At the end of 2021, Apple threw two cobblestones into the pond: one 14″ and one 16″. Revamped from top to bottom and boosted with M1 Pro / Max chips, the MacBook Pro 2021 splashed the competition with all their power. A year and wheelbarrows later, these machines pass the baton to a new generation presented as even faster. The new laptops rely on M2 Pro/Max chips, Wi-Fi 6E and HDMI 2.1 to stand out. Is the succession well assured? The answer in our 2023 MacBook Pro review.
A growing team
First of all, a point on the range, because the end of Intel processors did not mark the end of the multiple variations of chips and Mac models. When Apple marketed two 14″ 2021 MacBook Pros, there are now three new generation ones. It was possible to have a 14″ 2021 with an M1 Max chip, but it was an option. The fact that there is now a 14″ with M2 Max as standard is of real interest: this model is sold by traders (Amazon, Fnac,Boulanger…) more willing than Apple to do promotions.
And the promotions, it will be necessary to watch for them, because the prices have increased. The entry-level 14″ MacBook Pro costs $150 more and the 16″ $250 more, and that’s without more RAM or storage. The price difference may be even more significant now that 2021 models are often subject to reductions at resellers. The challenge is there for the MacBook Pro M2 Pro / Max: to be really stronger than their predecessors to have their supporters.
On the options side, no change for storage. Starting from a model with 512 GB, you can choose the following SSDs: 1 TB at €230, 2 TB at €690, 4 TB at €1,380 or 8 TB at €2,760, i.e. the price of a MacBook Full 14″ Pro. There is something new for the RAM: in addition to the 32 GB (460 €) and 64 GB (460 €, available only with M2 Max) options, you can now select no less than 96 GB of LPDDR5 ( €920) This option is only available with the M2 Max chip with 38 GPU cores.
Remember that the choice of the amount of RAM is more crucial than ever: not only cannot the memory chips be replaced afterwards since they are part of the system on chip, but in addition this “unified” memory is shared between the CPU, GPU and Neural Engine. The external screens will therefore dig into the pool of common memory, reducing the amount available for the rest. The 16 GB available by default on all MacBook Pros are sufficient for everyone, but for memory-intensive uses (video editing, 3D, virtualization, etc.), you have to anticipate your needs from the start. In this context, the new 96 GB option is welcome for the most intense operations.
Mac Apple Silicon: is 8 GB of RAM enough?
Beautiful as trucks
After kicking off a whole new generation of 14″ and 16″ MacBook Pros at the end of 2021, Apple is logically continuing the race with the same design and a lot of identical equipment. The MacBook Pro 2021/2023 are computers that take the opposite view of the Intel models released from 2016 to 2020: the priority is no longer finesse, but versatility and power.
Apple Silicon MacBook Pros are bulkier than their predecessors, but not to the point of joining the PC category gamer – And that’s good. Compared to the 2021 model, the new 14″ weighs the same, unless you select the slightly larger M2 Max chip. On the scale, it then goes from 1.6 to 1.63 kg, a really minor difference . As for the 16″, while it was 2.1 kg in 2021, it is now 2.15 with the M2 Pro or 2.16 with the M2 Max.
| MBA M2 | MBP 13″ M2 | MBP 14″ 2023 | MBP 16″ 2023 | MBP 16″ Intel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 1,13 cm | 1,56 | 1,55 | 1,68 | 1,62 |
| Width | 30,41 | 30,41 | 31,26 | 35,57 | 35,79 |
| Depth | 21,5 | 21,24 | 22,12 | 24,81 | 24,59 |
| Weight | 1,24 kg | 1,4 kg | 1,6 / 1,63 kg | 2,15 / 2,16 kg | 2 kg |
If you’re upgrading from an Intel MacBook Pro to one of these new Macs, you might be surprised by their build and weight. They are nevertheless quite portable computers, especially since you can lighten your bag a bit by forgetting the AC adapter (we’ll come back to this later).