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First Impressions From New MacBook Pro Owners: Benchmarks, Weight, ProMotion

I got a 14" MBP today and I have been using it for the last 4 hours. Here are my first impressions, staring with the positive stuff:
  • The display is gorgeous. I put it next to my M1 13" display and really, I shouldn't have done it! It made me think that the display of the M1 13" MBP is somehow defective (which of course isn't).
  • Overall responsiveness is great. The ProMotion display does make a difference. I cannot share the comments about Safari though. It works for me great.
  • The keyboard is somehow better than the previous keyboard on the M1 MBP. It's a small difference, but it's there
  • The design. When I saw the pictures and videos I though that this would be a bulky, thick laptop, but when you hold it on your hands you will appreciate the rounded corners and the overall quality of the hardware. I really like it.
  • Audio sounds great for YouTube and watching movies. I haven't tested any music yet though.
So, now the not so great things, especially coming from a M1 13" MBP:
  • The new MBP is heavier, and you will immediately feel it. It doesn't bother me though and I cannot say that the difference is very big. The 14" MBP is still portable enough.
  • The battery life seems to last around 11 hours when doing standard productivity stuff. I am not a creative professional, so I will not put the system under a lot of stress. Compared to the battery life of the M1 13" MBP there is a significant difference, so if battery life is extremely important to you, then go with the 16" model, or keep your current M1 laptop.
  • The notch is visible but it doesn't bother me at all. I didn't expect to say it, but the way it has been implemented is really good. I put this though in the negative things, since it can bother a lot of people.
  • The SSD is really fast but doesn't go up to 7,4GB/sec, as Apple advertised. I am getting around 5GB/sec, which is of course great. I don't know how Apple came up with the 7,4GB/sec. Maybe on the Max?
  • For normal productivity workloads you will probably notice zero difference in performance when comparing with M1 based devices.
For me the main reason to get the new MBP was the display and it didn't disappoint me at all. It makes a big difference.
 

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DeadeyeM said:
I know i had issues with MBP 16 i've ordered and returned because of that. But i'm still curious what camera settings was he using, if it's slow shutter speed then then it make sense will need to get to Apple store and test, thanks
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I'd be vary of 'random' people posting stuff like that too but I know exactly what he means because I immediately went like 'My iPad does the same thing!" ;)

I was so excited when they announced these new Macs, they seemed perfect until I saw these below average screen response times, it feels like using $150 monitor from Walmart.
 
Has anyone received a M1 Max MBP yet. Seems like everyone is posting about the M1 Pros at the moment.

Also, the slow motion refresh video that someone posted is GARBAGE. Recording such a thing has no merit what-so-ever.
 
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Macisperfect said:
Really just missing the Touch Bar. Came in handy in lots of situations, plus can no longer see the line of emojis for texts... no predictive texts showing up.

Unsure how to make the keyboard brightness turn on or higher / lower.

Not too happy with the sides being cut on the bottom again. M1 design was nicer that way.

It feels like they re-did 2015 for no reason other than because they can.

Glad to have MagSafe back though.
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The reason was because most Pros care more about ports, thermal throttling,and battery life, than thinness. Apple still creates the 13” pro and air for consumers that don’t need the raw power house of this machine, and the regular M1 is more powerful than most non-pro users need.
 
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Prabas said:
Too bad pixel response time of these new screens is awful. It's similar to iPad Pro 11, response times are in the range of 28-52ms. There's so much trailing/ghosting going on it's crazy. AnandTech reviewer posted a video of it in action.

EDIT: forgot to add video:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1452622025550438403

It's shot in slow mo because it's much harder to capture it on camera than when looking with your own eyes.
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Sounds like it's about the same as the outgoing model then:
www.notebookcheck.net

Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 Laptop Review: A convincing Core i9-9880H and Radeon Pro 5500M powered multimedia laptop

Notebookcheck.com reviews the flagship model of the MacBook Pro 16, Apple's latest multimedia laptop. The machine comes with an AMD Radeon Pro 5500M GPU and an Intel Core i9-9880H CPU, along with 16 GB of DDR4-2666 RAM and a 1 TB SSD. Read on to find out why have awarded the MacBook Pro 16 top...
www.notebookcheck.net www.notebookcheck.net

From above: 52.4ms Grey/Grey, 34.9ms Black/White. It's probably more noticeable now due to the higher refresh rate.

It shouldn't be a problem unless you are trying to play fast-paced games. But this is a professional tool. I haven't seen too many colour accurate screens out there also have excellent response times. Maybe next-gen OLED?
 
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Prism says " All this to say that I am in my element, a happy camper, this machine has pretty much everything I was dreaming of which is why I say good riddance to Jonny Ive, you certainly won't be missed"

......................................

Pretty sure you are using a machine that has been iterated on for decades of Jony Ive. But you know, GoOd RiDdAnCe To JoNny Ive.
 
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“Just got the 16 M1 max model and the pro motion is really bad, it's good on the ui like swiping pages but on safari it's actually more choppy than my old 16" i9”
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Apple really needs to get their act together when it comes to stutter and choppiness which I first noticed when both iOS and macOS were redesigned to flat UIs. Shipping a product with choppy, laggy and stuttering software is not OK from them. Makes their software seem completely amateur and just like any other tech company’s.
 
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Happy with everything about my 16" except the screen. Not as uniform as the 2015 I'm coming from or the 2019 I use at work, and nowhere close to the OLED on my XPS 9510; it looks washed out in comparison. The display also darkens slightly at the edges (mostly at the corners, and only noticeable with a light background at lower brightness settings). I'm hoping Apple spends some time tweaking the drivers to get a better result from the mini-LEDs.

Would've gladly swapped the third USB-C for a USB-A (don't care what anyone says, I get handed a ton of USB-A peripherals that force me to go fishing for an adapter), and I wish they'd gone with the later MagSafe connector design since it was thinner and directed the cable toward the back of the laptop rather than poking out the side, but these are minor gripes.

Acceptable keyboard (not as good as the 2015, but what is?) and great fit and finish overall. Don't mind the chonkiness. In fact, the overall look and feel conveys a sturdiness that's been lacking in Apple's laptops for a long time. I'm glad the obsession with thinness is over in the Pro lineup.
 
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truesepho said:
This. Trailing/ghosting is the first thing I noticed and ProMotion also not as good as expected. Screen is such a letdown for me. I think maybe ProMotion is not as good due to the high response time.
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yeah its kind of hard to explain but like if i were to rate the 120hz apple has available 13 pro max first, ipad pro's 2nd.

Thought it was just me that noticed in web pages it can be a bit...jerky? its even stranger because u can see the mouse cursor itself is perfectly smooth.
 
ellsworth said:
Has anyone received a M1 Max MBP yet. Seems like everyone is posting about the M1 Pros at the moment.

Also, the slow motion refresh video that someone posted is GARBAGE. Recording such a thing has no merit what-so-ever.
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yes - but takes time to setup :)

but match weight is :

MBP 16" Retina i9/32GB/1TB/5500 8GB : 1973 grams (1.973 kg / 4.35 lbs)
MBP 16" M1 Pro Max /64GB/4TB : 2161 grams (2.161 kg /4.76 lbs)

I'd gladly run an extra mile for a few weeks to loose the 1/2 lbs to carry the Pro max vs the old MBP.

:)
 
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thirdkind said:
Happy with everything about my 16" except the screen. Not as uniform as the 2015 I'm coming from or the 2019 I use at work, and nowhere close to the OLED on my XPS 9510; it looks washed out in comparison. The display also darkens slightly at the edges (mostly at the corners, and only noticeable with a light background at lower brightness settings). I'm hoping Apple spends some time tweaking the drivers to get a better result from the mini-LEDs.

Would've gladly swapped the third USB-C for a USB-A (don't care what anyone says, I get handed a ton of USB-A peripherals that force me to go fishing for an adapter), and I wish they'd gone with the later MagSafe connector design since it was thinner and directed the cable toward the back of the laptop rather than poking out the side, but these are minor gripes.

Acceptable keyboard (not as good as the 2015, but what is?) and great fit and finish overall. Don't mind the chonkiness. In fact, the overall look and feel conveys a sturdiness that's been lacking in Apple's laptops for a long time. I'm glad the obsession with thinness is over in the Pro lineup.
Click to expand...

Get yourself another unit then for sure or look at the floor models and compare

should be getting one you're happy with for the money
 
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ellsworth said:
Also, the slow motion refresh video that someone posted is GARBAGE. Recording such a thing has no merit what-so-ever.
Click to expand...
Well, that’s just to give you an idea, but It’s quite noticeable really. I don’t think everyone will be as sensitive on this, but to me it kind of ruins it, it’s the first thing I noticed when scrolling or watching videos especially in dark scenes.

Also the brightness is not impressive even in HDR contents as many other said.
 
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jterp7 said:
yeah its kind of hard to explain but like if i were to rate the 120hz apple has available 13 pro max first, ipad pro's 2nd.

Thought it was just me that noticed in web pages it can be a bit...jerky? its even stranger because u can see the mouse cursor itself is perfectly smooth.
Click to expand...
Yes, 120hz in this screen defo ruined by response time. It’s a shame really because otherwise the screen is great. Maybe this jerkiness on safari is related to the pixel response time? Hopefully can be improved with software update :-/
 
thadoggfather said:
Get yourself another unit then for sure or look at the floor models and compare

should be getting one you're happy with for the money
Click to expand...

Good idea. I'll probably stop by the Apple Store and take a look at a display unit. Part of it is because I have a tendency to lean in and get too close to the screen (eyes aren't as good as they used to be :(). Looking at the edges straight on, the darkness is barely noticeable, so viewing angle is a factor.

I'm also just spoiled by that XPS OLED, which is perfectly uniform, bright, and a big step above any other display I've used.
 
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