14-INCH MACBOOK PRO (M4) REVIEW: FROM 'MEH' TO MARVELOUS

APPLE'S UPGRADES TO THE BASE-MODEL MACBOOK PRO MAKE IT A DARN GOOD DEAL.

- ROMAN LOYOLA

Apple's approach to its most affordable MacBook Pro has been a little perplexing during the early part of the Apple silicon era. There were the M1 (fave.co/2PXzhbw) and M2 (fave.co/3POOGJC) 13-inch MacBook Pro, which were good laptops but with dated designs that seemed odd compared to the pricier and prettier 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro. Then Apple dropped it when the M3 came, but its 14-inch replacement had glaring compromises.

It seemed like Apple had a different idea than customers of the role for the most affordable MacBook Pro in the laptop lineup. Apple seemed to think of the entry-level MacBook Pro as a tweener machine, a bridge from the MacBook Air. Customers, however, see that it's a "MacBook Pro" and expect a pro-level laptop with few (or no) glaring compromises.

That brings us to the M4 14-inch MacBook Pro. With it, Apple has released a laptop that addresses the issues with the confounding 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro (fave.co/43KC21r), and has updated its chip as well. The result is not just that the M4 MacBook Pro has a clear identity-it also represents a tremendous value.

This review is structured based on how the major updates will influence your buying decision. Here, the M4 chip is the primary factor, so we cover it first. Then we cover the ports, then the screen and camera, and then various other factors. Before we get to all of that, though here are the details on our review unit.

OUR MODEL'S SPECS

This review looks at the M4 14-inch MacBook Pro, which is Apple's most affordable model in the MacBook Pro lineup. Our review unit has the same CPU, GPU, and RAM as the base standard configuration, but the SSD is a 1TB upgrade, which is an additional $200/£200, and it has the Nanotexture glass (an extra $150/£150).