This is the brand new MacBook Pro, and I don't like it.
Yes, it's got the same look, same amazing display, better battery life, and convenient
I.O. And yet, at $1,600, its starting price is actually a full $400 less than last year.
But that's because it's not actually the same.
Because even though this is the new M3 chip, it's not the M3 Pro.
Therefore this cheapest MacBook Pro actually replaces the 13-inch Touch Bar MacBook Pro
from last year. So compared to the previous entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, this has less power.
And outrageously, only 8GB of RAM.
Okay, there's actually lots of reasons why I don't like this laptop, and I'll tell
you all of them, but don't worry because I still have a recommendation of what I think
you should buy instead, even though I think you're still going to buy this.
I do not like this color, silver is way better.
If you buy the brand new MacBook Pro in space grey, you're making a terrible purchasing
mistake, because you'll be signaling to the world that you're poor.
I can't say that. I can't, because space grey is only available on the inexpensive model.
People with money, looking for power, have available to them space black.
Though not exactly black, I think many of the dark soul MacBook users are really going
to like the way this looks. It's certainly much, much better than space grey.
It's also better than the MacBook Air's midnight. I've been using that laptop for well over a year now, and I cannot keep it clean.
Apple's new anodization seal does in fact reduce the sight of fingerprints, though except
maybe mine, which is why it of course stick with silver, which is available across the
line.
But back to power. As I discovered with the iMac, the M3 chip is good, good enough to work for me day to
day. But only if I get an upgrade of memory.
8GB of memory is really hard to justify in a computer that says pro and looks pro.
And it shows that Apple is stubbornly and frustratingly holding its users back with
flash memory. Remember when Apple still sold their flagship iPhones with a paltry 16GB of storage?
God, that was awful. You'd have to delete everything off your phone just to update it.
And it's even worse than that because if you wanted a storage upgrade, the next year was 64GB.
This feels like the MacBook Pro version of that, and you'll be pining for that extra
memory. In my DaVinci Resolve export test, which is a GPU and memory intensive export, the cost
of reduced memory is 12 minutes. And in the real world, the cost is constantly using swap memory, which taxes the SSD.
While I do feel like Apple did improve memory management somewhat in Sonoma, it's little
consolation for anyone who's spending a lot of money for a laptop they hope will last
the many years. Speaking of the SSD, this is technically a storage upgrade compared to the Touch Bar
MacBook Pro, but you're still paying for it.
The next issue with this MacBook is that, well, just look.
I have an HDMI display plugged in here and still have spare USB-C ports for a second
monitor here, except I don't.
Because you can't use both at the same time, which is not very pro, especially considering
that you could do this on the previous much slower Intel MacBook Air.
While I'm on the topic of ports, the cheapest MacBook Pro has fewer and older Thunderbolt
ports. The one found on the right side of the more powerful versions is gone, and the two on
the left that are left support Thunderbolt 3 instead of the current Thunderbolt 4.
I don't like this MacBook because it's so hard to explain, but it's not entirely without
merit. Because experientially, it's great.
This is equipped with the same ProMotion mini-LED XDR display that the more expensive models
have been getting for years now. It looks stunning.
ProMotion is especially great for when you're gaming at the 40s frames per second as things
deliver as an evil village. What I noticed most, however, was the brightness.
The screens on all new MacBook Pros support 600 nits, and when you're sitting opposite
a sunny window, it really makes a difference. Furthermore, this has the same great speakers found in the other MacBooks too.
This actually matters because I don't know if you know this, but the previous generation
two-port MacBook Pros actually had a different speaker setup that sounded worse than the
nicer models. Not the case here. Oh yeah, and then there's the battery life.
This is at the top of the heap. In our video playback test, Labs measured around 24 hours of battery life, and in my
general usage, I got around 12. Nice.
And there remains the handy SD card reader as well.
Photographers rejoice. But wait, a few months ago, I suggested that the 15-inch MacBook Air is the perfect laptop
for photographers. I still believe that, but specced with the same storage, that MacBook Air is only $100
less than this. This dang ladder, Apple prices things in such a way that when you start upgrading your Mac,
you get so close to the next model, you think, I might as well just get that anyway.
And for the past few years, it seems that all roads lead to the M-Pro-powered MacBook
Pro, which I have no problem recommending even today.
But you're in the market for a cheap one, so what should you buy if you have $1,600?
I'd recommend you look for the M2 Pro MacBook Pro.
In sale, or in the referber store, it costs about the same as this.
But the M2 Pro is a faster chip, unless you're doing single-core tasks.
The extra performance and graphics cores make a big difference.
But the reason I think that even with this awesome recommendation, you're still going
to get the base model MacBook Pro is because you can't buy the M2 Pro.
I searched high and low, and I'm having a really hard time finding one.
And I think Apple knows it's better. So if you do find one, snag it.
So what other options do you have? If you know you're not going to be taxing the GPU in any of your tasks, but you still
want the best screen and speakers, get this in silver with 16GB of RAM for $1,800.
If you need to save more, a 13-inch MacBook Air with the same upgrades can be had for
as little as $1,500. And if you want to save the most, a basic version of that is less than $1,000 in the
referber store. The biggest issue I have with this MacBook Pro is what I fear it could potentially mean
for how the lineup shakes out over the next few months.
The MacBook Air's price drop and 15-inch version release this summer makes me worry
that those computers are going to be stuck with the old and slow M2 for a while.
What should make this MacBook Pro more appealing, right?
No, it means that the steps in the ladder are getting closer together.
Thanks for stepping up to this Mac Address. Make sure to like and subscribe, and in the comments below I'm curious how you feel about
the 8GB of RAM available in this.
And if you want to watch another video, I guess you can watch the one I did on the M2
Pro MacBook Pro because those thoughts are still relevant.