Apple 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and Mac Mini (2023): specs, release date, price
new year, new MacBooks. With little fanfare, Apple has unveiled updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros that now feature Apple-made M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets. This is pretty much the only major difference from the 2021 MacBook Pro predecessors. However, this is not the only announcement of new equipment. There’s also a more powerful Mac Mini with an M2 processor at a tantalizingly low price of $599.
The new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are the first to introduce Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, successors to the M1 Pro and M1 Max from 2021. Apple introduced the standard M2 chip in the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro last year, but these new chipsets are more powerful and efficient.
You can choose any chip for each machine; they offer up to a 12-core CPU, while the M2 Pro offers up to a 19-core GPU and potentially up to 32GB of combined memory. Choose the M2 Max and you can upgrade to a 38-core GPU and up to 96GB of combined memory for really demanding tasks. The addition of these upgrades raises the price drastically, but luckily the base price for these laptops remains the same. 14 inch Macbook Pro starts at $1999 and 16″ model costs $2499. You can order them now and they will be shipped on January 24th.
Apple says the M2 Pro has 20 percent more transistors than the M1 Pro and doubles the bandwidth of the M2, from 100 GB per second to 200. Image processing on the M2 Pro is reported to be 40 percent faster than on the M1 Pro. too much. All of this should lead to performance improvements across the board, but the proof will be in the pudding – we’ll be thinking about these devices soon.
Other goodies for the MacBook include support for 8K/60Hz and 4K/240Hz external displays when using the HDMI port, as well as Wi-Fi 6E compatibility if you have a Wi-Fi 6E router. Much remains the same as their predecessors. You get the same gorgeous 120Hz display, durable build, and improved port selection including three USB-C ports, HDMI, SD card slot, headphone jack, and MagSafe connector. However, this means that what we did not like has remained the same. These 14- and 16-inch laptops are heavy and not exactly the kind of machines you want to carry around with you. Still no Face ID (only Touch ID).
We weren’t too thrilled with the battery life either, but Apple has patched that up a bit with the latest model. Specifically, the 16-inch MacBook Pro’s battery life has been bumped up to 22 hours from 21. A small increase, but Apple claims it’s “the longest battery life for a Mac.” We will see.