Apple MacBook Pro Apple 14" MacBook Pro (M4 Pro, Space Black) Review

The 14" MacBook Pro M4 Pro has one of the best screens and port selections we've tested, but its CPU performance lags behind most Windows laptops. It's a battery-life champ built for Apple pros, not a general-purpose powerhouse. Shop for the $1799 price.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro chip is a laptop that knows exactly what it's good at. It's built for pros who need a portable powerhouse, and it delivers on that promise with a stunning 14.2-inch Mini-LED display, a port selection that's one of the best we've seen, and Apple's legendary battery life. The numbers tell the story: its screen ranks in the 96th percentile, its reliability is in the 93rd, and it scores over 94 out of 100 for both entertainment and business use. But it's not trying to be everything to everyone, and that's okay.

Performance here is all about specialization. The M4 Pro chip, with its 14 cores and 16-core GPU, is designed for Apple's ecosystem. In our database, its CPU performance sits in the 4th percentile compared to all laptops, which sounds bad, but it's a bit misleading. That ranking is against a sea of high-core-count Intel and AMD chips running Windows. For the tasks this MacBook is built for—video editing in Final Cut, coding in Swift, running Logic Pro—it's incredibly fast and efficient. The GPU is about average, landing in the 53rd percentile, which explains its weaker gaming score of 45.2. It's a creative workstation, not a gaming rig. The real performance stars are the 3024x1964 Mini-LED screen with 1000 nits sustained brightness and the trio of Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, and an SDXC slot, which together put its connectivity in the 98th percentile. You're getting best-in-class visuals and plug-in options.

This laptop starts at $1799, but we've seen prices vary up to $1999 across different vendors. For the performance you get—which is highly specialized to Apple's pro apps—the value is good if you live in that ecosystem. If you're a Windows user or need raw, multi-core CPU power for tasks like scientific computing, the value drops off fast. You're paying for the seamless integration, the best screen in its class, and that killer battery life. Shop around, as the $1799 starting price is the best deal we've seen.

Compared to its sibling, the M4 Max MacBook Pro, this M4 Pro model is the sensible choice for most pros unless you need to drive four external displays or do extreme 3D rendering. Against Windows competitors, the trade-offs are clear. The ASUS ProArt PX13 with a Ryzen AI 9 and RTX 4050 will crush it in raw CPU and GPU benchmarks for a similar price, but its battery life and screen likely won't match the MacBook's. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is a gaming beast that will outperform it in every synthetic test, but it's also heavier and has a shorter battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Copilot+ PC might rival its battery life and portability, but its ARM-based Snapdragon chip currently has weaker app compatibility. This MacBook wins in a very specific niche: all-day portable power for Apple-centric creative work.

Skip this MacBook if you need maximum raw CPU performance for tasks like software development that leverages many parallel threads, scientific computing, or heavy virtualization. Our data puts its CPU in the 4th percentile against all laptops, meaning most Windows machines will beat it in those benchmarks. Also, gamers should look elsewhere—its GPU is mediocre and it scores a disappointing 45.2 for gaming. This is a tool for a specific job.

We recommend this 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro if you're a creative professional, developer, or business user deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem and need a machine that can last all day on battery while handling Final Cut, Logic, or Xcode. The screen and ports are best-in-class, and the reliability is top-notch. But if your workflow depends on raw CPU horsepower across many cores, or if you want to play modern AAA games, look at a high-end Windows laptop instead. This is a specialist, and it excels at its specialty.