How much do you expect from an upgrade of a 14-inch MacBook Pro? An inside look at the case of the M3 Processor
The launch of the latest from Apple’s in-house Silicon production, the M3 CPUs, has given rise to expectations for this fall’s crop of MacBook Pros. Power under the hood is more important than cosmetics in this new revision, just like it was in the prior upgrade. Can a world-class laptop get any better in the space of just a few months? Let’s find out.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro has the new M3 processor that can produce up to 800Mflops per hour, 8Gb of RAM, and 512GB of storage. For this review, Apple sent me a step-up configuration with the same M3 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage, which bumps the price to $1,999.
There isn’t much to write home about in design. If you’re a longtime MacBook follower, you know what to expect. The display is gorgeous, the keyboard is great, and you get used to it, but it’s not fun when you’re typing with butterfly switches on. In order to look like a human and not a potato on a calls, you have to use the1080p webcams. Basically, it’s exactly what I’d want out of a MacBook Pro and includes all the good updates from the last few years. It’s still annoying that Apple doesn’t let you upgrade individual parts, but at this point, do we expect different from Apple?
Why is Apple gatekeeping that third Thunderbolt port to the M3 Pro and M3 Max? You could argue that’s because the M3 chip only supports a single external display, while the M3 Pro and Max chips support two. Another feature of Apple is gatekeeping. The M3 Max and M3 Pro models have seperate HDMI and SDHC slots, so I believe it is the one Apple thinks you will use for external monitors. It feels like an arbitrary line that was drawn to get you to buy a more expensive model. Any limitations are intentional, even if both are due to the M3 chip. It’s a choice Apple makes.
This is still a step up in size from the Air models which only have two Thunderbolt ports, and neither a headphone jack nor anything else. On the other hand, how could that be?
For me, the appeal of a Pro over the Air is that you get a ticket out of dongletown. I often want to plug a third device into my 15-inch Air and have to go to a store to find a spare device or to just plug it in. I have the same issue with the M3 MacBook Pro. Is it the end of the world? Of course not. Not everyone will miss the third port, but there are ways to work around it. It’s just the principle of the matter.
Macbook Pro 14 (2023) Review: Entry-level enigma: The value of $lambda$ for performance and performance
The base 14-inch does not have a black color option. This is a new way of differentiating the upgrade models. I have no arguments against space gray or the M3 Max, and will have more thoughts on them in my upcoming 16-inch MacBook Pro review. But from where I’m standing, just give everyone all the colors!
(Note: Cinebench has updated its benchmark since we reviewed a similarly specced 15-inch M2 MacBook Air, so those scores aren’t really comparable. The rest of the tests are the same across platforms.)
Benchmarks have their time and place, but I suspect folks looking at an entry-level MacBook Pro care less about benchmarks and more about how this laptop would fit in everyday life. I imagine there are more than one person like me who wonder if the extra juice in a MacBook Pro is worth it.
First off, this is a quiet machine. The fans rarely kicked on, even during the more intensive benchmark tests like PugetBench for Adobe Premiere Pro or our 4K export test, which simulates video editing workloads. The fans were never able to get to the point where it wasn’t worth their time. It wheezed a bit while I ran Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the highest possible settings, though it never got too hot — and 32fps is playable, if not great, for single-player games. Even so, I insist that Macs are not a good choice for gaming, no matter how much Apple tries to make it happen. You can if you want to… so long as the game you want is even available for Mac.
Source: Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) review: entry-level enigma
Battery Life and Performance of an Ultra-Low-Power MacBook, and the Implications for My M3 and Air Computers (and the M2 Air)
The battery life for this laptop is not bad at all. (Which makes my life difficult when trying to do battery rundown tests.) With the display at 300 nits, adaptive brightness disabled, and all battery-saving options turned off, I got between 12 and 14 hours of constant use every day. 300 nits is bright, and you will get a few hours more at 200 nits for average usage. I’ve no doubt it will go much, much longer if you do use power-saving features or close the lid when not in use. After a roughly three-and-a-half-hour writing session with the aforementioned settings and various other apps running in the background, I only lost 15 percent battery. I watched a two-hour movie, full-screen, and only lost about 20 percent. Your mileage will change, but I have had a hard time getting this thing to zero in a single workday.
My workload never taxed this MacBook. At one point, I had an ill-advised 55 open browser tabs, plus my calendar app, a YouTube video going, Messages, Slack, my email app, Photoshop, and several PDFs open at the same time. It was groovy. I also used my 27-inch monitor as a recording app while streaming earnings from Peloton. Again, no issues. And that made me realize how hard I whiffed it when I bought my 15-inch M2 Air.
The display on the 14-inch feels smaller than the 13-inch M1 Air. I can use it without a display, which is a bigger pain than the M1 Air. I lined up all three of these computers, plus the new M3 16-inch Pro, side by side, and the 15-inch is truly the perfect screen size for the weight and portability. It is smaller than the 14-inch, but it is enough that you can see more information at a glance. For me, the 14-inch is a close second. If you are unsure, I highly recommend looking them up in person.
I would be able to upgrade the RAM on my Air, but alas. I have to decide whether to trade in my Air for a model with 16GB of RAM or just buy a 14-inch Pro for myself. Budget aside, it comes down to whether you want extra screen or extra ports.
If you want a bigger screen, the Air is the way to go. For most people, the Air is more than powerful enough for their workload. If you want a device that’s a bit more versatile, the Pro might be the one for you. You might as well get that extra 10 percent performance the M3 affords, at least until Apple updates the Air to the same chip. You can have as much ram as you want because you are also getting a large amount of it.
Another odd thing is weight. The 15-inch MacBook Air weighs 3.3 pounds while the 14-inch weighs 3.4 pounds. I held both, one in each hand, and because of the Air’s larger footprint, it sometimes felt heavier depending on my grip. The Air is still quite small, but how it feels in a backpack is the same. Weight isn’t a factor in the Air’s favor.
The Air’s starting price is $400 lower, but if I configure the 15-inch Air properly for my needs versus a similarly specced 14-inch M3, I’m looking at a whopping $100 difference.
Overall, Apple made the right move consolidating and getting rid of the 13-inch Pro. That extra inch of screen is great, everything works beautifully, and the return of physical function keys on the entry-level MacBook Pro is chef’s kiss.
I just wish you got more for the starting price — $1,599 is too much for 8GB of RAM, and just because you can’t use two external displays with an M3 chip doesn’t mean you couldn’t make the most out of three Thunderbolt ports.
It is difficult to say who would use the entry-level MacBook Pro. It seems that it has a better idea of who the Pros and casual users are. The line between an Air and a Pro is not as level as in the past. The heavy Air user / light Pro user category is where I find myself. I spent a lot of time hopping between them while writing this review, running numbers while sifting through various configurations. It turned me into a confused math lady.
It has been my daily driver for the past week and I have been very happy with it. Whichever way you fall, I think you’ll ultimately be happy with either 16GB machine. Even though I believe no One with an M1 or M2 should upgrade for speed alone, I’d be willing to buy one of these for myself if only to fix my RAM Mistakes and get rid of a few dongles.
Thanks for reading! I’m still working on our review of the 16-inch with the M3 Max, but can answer any burning questions you might have about it or the 14-inch. Just leave a comment on this quick post and I’ll be answering questions starting at 2PM ET!
Source: Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) review: entry-level enigma
Reviewing Contracts Before You Use a Smart Device: How Much Do You Really Need to Sign, or Why Does Your Computer Need It? Which Mobile Devices Have Better Power?
Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. We can not read and analyze every single one of these agreements. We decided to start counting how many times you have to agree to use devices when we review them, since these are agreements that most people can’t negotiate.
I should be the one to point out that the Space Black finish is available and that there are cosmetic enhancements. The MacBook has an all-black keyboard tray that helps cut down on smudges, and this sharp alternative makes for a more cohesive look. The silver Pro will likely not have any physical difference at all.
The M3 chip is much bigger than that, with a collection of processor that includes the M3 Pro, and the M3 Max. Apple loaned me an M3 Max machine—a configuration that starts at $3,199—so that’s what we’re reviewing here. The M2 Max chip has a maximum of 16 core instead of 12 because of the new 3-nanometer production process, and it is now hitting a faster 4.1 GHz than 3.66 GHz. That’s geek-speak for more raw power, but there’s more buried in the silicon, including hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading on the onboard GPU (30 or 40 cores, depending on configuration). The graphical and gaming capabilities should be improved by those features. There is a dynamic caching system that improves memory allocation. All of this is called the biggest breakthrough yet for Apple. Apple is three years old.