Apple launches new powerful MacBook Pro (2021) with M1 Pro and M1 Max processors

Apple at its 'Unleashed' event on Monday launched new MacBook Pro models based on the company's new silicon dubbed the all-new M1 Pro and M1 Max. This MacBook Pro series of the company comes with 14 inch and 16 inch display options. This is the company's biggest update to its line-up five years after its launch with a similar design in October 2016. The new Apple silicon powering the MacBook Pro (2021) series is claimed to perform 3.7 times faster than the Intel Core i7 available on the current 13-inch MacBook Pro. The new M1 Pro and M1 Max come as upgrades to the M1 chip that the Cupertino company introduced last year.

Apple MacBook Pro (2021) price in India, availability details

The price of 14 inch Apple MacBook Pro (2021) starts from Rs 1,94,900. It is also available for education for Rs 1,75,410. The 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro (2021) model, on the other hand, starts at Rs 2,39,900 for regular customers. Whereas for education it is available at a price of Rs 2,15,910. In the US, the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (2021) starts at $1,999 (roughly Rs. 1,50,400), while the 16-inch variant is priced at $2,499 (roughly Rs. 1,88,100).

The new MacBook Pro models will be available for order via the Apple India Online Store from Monday and will go on sale from Tuesday, October 26. Customers will also have configure-to-order options through the Apple site.
In 2019, Apple launched its previous generation MacBook Pro 16-inch model at a price of Rs 1,99,000 ($2,399 in the US). The new 14-inch model, on the other hand, has been launched to replace the high-end 13-inch MacBook Pro. The 13-inch MacBook Pro was launched last year with the M1 chip.

Apple MacBook Pro (2021) specifications

Apple MacBook Pro (2021) models come in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes with a completely new design in which the unnecessary Touch Bar has been removed. There is also an SDXC card slot as well as an HDMI port on the back. The second major change in terms of designing is the presence of a notch which reduces the bezels and gives users a larger screen size experience. Also, 1080p FaceTime webcam is also provided. However, Apple doesn't offer Face ID, unlike its top-end iPhone models. In which a notch has been given to adjust the face recognition technology there itself.

Apple claims that while the 14 inch MacBook Pro model offers an active area of ​​14.2 inches with a total of 5.9 million pixels, the 16 inch variant has an active area of ​​16.2 inches with a total of 7.7 million pixels. Talking about the internal specifications, it also has a Liquid Retina XDR display which uses mini-LED technology. It was previously available on the iPad Pro. The new display technology is claimed to deliver 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness, 1,600 nits of peak brightness, and 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The device also has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz using Apple's proprietary ProMotion technology.
For power users, the displays on the new MacBook Pro models are claimed to have P3 wide color gamut, HDR support, and XDR output.

Apart from upgrades in design and display, the MacBook Pro (2021) series features upgraded silicon and comes in two different versions – M1 Pro and M1 Max. The M1 Pro chip has a 10-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and two low-performance cores. Along with this, up to 16-core GPU is included. Apple claims that the new chip can deliver 70 percent faster CPU performance and twice as fast GPU performance compared to the existing M1 chip. The M1 Pro also includes ProRes Accelerator in the media engine to enhance on-device video processing.
The M1 Max, on the other hand, is said to be the world's most powerful chip for a pro notebook. It has the same 10-core CPU as the M1 Pro, but it doubles the GPU to 32 cores to deliver up to four times faster GPU performance than the M1.

Apple claims that using its new M1 Max chip, professional users can edit up to 30 streams of 4K ProRes video. Or editing up to 7 streams of 8K ProRes video in Final Cut Pro.

Both the M1 Pro and M1 are paired with a 16-core Neural Engine that helps enhance machine learning capabilities on the new MacBook Pro models. According to some publicly shared numbers, the built-in Neural Engine delivers 8.7x faster object tracking performance with the M1 Pro in Final Cut Pro and 11.5x faster performance with the M1 Max. In Adobe Photoshop it promises up to 2.6 times faster performance when selecting subjects in images.

MacBook Pro (2021) models also come with a Magic Keyboard. In place of the earlier touch bar, a physical function key and a large escape key have been provided. You will also get Force Touch trackpad in it.

The MacBook Pro (2021) model also has the earlier MagSafe magnetic charging support along with MagSafe 3. This is in contrast to current MacBook Pro models that charge via USB-C. However, users can still use Thunderbolt 4 for charging using a USB Type-C cable.

Connectivity options on the new MacBook Pro include Bluetooth v5.0 and Wi-Fi 6. Users can connect up to three Pro Display On the other hand, the M1 Pro chip supports two Pro Display XDR simultaneously.

The new MacBook Pro models also include a 6-speaker sound system with two tweeters and four force-canceling woofers. There is also Dolby Atmos and spatial audio support for surround sound experience on the go.

Talking about battery life, the 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021) is rated to deliver up to 17 hours of video playback on a single charge. Whereas its 16-inch variant gives up to 21 hours of video playback. Apple claims that using the new MacBook Pro models, developers working in Xcode will be able to compile four times more code. And for photographers, they will be able to get twice as much battery while editing images in Adobe Lightroom Classic on the go.