Apple quietly launched the 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023) and MacBook Pro 14-inch (2023), along with the powerful M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets – the follow-up to the M1 Pro and M1 Max.
According to Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, “Today’s MacBook Pro just got better. With faster performance, improved connectivity, and the longest battery life ever in a Mac, along with the best screen in a laptop, there’s simply nothing else like it.” “.
There’s also a new Mac mini (2023), and the compact computer comes with either the M2 chip from last year, or the all-new M2 Pro chip. It also starts at $599 / £649 / AU$999.
Pre-orders start today (we’ve got a guide on where to pre-order the new MacBook Pro), and it ships starting January 24th.
What you need to know:
- New 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini models announced
- The powerful M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets are also revealed
- Everything can be ordered now
- In-store access and delivery starting January 24th
- MacBook Pro 14-inch (2023) starts at $1,999 / $2,149 / AU$3,199
- 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023) starts at $2,499 / £2,699 / AU$3,999
- Mac mini (2023) starts at a new lower price of $599 / £649 / AU$999
MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) and MacBook Pro 14-inch (2023)
The 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021) and 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021) have follow-ups, as both models of powerful mobile workstations get new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips — which Apple calls “the world’s most powerful” and an efficient chip for a Professional laptop. “
While we hope to put these claims to the test soon when we get the new MacBook Pro for review, we were very impressed with previous versions, and we liked the MacBook Air (M2, 2022) and MacBook Pro (M2, 2022), so we can certainly imagine that these new models will not disappoint you.
Apple also has big battery life claims, with up to 22 hours — again, this is potentially a game-changer if that’s true, considering the performance levels offered here.
The two new MacBook Pros also support Wi-Fi 6E and HDMI up to 8K. You can also configure MacBook Pros with a whopping 96GB of unified memory.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip starts at $1,999 / $2,149 / AU$3,199 and comes with:
- 10-core CPU with 6 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
- 16 GPU cores
- 16-core Neural Engine
- Memory bandwidth 200 GB / s
- 16 GB unified memory
- 512 GB SSD
For $2,400 / £2,699 / AU$3,999, you get a 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip and:
- 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
- 19 GPU cores
- 16-core Neural Engine
- Memory bandwidth 200 GB / s
- 16 GB unified memory
- 1TB SSD
If you need more power, the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Max chip costs a whopping $3,099 / £3,349 / AU$4,999 and comes with:
- 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
- 30 GPU cores
- 16-core Neural Engine
- Memory bandwidth 400 GB / s
- 32 GB unified memory
- 1TB SSD
Each model has a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with a screen resolution of 3,024 x 1,964 and 154 pixels per inch.
These are the same as previous models, but since they were the best screens you can get on a laptop, we’re not complaining!
As for the 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023), it starts at $2,499 / £2,699 / AU$3,999 and comes with the M2 Pro and:
- 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
- 19 GPU cores
- 16-core Neural Engine
- Memory bandwidth 200 GB / s
- 16 GB unified memory
- 512 GB SSD
You can also get the 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023) with the M2 Pro and the same specs as above, but with a 1TB SSD for $2,699 / £2,899 / AU$4,299.
Finally, for the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023) with the M2 Max chip, you’re looking at a hefty $3,499 / £3,749 / AU$5,599 price tag, and it comes with these specs:
- 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
- 38 GPU cores
- 16-core Neural Engine
- Memory bandwidth 400 GB / s
- 32 GB unified memory
- 1TB SSD
When it comes to the display, each model features a 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with a resolution of 3,456 x 2,234 and a pixel density of 254ppi. All new MacBook Pro displays have ProMotion technology for adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, so macOS Ventura should run incredibly smoothly.
Based on these specs, and what previous models have achieved, not only do we think these new machines will be some of the best MacBooks ever released, but they could also end up being some of the best laptops you can get right now, too.
Mac mini (2023)
A very pleasant surprise was the unveiling of a new Mac mini. Not only does the Mac mini (2023) get the expected upgrade to the M2 chip, but it also gets a model with the M2 Pro. This means you get a compact PC with some serious performance – could that make Mac Studio redundant?
With Apple claiming that “the new M2 Pro chip delivers professional-grade performance to a Mac mini for the first time,” and encouraging people to pair a Mac mini (2023) with a Studio Display, which is usually pushed with Mac Studio, I have a feeling the time has come.
Perhaps even more exciting, the M2 Mac mini (2023) comes with a new lower price of $599 / £649 / AU$999. That’s an impressively reasonable price, and it also fits with the recently disturbing trend of getting the products out more expensive.
The Mac mini (M2, 2023) comes with an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU and supports up to 24GB of memory, and appears to offer 9.8 times the timeline-rendering performance in Final Cut Pro than the older Mac mini with Intel.
Mac mini (M2, 2023) comes with a 12-core CPU, 19 GPU cores, 200GB/s of memory bandwidth (twice the amount offered by the M2) and support for up to 32GB of memory.
You can order the Mac mini (M2, 2023) and Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) today and they will go on sale January 24th.
Mac mini (M2, 2023) starts at $599 / £649 / AU$999, Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) starts at $1,299 / £1,399 / AU$1,999.
Real Apple M2 Pro and M2 Max chips!
Perhaps the most important thing revealed by Apple’s surprise announcement is the presence of the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, after the launch of the M2 last year.
While it was a welcome surprise, it wasn’t also Surprisingly, it follows Apple’s previous pattern of releasing the M1 chip, then following up the following year with the more powerful M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. We’ll likely see the M2 Ultra appear at some point.
According to Apple, “The M2 Pro advances the M2 architecture to offer up to a 12-core CPU and up to 19-core GPU, plus up to 32GB of fast unified memory.”
Meanwhile, the M2 Max chip “builds on the capabilities of the M2 Pro, including up to a 38-core GPU, double the bandwidth of unified memory, and up to 96GB of unified memory.”
Apple also gives a great deal of information about the “industry-leading performance per watt” of these chips, which is understandable, as it allows the company to make big claims about the MacBook Pro that will be powered by these chips and its impressively long battery life.
Here are some of the specifications Apple shared about the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips:
- The M2 Pro and M2 Max include Apple’s next generation, 16-core Neural Engine, capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second, up to 40% faster than the previous generation
- The M2 Pro media engine features H.264, HEVC, and ProRes video encoding and decoding, allowing playback of multiple 4K and 8K ProRes video streams while maintaining power efficiency. M2 Max features two video encoding engines and two ProRes engines, providing two times faster video encoding than M2 Pro.
- Apple’s latest image signal processor promises better noise reduction and computational video to improve camera image quality thanks to each chip’s Neural Engine.