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Tech · Apple · 2021

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M1 Pro, 2021)

The used Mac that gives the most for the money. Its mini-LED screen and ports still feel current.

Refurbished MacBooks: five Apple-silicon picks on eBay — #1

Overall

8.8

out of 10

Axis scores

No axis sits more than 0.6 from another, from Value at 8.6 to Performance at 9.2. The 8.8 overall is the plain average of all 5 Tech axes, with no weighting.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M1 Pro, 2021) — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars run from a shared zero baseline; longer is better. Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M1 Pro, 2021): Performance 9.2, Value 8.6, Durability 8.6, Ease of use 8.8, Design 9.0.PerformanceApple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M1 Pro, 2021) — Performance 9.2 out of 109.2ValueApple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M1 Pro, 2021) — Value 8.6 out of 108.6DurabilityApple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M1 Pro, 2021) — Durability 8.6 out of 108.6Ease of useApple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M1 Pro, 2021) — Ease of use 8.8 out of 108.8DesignApple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M1 Pro, 2021) — Design 9.0 out of 109.0Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better
  • Performance — How well it does the core job
  • Value — What the same money buys elsewhere
  • Durability — Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
  • Ease of use — Setup, daily operation, cleaning, maintenance
  • Design — Build quality and how it sits in a room

Specs

Display
14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED, ProMotion up to 120Hz)
Chip
Apple M1 Pro (8- or 10-core CPU)
Memory
16GB or 32GB
Ports
3x Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Battery
Up to 17 hrs movie playback
Weight
3.5 lb

As published by the manufacturer. We didn't measure these ourselves.

Is it for you

Buy it if

  • Photo and video editing, where the XDR panel and 16GB floor both pay off
  • You plug into an SD card, HDMI, or two external displays without a dongle
  • You want a laptop that stays fast for many more years

Skip it if

  • You carry it all day; it's the heaviest here by close to a pound
  • The notch in the menu bar would bother you every time you open it

This is the machine where Apple undid the 2016 port decisions: HDMI, an SD card slot, and MagSafe came back, and the Touch Bar went away. Every 14-inch Pro since has kept the same chassis, so a 2021 unit doesn’t look or feel old next to the current model.

Memory starts at 16GB, which is the quiet reason it beats the Airs on value. Base M1 and M2 Airs ship with 8GB, and that’s the spec reviewers most often name as the one that ages a Mac early. Here you can’t end up with the low tier by accident.

The mini-LED screen deserves a look in person or in the listing’s photos. A few owners report faint blooming around white text on black backgrounds, which is how mini-LED works rather than a defect. Pixel damage and pressure marks from a closed lid with something inside are the real risks, and they show up clearly on a white screen. Ask for a photo of one.

Last updated . The scoring method is on how we rank.