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Author Topic: 14-Inch MacBook Pro vs. 16-Inch MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide  (Read 192 times)
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« on: October 20, 2021, 04:05:14 pm »

14-Inch MacBook Pro vs. 16-Inch MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide

This week, Apple announced a major update for its high-end MacBook Pro models, with the new machines featuring a complete redesign, the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, larger mini-LED displays with ProMotion, an HDMI port and SD card slot, full-sized function keys, and more.





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The redesigned MacBook Pro is available in all-new 14-inch and 16-inch sizes. Despite both being high-end models, the 14- and 16-inch models do have some different design aspects, features, and capabilities, so should you consider purchasing the smaller MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,999, or do you need the larger MacBook Pro, which costs at least $500 more? Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two high-end MacBook Pro models is best for you.





<h2 id="comparing_the_14-inch_macbook_pro_and_16-inch_macbook_pro">Comparing the 14-Inch MacBook Pro and 16-Inch MacBook Pro</h2>


The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models share almost all of their key features, such as display technology, chip configurations, and connectivity options. Apple lists these same features of the two machines:





<h3 id="similarities">Similarities</h3>


<ul>


<li>Mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR display with up to 1,000 nits sustained brightness, 1,600 nits peak brightness, P3 wide color, True Tone, and ProMotion</li>


<li>Options for the M1 Pro or &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Max chip with up to 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU</li>


<li>Up to 64GB of unified memory</li>


<li>Up to 8TB of storage</li>


<li>Touch ID</li>


<li>1080p FaceTime HD camera</li>


<li>High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-canceling woofers, wide stereo sound, and spatial audio support</li>


<li>Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming</li>


<li>Three Thunderbolt 4 ports</li>


<li>HDMI port</li>


<li>SDXC card slot</li>


<li>3.5mm headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones</li>


<li>802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0</li>


<li>Available in Silver and Space Gray</li>


</ul>





Apple's breakdown shows that the two MacBooks share most of their important features, but there are still some meaningful differences between the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro that are worth highlighting, including display size, thickness, weight, battery size, and power adapter.





<h3 id="differences">Differences</h3>


<div class="left50">


<strong>14-Inch MacBook Pro</strong>


<ul>


<li>14.2-inch display</li>


<li>Configurations start with &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Pro with 8-core CPU and 14-core GPU</li>


<li>0.61 inches thick (1.55 cm)</li>


<li>Weighs 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg)</li>


<li>Integrated 70-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery</li>


<li>17 hours of battery life when playing back video</li>


<li>Fast charging over MagSafe 3 or Thunderbolt 4</li>


<li>67W USB-C Power Adapter (with &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Pro with 8-core CPU)</li>


<li>96W USB-C Power Adapter (with &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Pro with 10-core CPU or &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Max, configurable with &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Pro with 8-core CPU)</li>


<li>Starts at $1,999</li>


</ul>


</div>


<div class="right50">


<strong>16-Inch MacBook Pro</strong>


<ul>


<li>16.2-inch display</li>


<li>Configurations start with &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Pro with 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU</li>


<li>0.66 inches thick (1.68 cm)</li>


<li>Weighs 4.7 pounds (2.1 kg)</li>


<li>Integrated 100-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery</li>


<li>21 hours of battery life when playing back video</li>


<li>Fast charging over &zwnj;MagSafe&zwnj; 3 only</li>


<li>140W USB-C Power Adapter</li>


<li>Starts at $2,499</li>


</ul>


</div><div class="clear"></div>





<h2 id="other_macbook_options">Other MacBook Options</h2>


If you are looking for an Apple silicon MacBook Pro, but the latest &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Pro and &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Max models are out of your price range, there is the &zwnj;M1&zwnj; MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,299. This is $700 cheaper than the 14-inch MacBook Pro, and is a good option for users who want a machine that is more capable than the MacBook Air, but something more affordable than the high-end MacBook Pro.





The &zwnj;M1&zwnj; MacBook Pro is an entry-level model, featuring a 13.3-inch display, &zwnj;Touch ID&zwnj;, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, the Touch Bar, and a 720p webcam. It is a more consumer-oriented and less capable machine compared to the high-end MacBook Pro, but is more than adequate for most users.





There is also the &zwnj;M1&zwnj; &zwnj;MacBook Air&zwnj;, which sports the same processor as the &zwnj;M1&zwnj; MacBook Pro, a 13.3-inch display, &zwnj;Touch ID&zwnj;, and ports, as well as most other hardware features, and starts at $999. For casual users, this means that the additional $300 to upgrade to a MacBook Pro may be difficult to justify.





<ul>


<li>Apple M1 MacBook Air vs. M1 MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide</li>


<li>Apple M1 MacBook Pro vs. Intel MacBook Pro (13-Inch) Buyer's Guide</li>


</ul>





&zwnj;M1&zwnj; MacBook Pro still has a number of improvements over the &zwnj;MacBook Air&zwnj;, offering slightly better performance, a brighter display, the Touch Bar, improved microphone and speaker quality, two extra hours of battery life, and an active cooling system. If you want slightly better performance than the &zwnj;M1&zwnj; &zwnj;MacBook Air&zwnj;, as well as better battery life, display brightness, and speaker and microphone quality, the MacBook Pro is the better option.





Likewise, users who intend to perform a lot of graphics-based tasks should skip the &zwnj;MacBook Air&zwnj; entirely and buy the &zwnj;M1&zwnj; MacBook Pro because the eight-core GPU &zwnj;MacBook Air&zwnj; configuration is only $50 less than the MacBook Pro, but this is only the case if you don't need more than 256GB of storage, because a storage upgrade would further push up the MacBook Pro's price.





<h2 id="final_thoughts">Final Thoughts</h2>


The 14-inch MacBook Pro is clearly a more portable machine than the 16-inch model, so if you intend to carry the MacBook Pro around frequently or need the versatility of easily fitting it into a bag, the smaller model will be the better option. Buyers of the 14-inch models are not missing out on any major MacBook Pro features, so this will be the best model for most customers.





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The 16-inch model is $500 more than the 14-inch model, so you should be sure that you need the additional display area or battery life. That being said, if you upgrade the 14-inch model to the same &zwnj;M1&zwnj; Pro with 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU that the 16-inch model starts with, the price difference shrinks to $200.





Buyers of the 16-inch model should be aware that it is considerably larger, thicker, and heavier than the 14-inch model. The 16-inch model may also provide slightly better performance than the 14-inch model due to being larger with potentially better thermals, but this is yet to be confirmed with benchmark tests. The 16-inch model's speakers are also likely to provide better sound quality owing to the device's larger size, but we can't be sure of this until real-world comparisons emerge.





While the performance difference in real terms between the two high-end MacBook Pro sizes is yet to be seen, most users will be better off buying the 14-inch model. We will revisit this recommendation after we see the real-world performance of the two machines.<div class="linkback">Related Roundup: 14 & 16" MacBook Pro</div><div class="linkback">Buyer's Guide: 14" & 16" MacBook Pro (Buy Now)</div><div class="linkback">Related Forum: MacBook Pro</div>
This article, &quot;14-Inch MacBook Pro vs. 16-Inch MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide&quot; first appeared on MacRumors.com

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