14in MacBook Pro review: putting power back in Apple?s laptop

Apple's MacBook Pro has been given its biggest upgrade in power, ports and screen quality since 2016, ticking almost every box on the wishlist of eager Mac users.

But the new 14in and 16in models are no longer machines for the average consumer. Costing from £1,899 ($1,999 or A$2,999) they are workstation laptops for creative pros and developers and priced accordingly. They leave the excellent £999 M1 MacBook Air as Apple's foremost consumer laptop.

Apple has listened to the demands of its power users, making the new laptops slightly larger and heavier, with longer battery life and more ports. They are all the better for it.

The design is almost retro. The aluminium body apes the first-generation MacBook Pro from 2006, while the 14in version (as tested) has a similar screen size to iBook models from 2002.

Open the lid and two things stand out: the screen has an iPhone-like notch cutting into the top of the screen and the Touch Bar from previous models is gone. This marmite-like feature had enormous potential but wasn't loved by most.

The standard function and utility keys are back instead, including a large escape key that will please developers. The power button has a Touch ID fingerprint scanner that works great.

The new 14.2in screen is in a different league. It is taller than its 13.3in predecessor and has two technologies borrowed from the 12.9in iPad Pro: ProMotion and miniLED backlight.