Monday, March 14, 2022

M1 MacBook Pro

I'm really enjoying my new MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) I've received from work. These are the specs:

System on a chip: Apple M1 Pro
CPU: 10 cores (8 performance and 2 efficiency)
GPU: 16 cores
Memory: 32 GB
Storage: 1 TB

At a $4,349.00 AUD price point I feel very lucky to have such a nice machine. It's not absolute top of the line but it's damn near close.

Here are the things I've noticed so far that I love:

  1. The wake time is instant, it's like waking a phone
  2. Apps and websites open rapidly, you open Google Chrome type in a URL and bang it renders, the performance difference is massive coming from an Intel MacBook Pro
  3. The screen is beautiful, ProMotion is 100% noticeable, scrolling and animations are so smooth
  4. The chassis feels stiffer, the panel that encloses the screen feels thicker and the hinge feels tighter
  5. No touch bar 🎉
  6. The keyboard is excellent and I have a lot of faith that the keys will always work now that the butterfly keyboard is long gone
  7. I can run Overcast or any iOS only app thanks to Apple Silicon
  8. The port situation is perfect, SD card slot and MagSafe charging 😍

  1. The speakers sound great, the webcam seems decent but needs a bit more testing
  2. I'm liking the more rectangular design, it looks and feels more sturdy