Apple calls it a Liquid Retina XDR display – but it's really a mini-LED display – with a peak brightness of 1600 nits for extreme dynamic range (XDR). Apple increased the size of the base model MacBook Pro's screen from 13.3-inches to 14.2-inches with a resolution of 3024 x 1964. The keyboard, by the way, is a joy to type on.īack to the display for a second. Just below the keyboard is Apple's tried-and-true touchpad that offers an abundance of space for gestures and scrolling. The screen would change and adapt based on what you were actively doing on the Mac, but over the last five years, I don't think I talked to a single person who actually liked or used the Touch Bar. That row of physical keys replaces the Touch Bar, the slim and practically useless touchscreen that Apple had used in MacBook Pro models since 2016. There's a dedicated Touch ID button in the top-right corner of the keyboard, next to a row of multimedia and function keys. Instead, you'll have to continue using your fingerprint and Touch ID for those features.

Sadly, the MacBook Pro's notch doesn't mean that it also has FaceID, the iPhone's facial recognition feature for unlocking the device, apps and approving payments.

And yes, that camera does look a lot better than last year's 720p camera. The notch isn’t the best-looking at first, but I didn’t find myself annoyed by it long-term. Just like the notch that's now commonplace on iPhones, the 2021 MacBook Pro has a notch cutout where the hardware for the new 1080p FaceTime camera is located. Let's get this out of the way: There's a notch on the top of the display.

Connectivity: WiFi 6 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.0.

Ports: 3 x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, 1 x SDXC SD card reader, 1 x HDMI port, 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack, 1 x MagSafe 3 connection.

Graphics: Apple Silicon M1 Pro 16-core GPU.

Processor: Apple Silicon M1 Pro 10-core CPU.

Here are the specifications of the Apple MacBook Pro (2021) I've been testing: A lot has changed, and performance has improved, but ultimately there aren't a whole lot of current, mainstream games available for MacOS, and that dampens the appeal of a MacBook Pro as a gaming laptop.

Best games for macbook pro 2020