Great screen costs extra
The new MacBook Pro 14 accelerates strongly with the M4
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The new MacBook Pro 14 is very powerful with the M4 chip, but still has exceptional endurance. The matte display is also great, but like other upgrades you can only get it for a hefty extra charge.
ntv.de actually wanted to test the MacBook Pro 14 with Apple's new chip M4 Pro or Max, but the package ultimately included the simple model with M4 and 1 terabyte (TB) of memory, which Apple offers from around 2130 euros. That's perhaps even a good thing, because it turns out that most users can save the surcharge of almost 800 euros for the corresponding variant with a Pro or even Max processor.
Three times USB-C now standard
Visually, almost nothing has changed; Apple has retained the design of its predecessor unchanged. The excellent keyboard and the large, excellent trackpad have also remained the same. However, even the cheapest model now has three USB-C ports, while the cheapest M3 MacBook Pro only has two.
On the left side there are two USB-C ports and the headphone jack.
(Photo: kwe)
The sockets of the 1.55 kilogram notebook each have Thunderbolt 4 interfaces (USB 4), which enable data transfers at speeds of up to 40 gigabits per second (Gbit/s). In the Pro and Max variants, Thunderbolt 5 theoretically enables up to 120 Gbit/s. The difference is hardly relevant in everyday private or professional life, but it could play a larger role for professionals in the future.
The MacBook Pro 14 M4 also has an HDMI output, a headphone jack and an SD card reader. You can charge it via a USB-C input or the MagSafe port, for which Apple supplies a power adapter and cable. The device establishes radio contact via Wifi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
Two external displays with 6K possible
The USB-C ports can be used to operate two external displays with up to 6K resolution and 60 Hertz (Hz) refresh rate. Alternatively, a single 8K monitor (60 Hz) can be connected there. The HDMI port supports 4K displays up to 144Hz or 240Hz if it is the only additional display. On the M3 predecessor, only one external monitor could be operated.
The right side with card reader, third USB-C port and HDMI output.
(Photo: kwe)
The variant of the MacBook Pro 14 M4 tested by ntv.de has 16 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and 1 terabyte (TB) of flash storage. If 512 GB is enough, you save around 230 euros. You have to think carefully about what equipment you want before you buy, because you can still neither exchange nor expand the memory of Apple laptops.
Nano texture great, but expensive
Every extra has to be bought at a high price. This also includes a display with a nano-texture that is now available, like the one on the test sample. This means that the surface of the screen is matt and hardly reflects at all. This is already pleasant indoors, but outdoors or directly at the window it is a huge relief. The surcharge: 170 euros.
Otherwise, the display with mini LEDs delivers excellent colors and contrast and can shine brightly with up to 1600 nits for HDR content. With 254 pixels per inch (ppi), its display is also very sharp.
Even the simple M4 is anything but weak
The performance of the MacBook Pro with M4 and 16 GB of RAM is hardly surprisingly similar to that of the Mac mini recently tested by ntv.de, which has the same features. In the benchmark test, the laptop achieved an almost identical result with 3826 and 14964 points with one core or all ten cores.
The SSD isn't quite as fast as the Mac mini M4, especially when it comes to writing, but it's still more than fast enough not to slow down the system. In the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test it achieved 3339 megabytes per second (MB/s) when writing and 2906 MB/s when reading.
Gaming fun included
You can work with that. The computer can easily handle demanding photo and video work and rarely reaches its limits. Like the small desktop computer, the MacBook Pro with the M4 chip is a usable gaming computer as long as you don't expect too much. In the test, for example, “Resident Evil 4” played smoothly with Full HD resolution at 60 frames per second.
None of the photo lights are reflected in the nano-texture display.
(Photo: kwe)
Like the Mac mini M4, the new MacBook Pro is ready for Apple Intelligence. In contrast to iPhones and iPads, the AI functions are already available on the computers, but initially only in US English.
High endurance, quiet ventilation
The MacBook Pro gets noticeably warm when required, but not hot. What's also pleasing is that the ventilation practically never has to work so hard that it becomes loud. Most of the time you can't hear the fans at all.
On the other hand, you enjoy listening to the very good speakers, which don't disappoint when watching films and games. Anyone who remembers the terrible cameras of previous MacBooks will also appreciate the high quality of the new Pro's 12-megapixel camera. The icing on the cake is that it follows you during video chats, so it stays in the center of the picture when you move.
The endurance of the M4 newcomer is also pleasing. When working in the office, you can sometimes spend a working day, i.e. around eight hours, without a power outlet.
Conclusion
The MacBook Pro 14 M4 is a major upgrade in every sense of the word. The performance of the new chip is impressive, even in its simplest version, as is its great endurance. However, the difference to the predecessors is not so big that it would justify a change; it is not noticeable. The MacBook Air M2, for example, achieved hardly weaker values in Geekbench 6 with 3085 and 11747 points. Apple Intelligence can be used from devices with M1. An upgrade actually only makes sense if you have an older computer with an Intel chip or if you can't live without a nanotexture display.
