Chipping away at the competition
Not only has Apple’s Macbook Pro gone back to proper function keys but it has enhanced memory and speed
IT may well be a cliché, but if there’s one thing you can say about Apple’s new laptop it’s that it certainly means business – you can see that right out of the box. The new Macbook Pro looks like it’s ready to work, and it is.
And then some.
A few years ago Apple did a controversial re-design of the Macbook Pro. It added a long narrow Touchbar at the top of the keyboard which changed according to context and replaced the row of function keys – and removed most of the ports, replacing them with a few multi-function USB-C ports.
All these things made it nicer to look at, but not so nice to use.
This year’s redesign of the Macbook Pro reverses ALL those changes. The Touchbar is gone and the function keys are back. And there are lots of useful ports – HDMI and SD card slot included.
All this is welcome… but it’s not the most important upgrade.
We’re hearing a lot about ‘custom chips’ from the big tech makers – from Google’s latest phone to Apple’s iphone. A stagnation in innovation from the traditional chip makers has seen others step up to push forward.
Apple is clearly at the head of the pack with it’s M1 chip. The new Macbook Pros feature a choice of two new versions – the M1 Pro, which I have been testing, and the M1 Max.
Both bring the option to use more memory, and boost the graphic capabilities. If you do anything other than high-end video and motion graphics, the M1 Pro will do, but if you work with a lot of 4K video and real-time effects, you’ll make your life easier with the M1 Max.
These new chips are gamechangers in another way. They are very energy efficient.
Typically a laptop will operate in two modes – one when plugged in,
when everything is optimised for performance, and one when on battery, when performance compromises are made to allow for longer life.
That doesn’t happen with the new Macbook pros – they’re always working as hard as they can, but that doesn’t mean you can only squeeze a couple of hours of work out of them – they still last all day.
For anyone who needs a powerful machine, the Macbrook Pro makes it possible for the first time for them to work literally anywhere.
In my testing, with some photo work and music-making, it was impossible to make the
Macbook Pro break a sweat. I didn’t really notice how much snappier the M1 Pro is until I went back to my own machine – a two-year-old imac running a chip Intel still makes. I was incandescent with rage 30 seconds in about how sluggish it seemed.
These days a lot of people make their living making stuff for the internet – so our definition of what constitutes a pro user may need to be extended beyond those photographers, musicians and filmmakers we traditionally think of. A lot of people will benefit from the extra power and portability the new Macbook Pros bring.
And even if you never even touch one of these machines, you will still be affected by their creation, whatever kind of computer you may use in the future.
Innovation often comes in small steps, but sometimes in giant leaps – these computers are certainly in the latter category, and you can bet that everyone else making computer hardware will already be working hard to catch up.
The new Macbook Pros start at £1,899 and come in 14in and 16in models. Find out more at apple. com/uk/macbook-pro