Before buying a MacBook Pro, 3 things you have to known

Apple's new MacBook Pros are ridiculously good computers: fast, quiet, and powerful. There isn't a better laptop out there if you have the money (and don't mind macOS).

With the introduction of the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, which are made with Apple's own custom silicon, everyone's opinion of the MacBook Pro line has improved over the previous Intel models.

Workloads are crunched quickly and with no fan noise or heat, which is a significant improvement over the hot and noisy Intel CPUs of the past. The battery life is also significantly improved, even when under intense pressure during the day.

However, there are a few things to consider when looking at the new MacBook Pros. Here are three things I wish I had known before purchasing one.

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1. IT'S A HEAVY, HEAVY

I purchased the 16-inch MacBook Pro because I require the extra screen real estate for some of my work, and it is heavy. The device weighs 2.1kg when equipped with the M1 Pro chip and 2.2kg when equipped with the M1 Max chip.

That's almost certainly heavier than your current laptop: the 2019 MacBook Pro with the 16-inch display weighs 2kg, for example.

If you require a truly portable laptop – which isn't too unreasonable – it's worth seriously considering the 14-inch version (1.6kg) and foregoing the extra two inches of screen real estate.

Of course, you're getting a desktop-level computer (or more), so the extra weight is understandable, but it's something to think about.

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2. THE M1 IS GREAT – EXCEPT FOR SOMETHINGS

At this point, a slew of developers (from Microsoft to Adobe to Dropbox) has released updates that cater to Apple's M1 series chips, which use a different architecture than Intel's.

Apple did a great job with Rosetta 2, the interface that allows M1 to run Intel apps, but there is a noticeable lag for some operations.

If you rely on Intel-based apps for your job, it's worth checking to see if the company has released, or plans to release, an update for the M1 series. Discord, for example, has only recently been updated, nearly a year after M1 was first seen.

Niche enterprise apps are likely to be the last in line, which is a major bottleneck if you rely on them for work.

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3. HOW THE SPEAKERS ARE AMAZING

It's strange to say, but the speakers in my 16-inch MacBook Pro are incredible – easily comparable to some of the best Bluetooth speakers on the market.

Okay, they're not quite as good, but given that they're literally built into the laptop and thus don't need to be carried around separately, they're really, really good.

If you watch a lot of movies and TV or want to listen to music while working, the MacBook Pro's speakers will easily suffice.

When Apple announced the MacBook Pro, they spent some time talking about all the innovations in speaker design, which I dismissed as PR fluff. But it's true: the bass is great, the trebles are clear, and the volume can be turned up to 11.

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