MacBook M1 Pro review – more professional than ever

Only a short time after the release of the M1 MackBook Air, which is considered a gaming laptop, we are going to review the MacBook M1 Pro in this note. Inside the MacBook Pro, there is a chipset called M1 Pro, which according to Apple's claims, the new MacBook offers amazing performance with the help of this processor. For this reason, in this article, we are going to check the validity of this claim.

The findings of the MacBook M1 Pro review are neither completely great nor completely bad. Many things have changed in this product, but in this first step, let us admit that the performance of this laptop has improved. With all these things, not many video games have been released for the Mac operating system, and in the first place, you can't open a lot of accounts on the MacBook Pro as a gaming laptop, or at least have a lot of enthusiasm to experience video games with this notebook.

Macbook M1 Pro specifications

Design MacBook M1 Pro

There is a notch at the top of the screen designed for a webcam. This cut is almost similar to the cut design of iPhone phones. As mentioned in the notch, there is a 1080p FaceTime webcam. At first glance, the presence of a notch does not give the device such a special beauty in terms of beauty, but it does not give the MacBook a bad appearance. The camera is much better than last year's MacBook model which was 720p.

Unfortunately, the camera that Embedded in the MacBook M1 Pro, it does not use the FaceID feature. Face ID is a special feature that is used in iPhone phones to recognize the face and release the device from the locked state. Also, the Face ID feature is used for bank payments.

In the upper and right corner of the keyboard, next to the multimedia and F buttons, there is a button called Touch ID. This row of physical keys replaces the touch bar; A strip that is a narrow and frankly useless touch screen that Apple has used since 2016 in MacBook Pro models. The screen changes depending on what you're doing on the Mac, but it's been five years since I've talked to anyone who's used the Touch Bar and been satisfied with it.

Just below the keyboard is Apple's TouchPad. which can perform multiple movements and scroll operations. On the other hand, typing with the MacBook M1 Pro keyboard gives a pleasant feeling.

Apple has increased the screen size of the MacBook Pro model from 13.3 inches to 14.2 inches with a resolution of 3024 x 1964. Apple calls this screen Liquid Retina XDR, but in fact we are facing a small LED screen, the maximum transparency of which is measured at 1600 nits. The new MacBook display technology is also from the screen ProMotion also supports 120Hz. You'll notice this effect when you're playing video games or scrolling through a text document for a long time, thanks to the screen's fast refresh rate. It uses a 13-inch screen, it does not expect a 14-inch screen to convey a very important sense of difference to the user. However, on the MacBook M1 Pro, the screen difference is noticeable; Especially when the user opens two programs side by side in full screen mode.

The remaining parts The MacBook Pro is similar to the other old Pro series designs. Apple has returned all the ports on the MacBook M1 Pro. For example, on the right side of the MacBook, there is an SD card reader, a Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port, and an HDMI port. On the left side, you can see the 3.5mm headphone jack, two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and a MagSafe 3 connector.

After all these years of user requests, Apple finally listens to the wishes of its customers and designs suitable ports for MacBook. Personally, I'm very excited about the return of MagSafe, a small magnetic charger. This charger is similar to old adapters. A special light is installed above the interface so that you can check the charging status of the laptop. If you accidentally dislodge the cable, it easily detaches from the MacBook Pro instead of pulling it off the table.

The MagSafe cable has a USB-C connector on the opposite end. Inside the charger, the power is 67 or 96 watts. The smaller charging adapter comes with the MacBook Pro, which uses the octa-core M1 Pro, while the 96-watt adapters come with the 10-core M1 Pro or M1 Max. If you prefer, the three Thunderbolt 4 ports are used to charge the MacBook Pro battery.

As a gaming laptop, the number and type of ports on the MacBook Pro is problematic. For example, connecting a decent gaming mouse requires a USB-C to USB conversion model or hub. Although the problem is not so acute, it would have been better to solve this problem from the beginning.

There are four small feet under the MacBook M1 Pro to raise the device somewhat above the surface of the table so that the air can flow. There are fans inside the MacBook Pro, but during daily tasks, the possibility of hearing the fans working is very low. We test it, it has a 10-core processor and a 16-core graphics card. Also, Apple's M1 Pro silicon processor with 16 cores is installed in this device. On the other hand, 32 GB of memory and 1 TB of SSD are installed in the device for installation space. Be aware that if you have purchased such a MacBook model, it can no longer be upgraded. For example, memory upgrade is not possible. However, unfortunately, this problem exists in most MacBooks.

Apple has made many claims about the performance increase in its second generation chipsets, i.e. M1 Pro and M1 Max. I haven't had a chance to test the M1 Max yet, but my experience with the M1 Pro is considered a good performance.

Apple's silicon chips use the ARM architecture; Exactly the same processor that powers almost all iPhone phones. Apple has managed to make this architecture find its way in the computer market. As a gaming laptop, it is different from testing a normal gaming PC; Because there are many programs available that do not work on Mac. For example, many benchmarks such as PCMark 10 or 3DMark Fire Strike, which we use for performance and battery life in laptops, do not run on Mac.

3DMark benchmark has a special test that runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad. . I've run the Wild Live Extreme benchmark on a 2020 MacBook Pro with an M1 processor, and then retested it on a 2021 M1 Pro model, and I must say the results were pretty amazing. MacBook M1 Pro managed to get 4901 points with an average frame rate of 29.3. MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro processor managed to get almost double the score (9524) with a frame rate of 57/s.

For video game testing, two famous games Total War: Three Kingdoms and Rise of the We have used Tomb Raider. Both games were run with the highest possible quality and their benchmarks were calculated with a resolution of 1920 x 1200.

There were obvious graphic problems in the Total War game on the laptop last year, but in the MacBook M1 Pro, these problems have been solved and even the rate The frame went from 23 to 30. In the game Tomb Raider, a surprising increase in performance was observed with an average frame rate of 79. The performance of this game on MacBook Air 2020 was seen around 60 fps.

Even Fortnite game was run on MacBook M1 Pro with 60 fps with 1920 x 1200 resolution. If you reduce the fortnite game graphics from high to medium, you even get 80 frame rate You can also try it with 3024 x 1964 resolution.

I also try Hitman I did; An attractive video game that could not be installed on the MacBook M1, in the Pro model, not only this game was played, but the frame rate between 90 and 100 can be experienced in very high settings.

The fans inside the MacBook Pro are often It does not turn on and even when activated, they produce very little noise. I installed TG Pro to monitor CPU and graphics card temperature continuously. Even when the temperature of the laptop reaches 105, the fan speed is on RPM 4000 and the sound of the fans can hardly be heard. In general, there are six speakers installed in the new MacBook Pro models, and you can notice the difference between the speakers and the regular MacBook models. They run on Mac. This year, we were delighted by the increase in the performance of this MacBook in the Pro series; Because Apple has been able to show such improvements in just one year.

No problem was felt in continuous and daily work with MacBook M1 Pro. From working with image editing software, to recording podcasts and even long video calls, no activity was disrupted. With all these interpretations, we still cannot advise anyone to buy a MacBook instead of a gaming laptop. However, anyone who buys the MacBook M1 Pro isn't missing out on anything in terms of gaming experience.

MacBook M1 Pro Battery Life Review

In addition to claiming increased performance, the Apple company had also done several advertising maneuvers on increasing battery life. For example, Apple claims that if the user watches a video through the Apple TV software, the MacBook M1 Pro battery will last up to seventeen hours, or if the user is continuously surfing the web, the laptop will stay on for 11 hours.

To test the battery life of the MacBook Pro 2021, we played a video that we had previously tested on the MacBook Air 2020 model with fifty percent screen transparency on repeat. I used a Wyze camera to create a time-lapse by taking a photo every 60 seconds to see how long the video played. Play the said video for 28 minutes. This number is lower than the battery life of the MacBook Air M1, which was reported to be 8 hours and 10 minutes last year. However, Apple's own estimates for the new MacBook Pro models are lower than last year's Air model.

I used the MacBook M1 Pro to test routine tasks such as Discord, Chrome, email, messaging and social networks. And fortunately, you can use this device for a full day without using a charger. Maybe this device's battery life is not very interesting for people who continuously stream videos, and this group of people cannot complete a whole day without using a charger.

Macbook Pro review from the software side.

Apple has recently released MacOS 12 Monterey and because of this, new features in the latest updates to Mac has been added. These features include FaceTime, Messages, and Safari. Next, Apple will unveil MacOS 12.1, which will add the SharePlay option to Mac products. Using the SharePlay function with Facetime, you can do things like watch a movie with your friends or even share your Mac screen so that if there is a problem with the system, you can solve this problem remotely.

Like other Mac products, you still can't install a specific antivirus on a Mac. Apple software and apps are all pre-installed on the system.

If you haven't bought the new generation MacBooks yet, there is something you should know. Although the specific architecture of the new MacBooks is designed in such a way that software can be run easily, Apple has installed tools in MacOS so that Intel-based software can also be run on Apple Silicon. Software that does not support full support for Apple Silicon can run with reduced performance or not run at all. However, I don't think there was any software during my testing and review of the MacBook M1 Pro that didn't work on this product. It sells for $2,899. Two screen size models (14 and 16 inches) are available in the market, the smaller size is priced at $2,499. There are also different customized versions for this type of product and depending on the cost you pay, there are 16GB or 32GB RAM models for these products. Therefore, be completely aware of the specifications of the MacBook you buy; Because it is not possible to upgrade its internal equipment.

• Faster processor than the previous model
• Better performance
• Many ports

• There is no power to upgrade components
• Macbook ports are troublesome for gamers
• Incompatibility of various games with this MacBook

Is the MacBook M1 Pro worth buying?

The MacBook Pro is a good computer It's supposed to do whatever you need your Mac to do. On the other hand, this product is considered a powerful option for playing video games. By returning the old ports to this laptop and also getting rid of the touch bar, the purchase of the MacBook M1 Pro can be recommended. However, I don't think anyone would want to buy a MacBook Pro just to experience modern video games; Because there really aren't that many games to experience with the MacBook Pro. However, the limited video games that are optimized on this Mac operating system, the MacBook can handle powerfully.

Apple MacBook MKGP3 M1 Pro 2021 14.2 inch laptop

Source: IGN