Desktops and laptops

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (A2442) review

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (A2442)

CHOICE Expert Rating

81%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Excellent keyboard
  • Very good touchpad
  • Full-sized HDMI port
  • Full-sized SD card slot
  • Three Thunderbolt 4 ports
  • Very good Wi-Fi speed
  • Very good storage write speed
  • Short time to charge to 80 per cent and 100 per cent
  • Very good screen
  • Excellent viewing angles
  • Very good audio quality
  • Very large touchpad
  • Very good screen luminance
Bad points

Bad Points

  • Short power cord
  • Bottom panel can be removed relatively easily, but repair requires specialist parts and knowledge
  • Notch for lid has sharp points at either end
  • Notched screen (houses webcam)

Type

Ultraportable
Ultrabook
Tablet mode
Operating system
macOS

Recommended products

Recommended
Recommended for tablet use

Test results

CHOICE Expert Rating
81%
Performance score
77%
Tablet use score
N/A
Ease of use score
81%
Battery life score
78%
Display score
86%
Audio score
80%
Wi-Fi score
82%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
4256
Storage read-speed (MBps)
5424
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
45
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
6:39
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
1:05
Expert tester comments
Apple's MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Pro processor produces very fast performance and comes with a good set of features. In addition to three Thunderbolt 4 ports (through which you can use hubs to add USB-A ports, for example), you get full-sized HDMI, and a full-sized SD card slot. The screen is superb, with high brightness, vibrant colours, and wide viewing angles, and the speakers produce sound that is much better than most other laptops on the market. Other improvements on previous MacBook Pro offerings include a better webcam, and faster charging.

Sustainability

Shop Ethical rating
D
Warranty (years)
1
Replaceable battery
Not collected
Replace/upgrade RAM
Not collected
Slots for additional RAM
Not collected
Replace/upgrade storage
Not collected
Slot for additional storage
Not collected
Replace/upgrade Wi-Fi
Not collected
Country of origin
China

Related products

Availability
Discontinued model

Cost

Price
$2,999.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
14.2
Native screen resolution (pixels)
3024 x 1964
Processor (CPU) type
Apple M1 Pro
CPU frequency (GHz)
3.2
RAM (GB)
16
Video graphics type
Apple M1
Storage capacity (GB)
512
Available user space (GB)
463
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
6
Weight of laptop (kg)
1.6
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.27
Size (mm, H x D x W)
17 x 220 x 312

Features

Screen finish
Glossy
Touchscreen
USB-C
USB 2.0 ports
0
USB 3.0 ports
0
USB 4 as USB-C port
0
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1 or 2, not Thunderbolt 3 or 4) ports
0
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (as USB-C) ports
3
SD card slot (full-size)
SD card slot (micro)
HDMI port
Gigabit ethernet port
Rear camera
Backlit keyboard levels of brightness
10

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