I'm going to have to return my 16" M1 Pro MacBook. I love everything about this machine but it gives me a migraine within 30 minutes of using it.
I've never had a problem with screens before but still used software to mitigate any risk of PWM flicker issues (i.e. set screen to full brightness to reduce PWM, then lower brightness through 3rd party software).
The findings of PWM at all brightness levels would explain my issues however. How utterly disappointing.
It's disappointing to see these preliminary findings. I had my doubts about this display, particularly about the response times. I knew they would be bad, because they are bad with every single Apple product. But the PWM? I did not expect it to be this bad. In fact, this alone is enough to sway me away from buying it. I was making plans for a decked-out model but to pay so much money for something using a bad screen - no thanks!
Regardless, I am very excited to see your review, given that it would be the first actually professional review. Youtube is filled with rose-tinted glasses at the moment.
I'm curious to see temperature test of the laptop while plugged into an external monitor. Laptop temps always look better when it's used on its own. But many of us use laptops as docking stations and more often than not use them plugged to a monitor for long periods of time. This changes the thermal profile drastically. I'd be happy to see you do some load/idle tests with a monitor!
Am following this review very closely - its refreshing to finally see a review of a 16gb ram and not the 32gb model for the 14 inch. Need to see how it stacks up to see if 16gb is truly enough
My main questions: (1) Battery life: seems to be the only spec that is significant downgrade from the 2020 M1 models. Any insight to this would help as other reviews show a range of report that make it hard to evaluate. (2) Display gamut: I have seen from 83% to 88% Adobe RGB coverage although Apple's marketing vaguely suggested a wider gamut than before (billions vs. millions of colors). How does this look especially for a serious photo editor?
Would like to know more about the display! It seems pixel response time has regressed and may be worse than the previous MBPs.
Coupled with the blooming expected given the miniLED iPad and it's looking like a mixed bag. Very bulky too. Thought speakers would be a big improvement from the M1 machines.
The case sounds like a return to the earlier 'wrist slitter' Macbook Pro models... and I can't help wondering why they need all that case. Its not for circuitry... could be for battery and cooling... but part of me can't help but think its so they can release a slimmer model next year.
From what I gather the 8 core GPU in the M1 is around a gtx1050... while the M1 pro 14-16 core is around a gtx1650. If thats the case... the 'air' seems like a better price / performance deal and the 8/256 mini remains the deal of the bunch.
I'd love if you guys can check the weight of the laptop in the full review. I've seen different numbers when its converted to Kilos and, as usual, it has a big *asterisk* next to the 1,61kg in the official Apple specs, because it depends on the configuration. It'd be great to know if the weight of the machine changes depending if it's the 8-core entry Pro model, 10-core Pro or the M1 Max. Thanks for all the great, detailed reviews!!!