14 inch M2 Pro versus M3 pro cost benefit ratio?

[JSENNY25]

Hi folks! Little less than 11 months ago I bought an M2 MacBook Air 15 inch. Really liked the footprint of the device and the largest screen but unfortunately I have come to realize 8 GB of RAM just is not gonna do it for me. Shame on me, I should’ve known better…

Looking to write my wrong I’ve been on the search for deals and my local Best Buy has AI M3 pro with the Best Buy member price being right around $1500. When I went to ask about it, I also happen to find out they had an M2 Pro open box with virtually the same specs… other than the 2 GB of RAM difference.

They are asking $1000 for it. It does not come with a charger or a box and there is a small scuff on it.

Here’s where I’m a bit stuck… I’m really looking to upgrade for the ram, but I know I will miss the extra inch of screen real estate even though it is a better quality screen. Beyond that, I have enough older devices to trade in to basically cover the cost completely of the M2 or, I pay about $500 out-of-pocket for the M3…

I understand the screen may be a bit brighter on the M3 and I’ll get two additional gigs of RAM but other than that, will I regret not spending 500 or will I enjoy saving the money overtime?

Essentially, I trade in my MacBook Air and a few other things around the house and I walk out with an M2, MacBook Pro at no cost or spend the $500 For the M3.?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated

 

[Jimbonatius]

I mean, sure....you could save money. You're not just getting extra ram, though, you'll be getting longer support on your MacBook if you pick the m3 pro. Not to mention, that space black option is pretty damn nice.

 

[JSENNY25]

I mean, sure....you could save money. You're not just getting extra ram, though, you'll be getting longer support on your MacBook if you pick the m3 pro. Not to mention, that space black option is pretty damn nice.

Good points on the coverage. And as much as the black is beautiful, my wife and a 16 M3 Pro in silver and it really sends me back to the classic days of the aluminum pros… think I may head in that direction.

 

[Malus120]

IMHO, at $1500 for the M3 Pro vs $1000 for an M2 Pro I'd say the M2 Pro is a no brainer.

Assuming they are both the base configuration:
CPU: M2 Pro has one additional performance core (6 vs 5) albeit two less efficiency cores (4 vs 6) and an older uArch. Most reviews show multicore CPU performance between the two being mostly a wash, although you do get better single core performance on the M3 Pro.
GPU: M2 Pro has two additional GPU cores (16 vs 14) and an extra 50GB/s of memory bandwidth (200GB/s vs 150GB/s) with most reviews showing M2 Pro having equal or better GPU performance if you don't need/want ray-tracing.

Obviously the M3 benefits from the extra 2GBs of memory, I'd want to check the warranty status of both machines, and you'll need to factor in the cost of an adequate power adaptor if you don't already have one and how much the small cosmetic damage matters to you but I don't think the M3 Pro is worth an extra 50%.

 

[JSENNY25]

IMHO, at $1500 for the M3 Pro vs $1000 for an M2 Pro I'd say the M2 Pro is a no brainer.

Assuming they are both the base configuration:
CPU: M2 Pro has one additional performance core (6 vs 5) albeit two less efficiency cores (4 vs 6) and an older uArch. Most reviews show multicore CPU performance between the two being mostly a wash, although you do get better single core performance on the M3 Pro.
GPU: M2 Pro has two additional GPU cores (16 vs 14) and an extra 50GB/s of memory bandwidth (200GB/s vs 150GB/s) with most reviews showing M2 Pro having equal or better GPU performance if you don't need/want ray-tracing.

Obviously the M3 benefits from the extra 2GBs of memory, I'd want to check the warranty status of both machines, and you'll need to factor in the cost of an adequate power adaptor if you don't already have one and how much the small cosmetic damage matters to you but I don't think the M3 Pro is worth an extra 50%.

Thanks for the insight.... I do not know if I would receive a year of coverage via apple with a device that was previously activated, and is essentially 2 years old. Battery cycle is 1, so it was purchased, scuffed, and returned to Best Buy where is was hidden for a year it seems.

Coverage is important to me on an open box device...and the M3 was activated a few weeks ago, so it would certainly have coverage if needed in the first year.

The M3 is like new, the M2 does have a few scuffs... I have a 70 W charger, but I would like a MagSafe cord as well, so that is $50.

 

[wonderings]

If you are wanting more RAM and willing to get a new computer from a computer you love (save for the RAM) why would you go and compromise again and not get a computer that has the RAM that you want? This is the downside of Apple products and why they not as green as they like to shout about. No upgrades because of poor hardware designs pushing their own proprietary hardware.

 

[JSENNY25]

If you are wanting more RAM and willing to get a new computer from a computer you love (save for the RAM) why would you go and compromise again and not get a computer that has the RAM that you want? This is the downside of Apple products and why they not as green as they like to shout about. No upgrades because of poor hardware designs pushing their own proprietary hardware.

valid points

 

[Dfds]

The M3 also has hardware ray tracing

 

[JSENNY25]

Here’s another wrinkle… 14 inch M3 pro but, with the basic M3 processor. 16 gigs ram one terabyte hard drive.

Apple sell for this upgraded version for 1999. (Open box price is less)

Or The M3 pro with the M3 pro processor. 18 gigs of RAM and 512 hard drive. Also original price 1999. (new on sale price is less and Best Buy member pricing)

The standard M3 would be roughly $100 less than the M3 pro with sales and open box pricing so essentially, save $100 and get a larger hard drive but lose the more than processor and two gigs of ram. I realize this is all quite trivial and I am quite lucky to have these types of first world problems.

 

[Adora]

It depends on what you are doing with it.

I have an iMac M3 24GB 1TB and a MBP 16" M2Pro 16GB 1TB.

For my use case there is no difference in speed noticeable and if the M2 15" Air already hab been out, I might have purchased that one with 24GB RAM.

I sometimes wish I had chosen 32GB for the MBP, because 16 gets near to it's limit sometimes, but 24 would also be enough. It was just the price that kept me from getting more RAM, but since I have the iMac, I almost never use the MBP anymore because 24" is much better than 16".

 

[JSENNY25]

It depends on what you are doing with it.

I have an iMac M3 24GB 1TB and a MBP 16" M2Pro 16GB 1TB.

For my use case there is no difference in speed noticeable and if the M2 15" Air already hab been out, I might have purchased that one with 24GB RAM.

I sometimes wish I had chosen 32GB for the MBP, because 16 gets near to it's limit sometimes, but 24 would also be enough. It was just the price that kept me from getting more RAM, but since I have the iMac, I almost never use the MBP anymore because 24" is much better than 16".

Just a heads up, I sprung for a new M3 Pro 14 with the 18,512 configuration.

Only space black available, and it has taken some getting adjusted to the color.

I am missing the screen size of the MacBook Air, specifically the resolution that is one LARGER than default. It fit me better and was easier on my eyes. While the screen is better on the Pro 14, I am missing the real estate.

Computer connects MUCH better to a 75 inch touch screen monitor I use in my classroom. No errors, not inability to connect consistently. No dongle either lol.

I was waffling on open box to save an additional $100, but I am happy with the device new, especially since prices may drop in the next 60 days again.

I am struggling with space black though. That may be a challenging. I have a Silver iPad Pro M4 (with the black Magic Keyboard)....so I guess this way the keyboards/palm rests match ?

Performance so far has been wonderful.

 

[Thirio2]

I want the biggest screen practical and to me the 15” MBA is the sweet spot. The 16” MBP would be better, but the cost is so much higher that I don’t call it practical for my use case.

 

[JSENNY25]

I want the biggest screen practical and to me the 15” MBA is the sweet spot. The 16” MBP would be better, but the cost is so much higher that I don’t call it practical for my use case.

I agree!....But, with prices where they are at Best Buy at the moment, I struggled with paying the same price for an Air as a (similar spec) Pro. The tech improvements are really a sticking point - for example the M2 Air had issues driving the 75 inch touch screen I use class daily. The pro has had none of those issues.

BUT I stare at the screen. It is the primary user interface, and I do miss the screen size.

I adjusted the resolution 1352 x 878, and the text is easier to read, but I have lost some screen real estate.

 

[Adora]

I agree!....But, with prices where they are at Best Buy at the moment, I struggled with paying the same price for an Air as a (similar spec) Pro. The tech improvements are really a sticking point - for example the M2 Air had issues driving the 75 inch touch screen I use class daily. The pro has had none of those issues.

BUT I stare at the screen. It is the primary user interface, and I do miss the screen size.

I adjusted the resolution 1352 x 878, and the text is easier to read, but I have lost some screen real estate.

You could try a higher resolution again and only adjust the text size with Tinker Tool, it's free. Maybe there are also options in the Accessibility settings. And the text size of Finder/Destop can be changed manually.

TinkerTool: Description

Product description for the latest generation of TinkerTool

www.bresink.com

This is in the view options menu for the Desktop (what belongs to the Finder menu):

And the same in any folder of the Finder or the whole drive:

 

[JSENNY25]

You could try a higher resolution again and only adjust the text size with Tinker Tool, it's free. Maybe there are also options in the Accessibility settings. And the text size of Finder/Destop can be changed manually.

View attachment 2432527

TinkerTool: Description

Product description for the latest generation of TinkerTool

www.bresink.com

This is in the view options menu for the Desktop (what belongs to the Finder menu):

View attachment 2432536


And the same in any folder of the Finder or the whole drive:
View attachment 2432537

Thank you!

I did tinker with text in accessibility, but I will take a look at the TinkerTool!

I appreciate it

 

[Alameda]

Hi folks! Little less than 11 months ago I bought an M2 MacBook Air 15 inch. Really liked the footprint of the device and the largest screen but unfortunately I have come to realize 8 GB of RAM just is not gonna do it for me. Shame on me, I should’ve known better…

Looking to write my wrong I’ve been on the search for deals and my local Best Buy has AI M3 pro with the Best Buy member price being right around $1500. When I went to ask about it, I also happen to find out they had an M2 Pro open box with virtually the same specs… other than the 2 GB of RAM difference.

They are asking $1000 for it. It does not come with a charger or a box and there is a small scuff on it.

Here’s where I’m a bit stuck… I’m really looking to upgrade for the ram, but I know I will miss the extra inch of screen real estate even though it is a better quality screen. Beyond that, I have enough older devices to trade in to basically cover the cost completely of the M2 or, I pay about $500 out-of-pocket for the M3…

I understand the screen may be a bit brighter on the M3 and I’ll get two additional gigs of RAM but other than that, will I regret not spending 500 or will I enjoy saving the money overtime?

Essentially, I trade in my MacBook Air and a few other things around the house and I walk out with an M2, MacBook Pro at no cost or spend the $500 For the M3.?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated

How do you know that the 8GB isn’t enough? Did you check the memory pressure using Activity Monitor?

 

[JSENNY25]

How do you know that the 8GB isn’t enough? Did you check the memory pressure using Activity Monitor?

Yes. Some of the stuff we started to get into at home with my son became a little bit more intense but honestly, I recognize that the M2 while a great device was not going to be up to what I wanted. The hard drive had filled up to the point where I couldn’t even update to the latest OS. Kind of surprised it crept up on me like that so, with the trade-in offers for being a Best Buy member and the sale on the pros, it was an easier pill to swallow. Enjoying it so far, but still miss the real estate of the 15 inch screen. But the quality of the screen is enjoyable.