The new 14-inch MacBook Pro and revised 16-inch MacBook Pro feature an improved headphone jack, which Apple says adapts to low- and high-impedance headphones without external amps.
Apple has improved the headphone jack on the new MacBook Pro
During the launch of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple referred to how the improved audio features included a revised headphone jack. Now the company has detailed what those revisions are, and how they benefit users.
"Use high-impedance headphones with new MacBook Pro models," is a new support document about the improvements.
"When you connect headphones with an impedance of less than 150 ohms, the headphone jack provides up to 1.25 volts RMS," it says. "For headphones with an impedance of 150 to 1k ohms, the headphone jack delivers 3 volts RMS. This may remove the need for an external headphone amplifier."
As well as this impedance detection and adaptive voltage output, the new 3.5mm headphone jack features "a built-in digital-to-analog converter." Apple says this supports up to 96kHz, and means users "can enjoy high-fidelity, full-resolution audio."