I might’ve overlooked one meme that’s already defining the new MacBook Pro for some.
The starting price of $1,999 for the base model 14-inch is a cause for refrain from some would-be buyers. I won’t argue for a moment that two grand isn’t a lot of money, but I also think the context is key when saying that Apple’s new laptops start at $2,000.
Premium prices were a complaint about the 2016 generation of MacBook Pros as well, and prices gradually decreased with later models. More importantly, Apple’s current MacBook lineup is very good, from the cheapest model to the most premium.
If the base model MacBook Pro doesn’t fit your budget, you can buy the base model MacBook Air for literally half the price and experience battery life and performance that rivals almost any computer that came before it.
Or you could buy two MacBook Airs for the price of one MacBook Pro…
Or you could buy four iPad minis for the price of one MacBook Pro…
Or you could pay for 33 years of Apple’s new Voice Only Apple Music plan for the price of one MacBook Pro (user interface sold separately)…
Or you could buy 80 AirTags (accessories sold separately) for the price of one MacBook Pro…
Or you could buy 105 Apple Polishing Cloths for the price of one MacBook Pro…
Or you could buy 222 Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack adapters (which the average consumer already does by the age of 30) for the price of one MacBook Pro…
The new MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) is an incredibly ambitious laptop both in terms of hardware and design, and it’s aimed at creative professionals who need powerful mobile hardware, and that means this is an expensive laptop. A very expensive laptop.
The MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) with an 8-Core CPU, 14-Core GPU M1 Pro with 16GB unified memory and 512GB SSD storage starts at $1,999 / £1,899 / AU$2,999, ($1,899 for education), and the more powerful 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU M1 Pro with 16GB Unified Memory and 1TB SSD storage will set you back a hefty $2,499 / £2,399 / AU$3,749.
You can configure the MacBook Pro 14-inch with more RAM and storage space, with either 16GB, 32GB and 64GB unified memory, and up to 8TB SSD storage, which of course also adds to the price.
You can also upgrade from the M1 Pro chip to the much more powerful M1 Max chip. This brings faster memory (and up to 64GB of the stuff), and double the graphics performance. Adding the M1 Max with 10-core CPU and 24-core GPU will add a hefty $500 / £500 / AU$750 onto the asking price, while the highest-end M1 Max with a 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU will add an extra $700 / £700 / AU$1,050.
The maximum configuration of the 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU M1 Max processor, 64GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD storage costs a whopping $5,899 / £5,799 / AU$8,849.
This is a huge amount of money for anyone, so you’ll want to really consider if you need the kind of power that the new MacBook Pro 14-inch offers. If you don’t, but still want a modern MacBook for doing video editing and other creative work on, then there’s always the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020). It comes with the less powerful M1 chip, but in our tests was still an impressive performer, even when editing videos in 8K, and with a price tag starting at $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$1,999 for the 256GB SSD/8GB RAM model, with an M1 chip with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU.
For many people, that will be a more realistic model to go for, offering the power you need but without such a high price tag. For people who need more, however, the MacBook Pro 14-inch offers that step up.
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