Apple this week discontinued the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro, replacing it with a 14-inch model that's equipped with a next-generation M3 chip. The 14-inch model is more expensive, but it comes with a number of benefits that make it worth the upgrade for anyone with a 13-inch machine.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro has a larger display than the 13-inch model for more screen real estate, and it features much more modern-looking thin bezels. There's also a notch that houses the front-facing camera, a necessity for those slimmed down bezels. It is a mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR display, which is an upgrade over the LCD of the prior-generation 13-inch model.
Along with support for 120Hz ProMotion refresh rates, the 14-inch MacBook Pro's display is brighter and has better color and HDR support. SDR brightness is 600 nits, while XDR brightness is 1000 nits sustained and 1600 nits peak.
In terms of performance, you're going to see a boost in CPU and GPU speeds, but it will be most noticeable if you're coming from an Apple M1 chip or an even earlier Intel chip. The M3 has an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU much like the M2, but the GPU supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing so gameplay will be improved.
Battery life has seen a boost, so the 14-inch MacBook Pro now lasts for up to 22 hours, up two hours from the 20 hour battery life of the M2 13-inch MacBook Pro. If you were a fan of the Touch Bar, be warned that the 14-inch MacBook Pro does not have one. With the discontinuation of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, Apple has officially nixed the Touch Bar.
In terms of size, the 14-inch MacBook Pro is a little wider, a little longer, and just a bit heavier than the 13-inch model. It weighs 3.4 pounds while the 13-inch model weighed 3 pounds. There are more ports with the M3 MacBook Pro, so in addition to two Thunderbolt ports, you'll also get an HDMI port, an SD card slot, and a MagSafe charging port.
Other improvements include a better 1080p FaceTime HD camera, a six-speaker sound system, Wi-Fi 6E support, and Bluetooth 5.3.
The only real downside with the 14-inch MacBook Pro is the price. It starts at $1,599, making it $300 more expensive than the $1,299 starting price of the M2 13-inch MacBook Pro. If you can afford it, what you get for the extra $300 is worth it, but if that makes it too pricey, you'll need to look at the lower-cost MacBook Air.
For those with an M2 13-inch MacBook Pro, it's probably not worth upgrading to the 14-inch model right now despite the benefits, but if you're coming from an M1 13-inch MacBook Pro or an Intel machine, it's going to be a much more notable upgrade that will feel closer to night and day.
Are you upgrading to the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro? Let us know why or why not in the comments below.
