Have a 13-Inch MacBook Pro? Here's Why You Should Upgrade to the New M3 14-Inch Model

[lk400]

It's an opinion, like every post on this site, are they not allowed to have opinions?
I'm sure they won't be recommending an upgrade for the M3 Pro as strongly, for the M1 & m2 Pro users

It is indeed an opinion, a should level opinion, a recommendation.

I am obviously not commenting on who is allowed to do what as I have no basis to and my words would be meaningless. I just noted that such a recommendation seemed odd to me. Having used this site since the mid 2000s, I don’t recall seeing such language. Usually a more neutral tone, comparison of differences and features, “why you might consider the upgrade” and so on. Perhaps my memory is failing me. But this certainly stood out to me, and from other comments, to others too.

 

[Apple2GS]

Hmmm, 1.4 kg vs 1.55kg, sleepless nights ahead for me then 🤣

3 pounds vs 3.5 pounds. You obviously have never used either.

 

[manny88]

I’ll never upgrade my M1, I like the Touch Bar!

It still brought more functionality than normal keys, was colourful to look at, and wasn’t that bad once they did a physical escape key.

I’m not a pro or power user, and in fact I use the touch bar mainly for sliding, whether it’s brightness, volume, photos, videos, and also a screen mirroring shortcut, or word prediction, spell correction, or emojis. But man is it cool sliding things.

So yeah I under utilize it, but still enjoy it more than normal keys. I wish Apple just gave people a choice to add it as an extra, rather than killing it off for good.

 

[happy2000hk]

I have a 3 year old 13” M1 MBP. It is slim sleek and fast. Got it during Covid for kids school. The battery is still all day. The touch bar makes me smile. Never understood the Touch Bar hate. The 14 inch cost more and looks chunky. The M3 specs don’t mean anything to me.

 

[Star Brood]

I have a 2012 MBP that came with 8GB and 750 HDD. I upgraded it to 1 GB SSD for $100. 11 years later Apple wants to sell me the same RAM and 1/3 the storage. I don’t have the love for this company I once had.

Yeah I've got the same model and it runs strong, albeit hot. I don't have the stomach to do that surgical process to re-paste the CPU, though. 16GB RAM and a 2TB SSD make it feel much newer. It is a great machine

 

[joloriquelme]

My 2021 M1 Pro 14" base model is perfectly fine for the years to come, also my iPad Pro 2021 and my beloved iPhone 13 Pro Max.

All my future devices must be Wi-Fi 7 compatible.

 

[Born Again]

But the notch though. The notch alone is a deal breaker for me.
Sorry. I will not buy anything with a notch, I want the full screen without anything ruining it.

How elitist of you

The notch disappears. Never notice it.

 

[EricOSU]

Macrumors not everyone has this kind of disposable income.

Dump a 1 year old notebook? Is that really a recommendation?

I feel like anymore they’re just here to push the crap Apple produces. Innovation is dead under Tim and it’s all about making people think they need it. Oh and a “Pro” model computer should never have an entry level of 8GB ram.

 

[leicaman]

Nope. My M1 MacBook Pro (which I got the first month they were out) is just fine. Of course I have a Mac Studio Max and an M2 iPad Pro. So it's not like I'm lacking in power. And I'm retired. I'm in no hurry to do anything these days. Sure my 45 megapixel .CR3 images from my Canon R5 need a lot of horsepower. But the M1 Mac Studio is more than enough.

 

[carloslegarda]

Absolute nonsense. I have 2020 Intel MBP runnig Ventura and it's completely silent.

Depends on how warm it is where you work. If you live in colder climates the fans will rarely kick in but in warmer climates the fans do make noise.

 

[MacDownunder]

Indeed

I have a 2018 MacBook Air, and a 2013 iMac 27 inch. I use both for my work to earn an income, including a lot of international travel with the laptop. And, I have not a single reason to update the laptop. At some point I will need to update the desktop, but still holding out for hopefully a new 27 inch iMac.

As a note, seeing a rumours site giving a “should” recommendation to buy the latest thing is so strange.

Great to see realist here. I was like you using old HW to earn $$ from and ancient Mac - in my case was a 2010 cMP running open core with SSDs etc - awesome beast. I now have an m2 Pro Mac mini and TBH in the day to day it's not really noticeably quicker doing Creative Cloud things, but for me was the energy consumption and the fact it was 13 odd yrs old. I was able to get some good money for it too which partially funded the new Mac. All I'm saying is if your current devices are fit for purpose then what's the pressing need that so many have to upgrade - I suspect fear on not having latest and greatest

 

[brnmilk]

its just sad that apple launch it with 8gb ram. we are almost in 2024!!

 

[Macisperfect]

No. Tried the 14 and 16 inch but part of the rare gang that need Touch Bar ... not letting this computer go until it can no longer be repaired. Till it runs I'll hold on.

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.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.​

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.

Article Link: Have a 13-Inch MacBook Pro? Here's Why You Should Upgrade to the New M3 14-Inch Model

No.

 

[mecloud]

If you don’t like the notch, just use Dark Mode and set the desktop to black. Or modify a desktop picture using something like Pixelmator to create a black stripe the size of the menu bar on top. I’ve done both of those, never even see the notch that way.

 

[netguru2000]

some of you still dont understand that the notch is ABOVE the screen space you had on a notchless MacBook......you are not getting less space. The notch is inside the old models bezel.....and the task bar is now where the bezel used to be as opposed to in your original screen space.

Perhaps it's hard to explain, but art is within 4 lines - a frame. There's surely exceptions but for many of us the mind starts with, what's inside the frame. A window is a rectangle (with exceptions). A TV is a rectangle. Paper is a rectangle. If your mind isn't utterly perplexed and puzzled by the notch, that's great. But it's not a stretch to see why humans have evolved framing context with 4 straight lines given that's how we present the majority of flat imagery to ourselves. Plus it is possible to have both a 1080p camera/sensors and an extremely thin bezel without splitting one of the most important tools on a computer: the menu bar. Some lines you just don't cross...

 

[imamacperson]

Apple where in the @#$% is Face ID for the MacBook Pro?

 

[svish]

Good article. But don't think there is a need for anyone with M2 Mac to upgrade to M3

 

[Shirasaki]

I need minimum 4TB internal storage. 1TB for cloud storage, 1TB for photo library, and 1TB for music library.

Guess I have to keep using my “outdated” M1 MacBook Pro for a very long time.

Before anyone chiming in and say I can attach external storage, I tried, it didn’t work for long term replacement for internal storage.

 

[darthbane2k]

Or be smart. Wait 2 weeks for Apple’s ‘Shopping Event’ (Black Friday) and score yourself a £150 gift card by upgrading then.

 

[thecades]

Until Parallels Desktop updates, there is no point in purchasing.

 

[arkitect]

It is indeed an opinion, a should level opinion, a recommendation.

I am obviously not commenting on who is allowed to do what as I have no basis to and my words would be meaningless. I just noted that such a recommendation seemed odd to me. Having used this site since the mid 2000s, I don’t recall seeing such language. Usually a more neutral tone, comparison of differences and features, “why you might consider the upgrade” and so on. Perhaps my memory is failing me. But this certainly stood out to me, and from other comments, to others too.

👍
This is exactly what caught my eye.

The SHOULD in the thread title is a very poor choice of words.

I expect this kind of hype language on YouTube click bait videos, but it seems MacRumours are headed that way lately.

 

[MichaelAdam]

More ports ? I thought the M3 MBP had only 2 usb ports not 4 …

 

[k1121j]

🙄 game play. What games

 

[Prince Akeem]

In a direct hands-on comparison, I find the 14-inch way too thick. It's feels like old-fashioned "10-year old macbook pro" thickness. Anyway, to me the M2 13-inch Pro and M2 Air are also too thick.

It's maybe also that I'm so used to the M1 Air, which is the very best portable laptop chassis I've ever had. Better than the M2 Air.

 

[Frixos]

It’s not worth to upgrade from an M1 or M2 13” MBP to the 14”.