Apple refreshes MacBook Pro lineup with M1 Pro, M1 chips

Apple has announced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models powered by the new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. The models will join the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 chip. Designed for developers, photographers, filmmakers, 3D artists, scientists, music producers, MacBook Pro delivers high processing power, graphics, and machine learning (ML) performance for graphic-intensive workflows.

The new MacBook Pro also features a Liquid Retina XDR display, a wide range of ports for advanced connectivity, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, and the best audio system in a notebook.

"We set out to create the world’s best pro notebook, and today we’re excited to introduce the all-new MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max — a game-changing combination of phenomenal performance, unrivalled battery life, and groundbreaking features," said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "The all-new MacBook Pro adds a breathtaking XDR display, more ports like MagSafe 3, an advanced 1080p camera, and a sensational six-speaker sound system, all in a stunning new design. The new MacBook Pro simply has no equal and is by far the best pro notebook we’ve ever built."

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Marking a huge step forward in the transition to Apple silicon on Mac, the MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max applies a system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture to pro systems for the first time, featuring fast unified memory and increased memory bandwidth for unparalleled performance with best-in-class performance per watt and industry-leading power efficiency.

M1 Pro features an up-to-10-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores, along with an up-to-16-core GPU, delivering up to 70 per cent faster CPU performance than M1, and up to 2x faster GPU performance. M1 Pro also delivers up to 200GB/s of memory bandwidth -- nearly 3x the bandwidth of M1 -- and supports up to 32GB of fast unified memory.

Designed to dramatically speed up pro video workflows, M1 Pro adds a ProRes accelerator in the media engine, delivering unbelievably fast and power-efficient video processing.

M1 Max takes M1 Pro’s capabilities even further. M1 Max features the same powerful 10-core CPU as M1 Pro and doubles the GPU with up to a massive 32 cores for up to 4x faster GPU performance than M1. It also has up to 400GB/s of memory bandwidth -- 2x that of M1 Pro and nearly 6x that of M1 -- and up to 64GB of fast unified memory.  

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The M1 Max also offers an enhanced media engine that features two ProRes accelerators for even higher multi-stream performance. As a result, pros can edit up to 30 streams of 4K ProRes video or up to seven streams of 8K ProRes video in Final Cut Pro -- more streams than on a 28-core Mac Pro with Afterburner.

Featuring a brand new design, the 14-inch and 16-inch models of MacBook Pro have an all-new aluminium enclosure with optimised internal space for more performance and features. The new MacBook Pro also comes with a Magic Keyboard that is set in a double-anodised black well, which elegantly highlights the backlit glyphs on the keys, and features a full-height function row.

Physical function keys, including a wider escape key, replace the touch bar, bringing back the familiar, tactile feel of mechanical keys that pro users love. The new keyboard is complemented by the industry-best Force Touch trackpad that is perfect for pro applications.

On the connectivity front, there are three Thunderbolt 4 ports to connect high-speed peripherals, an SDXC card slot for fast access to media and a HDMI port for conveniently connecting to displays and TVs.

The new MacBook Pro models with M1 Pro and M1 Max will be available starting October 26. The 14-inch MacBook Pro model starts at Rs 1,94,900, and Rs 1,75,410 for education, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro model starts at Rs 2,39,900, and Rs 2,15,910 for education.

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