Apple's newly introduced MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch are upper-midrange notebooks that use Apple Silicon processors. They replace the previous higher-end of the MacBook Pro 13-inch line (those with four Thunderbolt ports), along with the MacBook Pro 16-inch systems—both of which were based on Intel processors. The introduction of these two systems completes the transition of Apple's notebook model line to its own processors.

A Model Line In Transition

These heavily revised systems look different than the previous MacBook Pro systems, and they are—the first new case design in five years. The most distinctive new feature is a camera notch in the display, which allows a thinner bezel. Also notable is the return of an HDMI port and an SDXC slot, along with a semi-vestigial MagSafe 3 connector. Missing is the TouchBar, which never succeeded as Apple expected—Cupertino has replaced it with a "normal" set of function keys, but the TouchID/power button remains.

Comparing the current 16-inch to the previous 16-inch is instructive. The new system is slightly thicker and marginally smaller in width and depth. Perhaps more importantly, it is half a pound heavier. As with previous generations, these systems are available in Silver and Space Gray.

ISC tested a MacBook Pro 14-inch for almost a month. This particular MacBook Pro 14-inch included an Apple M1 Pro processor with an 8-core CPU and a 14-core GPU, 32 GB of RAM, a 512 GB SSD, a Retina (3024x1964) 14.2-inch display, and macOS 12 Monterey. Installed and tested third-party software included Microsoft Office (including Teams), Box Drive, Adobe Creative Cloud (including Acrobat Reader), Claris FileMaker Pro, BlueJeans, Slack, WebEx, Zoom, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox. Systems management and security software tested included GlobalProtect and FortiClient.

With its 1080p camera, the MacBook Pro 14-inch is well-suited for video conferencing. The video quality is quite good, and the six speakers give excellent sound reproduction for a notebook. The general display quality is excellent. In practice, the much-discussed camera notch rarely interferes with functionality, and Apple seems to have planned ahead to ensure that almost all menu items still fit—ISC expects further adjustments in future versions of macOS.

The MacBook Pro 14-inch evaluated was tested against expectations for a capable previous-generation MacBook Pro in institutional use at the University. It has performed as expected, with no extra allowance made for the Apple Silicon processor inside. Overall performance is good to excellent in all tasks. Battery life is as expected, ranging from a high of eleven hours in light office use to a low of between four and five hours in heavy video conferencing use.

ISC sees the MacBook Pro 14-inch as an impressive and much-improved successor to the higher-end MacBook Pro 13-inch (2020, four Thunderbolt ports), while the MacBook Pro 16-inch re-establishes Apple's largest notebook as a truly high-end device when optioned appropriately. Properly configured, the MacBook Pro 14-inch and MacBook Pro 16-inch are approved for general University use under the Midweight portion of the Notebook Purchasing Guide.

Thanks to Kyle Beatty, Jorey Bump, Wilson Chang, and Smith Ragsdale for their assistance with this evaluation.