Apple MacBook Pro 14 and MacBook Pro 16 M2 (2023)

Apple has finally announced the M2 versions of the MacBook Pro 16-inch and MacBook Pro 14-inch along with an updated Mac Mini. As expected, there is no design refresh on these laptops as they went through a complete facelift the last time around. Instead, the focus is on new specs that increase performance and improve battery life.

The MacBook Pro line-up is always present in our list of best laptops and these new models will likely replace the outgoing 2021 model.

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Pricing and Availability

The MacBook Pro 16-inch starts at AED 10,599 while the smaller MacBook Pro 14-inch starts at AED 8,499. Both these models can be configured to your liking with upgrades to the processor, memory, and storage. Apple does sell three standard editions for each of them which are as follows:

Apple MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro (2023)

AED10,199.00

Weight: 1.6 kg | Display: 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR, 3024 x 1964 resolution, 120Hz | Processor: Apple M2 Pro, M2 Max chip; 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, 16-core Neural Engine | GPU: Apple 19-core GPU | RAM: up to 96GB | Storage: up to 8TB | Expansion: Three Thunderbolt 4, USB-C ports, HDMI, SDXC card slot | Wireless: 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 wireless technology | Battery: Up to 18 hrs, 67W / 96W USB-C Power Adapter

Pros:

• Extremely powerful
• Portable form factor
• Gorgeous screen

Cons:

• Mediocre battery life
• Expensive

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12/05/2023 12:53 pm GMT

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M2 Pro (2023)

Weight: 2.15 kg | Display: 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR, 3456 x 2234 resolution, 120Hz | Processor: Apple M2 Pro, M2 Max chip; 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, 16-core Neural Engine | GPU: Apple 38-core GPU | RAM: up to 96GB | Storage: up to 8TB | Expansion: Three Thunderbolt 4, USB-C ports, HDMI, SDXC card slot | Wireless: 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 wireless technology | Battery: Up to 21 hrs, 140W USB-C Power Adapter

Pros:

• Powerful M2 chip for optimum computing performance
• Up to 22 hours of battery life
• Stunning 16-inch Retina display

Cons:

• Need to pay a premium to get it
• Big and Heavy- not ideal to lug around

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Specs you should know

Compared to the M1 based 2021 edition of MacBook Pro, Apple claims that the new M2 chips are up to 20% faster on CPU tasks and up to 30% faster on GPU-related tasks. Wi-Fi capabilities are upgraded from Wi-Fi 6 to the newer Wi-Fi 6E standard and the HDMI port is also bumped from 2.0 to HDMI 2.1 standard. Apple is also claiming an additional hour of battery on the 16-inch model.

Design

Considering how Apple introduced the new design on the MacBook Pro 14 and MacBook Pro 16 in its previous release, I wasn’t expecting any design overhauls for this generation which is exactly the case. That’s completely fine as Apple prioritizes function over form and these machines are extremely capable with the right amount of ports and connectivity.

The 16-inch model is a bit on the heavier side and is more suited as a desktop replacement. If you want more portability then I’d recommend going with the 14-inch model which offers identical performance in a smaller form factor at the cost of a slightly smaller screen and lower battery life.

Display

The MacBook Pro 14 has a 14.2-inch screen with a 3024 x 1964 resolution while the MacBook Pro 16 has a 16.2-inch screen with a resolution of 3456 x 2234 pixels. Both of these result in 254 pixels per inch which is sharp and clear. These Liquid Retina XDR displays as Apple likes to call them also support ProMotion or adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz.

These are excellent MiniLED screens with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio supporting 1 billion colors (P3) and True Tone technology. They also get very bright at 1000 nits sustained full-screen and 1600 nits peak for HDR content or 500 nits for SDR.

Performance

Apple pleasantly surprised everyone with the M1 processor with its performance and efficiency and the M2 builds upon that. Debuted on the MacBook Air last year, Apple claimed that the M2 was 1.4x faster than M1 and featured 20 billion transistors across eight total cores.

The M2 Pro expands that to 40 billion transistors and 12 processor cores and 19 GPU cores. The M2 Max keeps the same number of processor cores but doubles the GPU cores to 38. Apple has also increased the L2 cache on both the M2 Pro and M2 Max, resulting in even faster performance.

For further reading, there is a good explanation of these new CPUs from Apple at PCMag.

Battery and Charging

Apple claims to have the longest battery life on any Mac laptop with the new M2-based 16-inch MacBook Pro model. The 100-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery offers up to 22 hours of Apple TV app movie playback or up to 15 hours of wireless web. Apple includes a 140W USB-C Power Adapter with the MacBook Pro 16 that can be charged using MagSafe or the USB C port.

The MacBook Pro 14 has a smaller 70-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery that offers up to 18 hours of Apple TV app movie playback or up to 12 hours of wireless web. If you purchase the M2 Pro model of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, you get a 67W power adapter while the M2 Max model of the 14-inch MacBook Pro comes with a 96W power adapter. The MacBook Pro 14 can be charged using MagSafe or the USB C port.