Design
Apple’s latest MacBook Pro design, introduced in October 2021, is elegant and handsome. It is slim but solid, looking professional and classy. Last year, Apple added a new colour, called space black alongside silver and space grey. But it was reserved only for the 16-inch models or those with the most advanced processor. This time around, space grey has been retired and all models of MacBook Pro come in silver and space black, which is deeply attractive, not least because it matches the keyboard.This is the same as before, that is, comfortable and inviting. There’s also a huge and highly useful trackpad.
Last year, the entry-level MacBook Pro had two USB-C ports, but now it has three, as do all other MacBook Pros. The difference this time around is that the ports differ in their speeds depending on whether you plump for the M4 chip or the faster, pricier M4 Pro or M4 Max chips. Thunderbolt 4 is what you’ll find on the M4 model, Thunderbolt 5 on the Pro and Max chips. Thunderbolt 5 offers transfer speeds of up to 120Gbps.
Read more: Is Apple’s new iPad the best tablet you can buy?
The macOS software has a lot of other benefits besides Apple Intelligence, mind, including a neat feature called iPhone Mirroring so you can operate your iPhone from your laptop screen while the phone sits quietly nearby. There’s also a great new Passwords app, improved Maps and a Notes app that can automatically convert currencies for you, for instance. This software is also available on some earlier Macs, please note, and Apple Intelligence works on any Mac with an Apple silicon chip, from M1 onwards.
Display
On the face of it, the display on this MacBook Pro is identical to the last model: a screen that goes right to the edge all round, meaning that to accommodate a camera, there’s a cut-out in the top edge of the display, in the middle. It is something you don’t notice, not least because it sits in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
The MacBook Pro screen has mini-LED backlighting which really improves the look, adding to contrast levels and brighter images.
The display, in other words, is already excellent. But there’s now a new optional extra: nano-texture, which costs £150. Nano-texture is designed to reduce reflections and glare, which is particularly useful when you’re looking at the screen outdoors.
It has a more matte look than a regular display, which gives a subtler finish. But it looks beautiful. And (Apple’s attention to detail to the fore here) an Apple Polishing Cloth is supplied to keep it clean and pristine. Nano-texture screens can pick up fingerprints easily but, hey, at least this isn’t a touchscreen.
The front-facing camera at the top of the display has been upgraded to what’s called a Center Stage camera. If you’re in a video call, this cleverly keeps you front-and-centre even if you move around or more people join you.
And now it has something called Desk View, which means you can show the physical desk in front of the laptop. It works very well.
Performance
My review unit has an M4 Pro chip, with 32GB of RAM. To say it’s lightning-fast would be to underestimate lightning. Everything happens at great speed, whether you’re simply loading a web page, opening apps or doing something more demanding, like video editing or gaming. Though I wouldn’t say you should buy a MacBook Pro just for playing games, the immersive screen, advanced graphics and powerful audio make it an impressive games machine.
Read more: Are Apple’s new AirPods 4 its best-value earbuds?
But if you have advanced programs you want to run at speed, then this laptop can deliver. It’s very hard to push the MacBook Pro to its limits – I never heard the fan spring into life whatever I threw at it.
If you have less heavy demands, there is still benefit to having the power of this machine: as well as being super-fast now, it has plenty of headroom for apps that add bigger features and more graphics-intensive games in the future.
Battery life
Such power is usually at the cost of battery life, but not here. Apple prides itself that its Pro laptops don’t slow down when you unplug them from the mains, and you can use the MacBook Pro without mains power for a long time.
Apple says that the latest models offer up to 24 hours of video streaming before you need to charge them. That’s for the 14-inch model with M4 chip and all 16-inch versions. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro and M4 Max have a little less, up to 22 hours. The 24-hour figure is the longest-ever for any Mac. In my tests, the laptop just went on and on.