac Mini, late 2014 and later
- iMac, late 2015 and later
- iMac Pro, 2017 and later
The Macs you will not be able to upgrade listed is:
- iMac, mid-and late 2014 and early 2015
- MacBook Air, mid-2013 and early 2014
- MacBook Pro, late 2013 and mid-2014
- MacBook, early 2015
The new macOS Monterey will support Universal Control, allowing a single mouse, trackpad, and keyboard to be used across multiple Mac or iPad devices, but Apple says it won’t be ready until later this autumn. Other new features include AirPlay to Mac, a Safari redesign, a Shortcuts app, spatial audio in FaceTime, and a SharePlay functionality that lets Apple customers watch TV, listen to music, and share their displays.