And to say I'm impressed is an understatement.
On most laptops I've used, the DAC just doesn't cut it. So I have to use an external DAC delivered from the USB port to deliver what I want. As in, I would *never* use these headphones on my ThinkPad's audio jack because it would be an awful experience.
But the amount of head room and soundstage I'm getting from this MacBook is stellar.
If I was making music, this would be my workstation of choice. And for many musicians, it is.
So my Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro headphones *requires* 250 Ω of power.
I have a MacBook Air M4 2025, and apparently it detects loads from 150–1,000 Ω.
And what happens upon detection? It provides up to 3.0 V RMS from its headphone jack. That works out to roughly 36 mW maximum into 250 Ω.
That means this laptop does NOT require an external DAC.