[Renatus]

As Daniel L has reported, Apple is improving it's headphone port for quality and to drive sensitive kit.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/macbook-pro-m1-pro-max-3-5mm-output.960345/
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212856
If anyone has experience of it and knows its quality and/or its limitations it will be people in this forum.
Please share.
Thanks, Alan

 

[megabigeye]

I haven't tried the new MBP, but if its headphone jack is as good or better than the old MacBooks then it's already very good. I have a 2014 MacBook Air and it sounds very good, comparable to any other solid state amp I've used.

From that link, it looks like the new trick is adaptive voltage that self-adjusts depending on your headphones' impedance-- kinda like LG phones do. It'll now do up to 1.75V for headphones 150 ohms and lower, and up to 3V for headphones above 150 ohms. I believe old MacBooks could do up to 2V. Personally, this doesn't seem like it'd be an advantage, especially if you have low impedance, low sensitivity headphones or IEMs. My old MBA with only 2V can already drive my HD 650 and DT 1990 louder than I like to listen, so I can't see how the higher voltage would be better unless you listen pretty loud.

On the other hand, 'phones with low impedance and low sensitivity might not be loud enough. I used to have the RHA T20i with an impedance of 16 ohms and sensitivity of only 90 dB@1mW, and my MacBook was just loud enough at about 85-90%. The new MacBooks will be even quieter with less voltage.