Apple's new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros are exciting new laptops, to say the least. They're significantly more powerful (and power-efficient) than previous MacBook Pros; they have a bigger, nicer edge-to-edge display; and they mark the return of a number of "Pro" features, such as a row of physical function keys — sorry, Touch Bar — and a lot more ports than just USB-C, so you won't need a zillion adapters to connect all your devices.
There's one thing the new MacBook Pros do sacrifice for all this: size. Just as the latest iPhones and Apple Watch have sacrificed being the thinnest products possible (which Jony Ive, Apple's former chief product designer who's since gone on to help out at Ferrari, was well-known for) in favor of performance, the new MacBook Pros are — thanks to their new chassis designs and added ports, among other factors — both larger and heavier than the computers they replace.
But by how much?
As you can see by the above graphic, the new 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021) is slightly thicker and deeper than last year's 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro (2020), but it's also half a pound heavier — which is the thing you're likely to feel most. Of course, the main reason for the size bump is that the new 14-inch MacBook Pro is in fact a bigger computer. It not only has a more edge-to-edge (thinner bezels), but the screen is larger too: 14.2-inches versus 13.3-inches.
The increased display size is the primary thing causing the new MacBook Pro to be a bigger and heavier machine than its predecessor, but the addition of more ports and a new keyboard aren't making it any lighter. The battery size likely isn't factor in adding weight, as the 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021) and the 13-inch MacBook Pro (2020) is still rated at the same 17 hours.
The new 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021) is the first big-screen laptop with Apple silicon; the previous 16-inch MacBook Pro, released in 2019, packed an Intel processor. So you can expect the new model to get the big upgrades in performance and power efficiency that we've come to expect out of an Apple chipset — but it, also, is slightly beefier. The new 16-inch MacBook Pro is just under half a pound heavier — 0.4 pounds to be exact — than the 2019 model.
The new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros will be available on Tuesday (October 26), but you can preorder them now from Apple's website. The 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro start at $1,999 and $2,499, respectfully.
