WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.680 In the years I've been getting my hands dirty with Apple's lineup, I've learned something 00:00:06.680 --> 00:00:10.880 about MacBooks. Take the M2 MacBook Air, for example. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:16.980 Yes, it's only $1,200, but with just a few upgrades, it suddenly approaches the price 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:20.000 of the MacBook Pro without any of the pronus. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.240 At the other end of the spectrum, upgrades are so expensive that they're only worth 00:00:23.240 --> 00:00:27.160 doing if you have a specific professional use case for them. 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:33.520 That means for the average person, there's a sweet spot, and it's this. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:41.680 It's the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro. There's a brand new one, and it still starts at $2,000, a not insignificant sum, even with 00:00:41.680 --> 00:00:50.400 all the inflation going around. But for the money, you get HDMI 2.1, better Wi-Fi, and the brand new M2 Pro chip. 00:00:50.400 --> 00:00:56.800 But here's where it gets tricky. Apple's also currently selling another entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro. 00:00:56.800 --> 00:01:01.640 It's the previous M1 Pro model found in the refurbished store, and it's available for 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:05.360 quite a discount. 00:01:05.360 --> 00:01:10.760 That makes for an interesting dilemma right now. Which sweet spot is sweeter? 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:15.320 As we know, the refurbished store is a little ephemeral, so if you want any customizations, 00:01:15.320 --> 00:01:20.120 those are not guaranteed. It has what it has, and once they're gone, they're gone. 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:24.480 And refurbished models could be imperfect or require an exchange if you're unlucky like 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:31.880 I was. Performance-wise, the M2 processor now starts with 10 CPU and 16 GPU cores. 00:01:31.880 --> 00:01:36.680 But in the CPU, the extra cores are only of the efficiency variety. 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:44.440 So does that compromise performance? In the tests that I conducted, the M2 Pro is faster than the M1 Pro, but not by much. 00:01:44.440 --> 00:01:49.560 I shaved a minute off my crazy DaVinci RAW export test, and I got one more playback stream 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:53.820 of ProRes RAW in better quality using Final Cut Pro. 00:01:53.820 --> 00:01:58.060 Even if you read Apple's notoriously vague graphs properly, you can see that the improvements 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:04.620 are incremental there, too. One of the interesting things about the M2 generation is how it does seem to run hotter 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:11.840 than its predecessor. On that DaVinci test, the fan spun quite loudly on the 14-inch M2 Pro model and M2 Max model 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:16.540 I tested, with the highest surface temp reading 46 degrees above the keyboard. 00:02:16.540 --> 00:02:22.780 Meanwhile, the M2 Pro model remained barely audible and barely at under 43 degrees. 00:02:22.780 --> 00:02:26.420 With everyday use, like what I do with the laptop, the extra heat doesn't really matter. 00:02:26.420 --> 00:02:29.540 It won't be burning any holes through your jeans anytime soon. 00:02:29.540 --> 00:02:33.300 And importantly, the battery life doesn't suffer, because the additional efficiency 00:02:33.300 --> 00:02:40.460 cores make all the difference. Last time I used the 14-inch M1 Pro battery, I got around 7 hours of on-screen time. 00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:44.900 With this new one, that went up to 8 and a half. 00:02:44.900 --> 00:02:49.260 It's faster, the battery is better, and there's no refurbished store faffing. 00:02:49.260 --> 00:02:52.820 It sounds like it could be worth the $460. 00:02:52.820 --> 00:02:56.620 But stop, Apple did their thing again, and you should know about it. 00:02:56.620 --> 00:02:59.780 There are fewer SSD storage chips on the board. 00:02:59.780 --> 00:03:04.580 This means that compared to the M1 Pro model, sequential reads and writes are half the speed. 00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:08.300 Random read and write speeds, however, are slightly improved. 00:03:08.300 --> 00:03:13.820 This will probably affect app installs or large file transfers to and from fancy Thunderbolt 00:03:13.820 --> 00:03:19.620 SSDs most. But I still haven't quite felt the consequence of this in day-to-day use with the M2 MacBook 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:23.620 Air I've been using for the past few months, which has the same problem. 00:03:23.620 --> 00:03:29.380 Okay, so it's a hard choice, and here are two more things that won't change your mind. 00:03:29.380 --> 00:03:33.860 Huh, so the cheaper M1 Pro or this updated M2 Pro? 00:03:33.860 --> 00:03:38.820 It's still not that easy to decide. And well, consider the following. 00:03:38.820 --> 00:03:46.700 On the M2 Pro model, the HDMI port now supports 8K resolution, or 240Hz 4K, with the genuine 00:03:46.700 --> 00:03:53.380 2.1 spec, as well as the addition of multi-channel sound output, which I'm surprised it didn't 00:03:53.380 --> 00:04:00.580 have already. If you have the TV or display that supports this, you can now get retina quality on big 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:05.460 screens. This is amazing, and also hilarious, I do not recommend. 00:04:05.460 --> 00:04:12.220 Wi-Fi now supports the 6e spec too. It's something I can't really test at the LMG office here, because it's like the iPhone 00:04:12.220 --> 00:04:18.020 4 keynote in here. You know, you could help me out if you're on Wi-Fi if you could just get off. 00:04:18.020 --> 00:04:21.860 Okay, so it's not any easier to decide. 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:27.420 That price for the refurbished M1 Pro model is quite tempting, as you get 16GB of RAM 00:04:27.420 --> 00:04:31.780 and 1.5TB of storage, things that bring Apple's cheaper laptops out of their affordable 00:04:31.780 --> 00:04:39.700 purchase to similar prices. If you have the risk tolerance, and they're still available, the M1 Pro is not significantly 00:04:39.700 --> 00:04:44.860 slower or worse than this new updated model, and it is significantly better than anything 00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:50.820 below it. When those are gone, you're going to be left with this, and that's great too. 00:04:50.820 --> 00:04:53.820 This in many ways is the one Mac to rule them all. 00:04:53.820 --> 00:04:58.020 With Apple Silicon, the performance differences between laptop and desktop are largely gone. 00:04:58.020 --> 00:05:05.500 It's all about efficiency. So if you're the type of person who previously had both an iMac and a MacBook, don't. 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:09.620 Just get one of these. Thanks for watching this slightly faster Mac Address. 00:05:09.620 --> 00:05:13.140 If you were waiting for the M2 Pro processor, give this video a like. 00:05:13.140 --> 00:05:19.860 I am curious actually, if you would choose between getting a brand new M2 Pro or taking 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:24.380 the risk and saving the money for an M1 Pro in the refurbished store. 00:05:24.380 --> 00:05:24.940 Comment below.