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New MacBook Pro Tidbits: SD Card Speeds, Peak Brightness for SDR Content, eGPUs Still Not Supported, and More

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Apple unveiled new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models earlier this week, and we've since confirmed some additional details about the notebooks.

macbook-pro-14-16-2021.jpg

  • 16-inch MacBook Pro models configured with the M1 Max chip feature a new High Power Mode to maximize performance for intensive, sustained workloads, according to Apple. High Power Mode is not available on other models.
  • Like the Pro Display XDR, the new MacBook Pro displays have a peak brightness of 500 nits for standard aka SDR content, according to Apple. The new MacBook Pro's advertised 1,600 nits of peak full-screen brightness is for HDR content only.
  • In regards to Face ID, Apple said customers love the experience of using Touch ID on the Mac for everything from unlocking their Mac, to filling in passwords online, changing accounts, and making secure purchases with Apple Pay, but the company unsurprisingly said it has nothing to announce about its plans for Face ID on Mac.
  • The SD card reader in the new MacBook Pro models supports up to 250MB/s of data transfer with the latest UHS-II SD cards and up to 90MB/s with UHS-I SD cards, according to Apple.
  • Like other Macs with Apple silicon, the new MacBook Pro models still do not support external GPUs (eGPUs). The new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips have the most powerful GPUs that Apple has ever built and offer massive amounts of unified memory that enables completely new workflows, according to Apple.
  • The new MacBook Pro models have the same trackpad as previous-generation models, according to Apple.
  • Apple said it is invested in dedicated ProRes hardware in its silicon to enable quality, performance, and power efficiency across its platforms for pro video workflows.
The new MacBook Pro models have been available to order since Monday and will begin arriving to customers and launch in stores on Tuesday, October 26. Pricing starts at $1,999 for the 14-inch model and at $2,499 for the 16-inch model.

Article Link: New MacBook Pro Tidbits: SD Card Speeds, Peak Brightness for SDR Content, eGPUs Still Not Supported, and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/21/2021-macbook-pro-tidbits-specs-features/
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The 500 peak nits brightness for SDR content is a bummer. Also, Apple might not have shared any FaceID plans for the future, but you can’t tell me that notch isn’t the perfect placeholder for FaceID to come in future iterations of the MBP.
 
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In regards to Face ID, Apple said customers love the experience of using Touch ID on the iPhone for everything from unlocking their Iphone, to filling in passwords online, changing accounts, and making secure purchases with Apple Pay, but the company unsurprisingly changed to FaceID to sell more iPhones.
 
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adamw said:
Waiting for Apple to release the M1 Pro and M1 Max Mac mini and iMac models... Don't need a laptop, so cash is staying in my wallet until Apple releases one or both of these other Mac models.
Click to expand...
Because of 16” MacBook Pro weight, it makes more sense to have M1 Pro and M1 Max in Mac Mini and iMac . Many people said their 16” MacBook Pro would not leave their desk
 
xxray said:
The 500 peak nits brightness for SDR content is a bummer.
Click to expand...
Can you explain this? Like, if I have Photos open, and I have HDR photos taken with my iPhone showing, does that mean it will be 1,000 nits with 1,600 peak? Or does an old SDR photo limit it? Or does the interface limit it (the interface isn't HDR is it?). I don't understand.
 
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'Like other Macs with Apple silicon, the new MacBook Pro models still do not support external GPUs (eGPUs).'
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I think it's pretty obvious that Apple's not going to enable this. Perhaps the 2022 desktop computers will be powerful enough for gaming.
 
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The lack of eGPU support and the subpar performance for even old and well-developed macOS games are going to be a dealbreaker for a lot of people.

Unless you are a content creator there’s precious little usefulness for the M1 pro/max’s GPU performance. I suppose it’s cool marketing to say your SoC’s GPU rivals the teraflop performance of a PS5. Unfortunately, these Macs can’t even run StarCraft 2 well. SC2 is an old game developed natively for Macs by Blizzard, a company known for making polished and high performing mac compatible games. Gaming remains a glaring problem for the Mac.
 
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Undecided said:
Can you explain this? Like, if I have Photos open, and I have HDR photos taken with my iPhone showing, does that mean it will be 1,000 nits with 1,600 peak? Or does an old SDR photo limit it? Or does the interface limit it (the interface isn't HDR is it?). I don't understand.
Click to expand...

On my iPhone 13 Pro when I take an HDR picture it seems to only light up the photo and parts that need the 'peak brightness' and the surrounding elements are regular brightness. Something I noticed when I upgraded from my regular 11.
 
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With a 14" Max 24 on the way, I'm a little sour about the high power mode. I suspect people that ordered the 14" Max 32 are probably more sour. They made a big deal about the same chip in both form factors, so no wonder they buried this. I dug deep for the Max, I don't like to feel that I'm not getting the same value out of it. I'm sure it won't make a tangible difference for me, but the only anxiety I have about my order is not plunking down another $200 for the big screen, and now this is compounding that anxiety! 😅
 
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freyjaNeggy said:
In regards to Face ID, Apple said customers love the experience of using Touch ID on the iPhone for everything from unlocking their Iphone, to filling in passwords online, changing accounts, and making secure purchases with Apple Pay, but the company unsurprisingly changed to FaceID to sell more iPhones.
Click to expand...
Some customers love the experience of using FaceID on the iPhone, and would love Apple to bring FaceID also to the MacBook. I am one of those customers. FaceID has been a game changer for us as of the iPhone XS.
 
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If I understand correctly, the unified memory in Apple Silicon is shared and used both as "regular" RAM and also as "VRAM." Is this correct? And if so, would people want to actually consider upgrading to higher memory levels in Apple Silicon computers compared to what they're used to?

Because, for example, if you nearly reached the limits of 16GB RAM and had a 4 GB graphics card before on an Intel machine, and now that memory is being shared for other additional uses, would that mean you'd want more like a minimum of 20+ GB RAM (obviously 32 GB is the next step up, though) to get a similar ceiling, depending on what you're working with?

If anyone could help me understand/explain why this is or isn't true, that would be very helpful.
 
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sdhalpern said:
The lack of eGPU support and the subpar performance for even old and well-developed macOS games are going to be a dealbreaker for a lot of people.

Unless you are a content creator there’s precious little usefulness for the M1 pro/max’s GPU performance. I suppose it’s cool marketing to say your SoC’s GPU rivals the teraflop performance of a PS5. Unfortunately, these Macs can’t even run StarCraft 2 well. SC2 is an old game developed natively for Macs by Blizzard, a company known for making polished and high performing mac compatible games. Gaming remains a glaring problem for the Mac.
Click to expand...

How do you know what they can and can't run well, when they haven't been released yet?
 
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harrypham said:
Because of 16” MacBook Pro weight, it makes more sense to have M1 Pro and M1 Max in Mac Mini and iMac . Many people said their 16” MacBook Pro would not leave their desk
Click to expand...
Weight of the 16" is why I'm contemplating a 14" instead of a 16". I find the weight of both machines to be a bit disappointing.
 
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