The 2021 Apple MacBook Pro will supercharge your listening experience with headphones

Sennheiser HD 280
(Image credit: Sennheiser)

Apple's latest MacBook Pro might boast a six-speaker sound system, but it should work a treat with the best headphones on the market, too.

The Californian tech giant has updated its support pages and revealed that the 2021 MacBook Pro has technology in place which means it will have no issues working with "high impedance" headphones via its 3.5mm jack.

Apple says the new 14-inch and 16-inch models feature "DC load detection and adaptive voltage output", meaning the high-end laptops should automatically adapt their output for your headphones which should also ensure that their internal amp isn't overdriven.

The newly-launched MacBook Pro's built-in DAC (digital-to-analog convertor) "supports sample rates of up to 96 kHz", which means it will play nicely with Apple Music's CD-quality (16-bit/44.1kHz) and Apple Lossless (24-bit/48kHz) tiers. It will even handle Hi-Res Lossless tracks but only up to 24-bit/96kHz. Any songs with a higher sample rate of 24-bit/192kHz will require an external DAC to hear them at their very best.

The 2021 MacBook Pros are on sale now. Prices start at £2399 / $2499 / AU$3749 for the 16-inch, and £1899 / $1999 / AU$2999 for the smaller screen size. Both models support Apple spatial audio too, so you should get a more immersive effect when listening to Apple Music tracks encoded in Dolby Atmos.

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Tom is a journalist, copywriter and content designer based in the UK. He has written articles for T3, ShortList, The Sun, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph, Elle Deco, The Sunday Times, Men's Health, Mr Porter, Oracle and many more (including What Hi-Fi?). His specialities include mobile technology, electric vehicles and video streaming.