I mean what does Pro even mean any more? It’s just a marketing term. eg. AirPods Pro, iPhone pro, iPad Pro etc.
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M3 14" MBP will be the new go to Apple Laptop
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I mean what does Pro even mean any more? It’s just a marketing term. eg. AirPods Pro, iPhone pro, iPad Pro etc.
Let’s be real, it’s going to be whatever the newest base model 13” Air is, and will be for the foreseeable future. The average person values lower price and weight over any of the things listed in the OP.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Air doesn't get the M3 until the M4 comes out for the Pros, or shortly before. Perhaps the MBA will be like the iPad Air and be a generation behind for the lower cost.
If the history of the wedge-shaped 13" Air is anything to go by, that model only had three yearly updates in the past eight years. Otherwise, it was roughly two years between updates; which is how the iMac usually has been as well, and could be why it skipped the M2.
To me, Pro just means "more profit for Apple"
Cuz then it wouldn't sound pro enough.
I’ll admit it’s a branding snafu, but even without the pro chip, it’s got ProMotion display, more connectivity, a thermal cooling system, more base-level storage, and a faster power adapter in the box. So, I mean, it’s obviously elevated compared to the MacBook Air
No it is not. The difference in price between the 13” MBA and 14” MBP is only $200 in the same config.
And it is not just better screen and a fan. You get:
- more ports
- bigger display
- better quality display
- better speakers
- more performance (as it doesn’t thermal throttle like a MBA)
The 14” MBP is a very good machine for the $200 extra you spend.
Disappointing price vs. specs, I’m going to wait to make a decision until they bump up the Air to M3, they’re missing a huge selling point for the Air, many people don’t want to spend over $2k for just decent specs. Seems like a consumer unfriendly decision to not bump the Air to M3 now.
And if they finally switch to USB-C that will be all the smarter purchase decision.
And if they finally switch to USB-C that will be all the smarter purchase decision.
The 14” MBP more “Pro” than a MBA for sure.
Suppose you have to do a presentation but you lost your HDMI dongle, you are screwed with your MBA.
With the 14” MBP, no problem, HDMI is included on the laptop.
Same with SD cards.
Well, I think the 512 GB upgrade on the M2 Air is more overpriced, so I was more comparing base models. You can easily get a 1 TB external SSD for a fraction of the price so I don't think the internal upgrade is worth it. At that point, you are paying $500 from the 8/8 M2. I agree you get a lot more stuff and more performance, but I just feel that there is not a lot of people who would want those things but not the M3 Pro as well. That 8 GB RAM in particular is going to be a huge bottleneck for anyone who needs the extra performance. The Air is popular for people who just want a long lasting reliable basic computer, and it already has a plenty good display and speakers, and the Pro class machines are popular for power users who do things like video editing or rendering. I just don't see where this M3-in-a-Pro-chassis fits in well.
It's been that way since 2016 with the 2015 MBP. I no longer equate port selection with "Pro" having been ruthlessly trained by Apple to drag around a 'go bag' of dongles.
Maybe it’s like a Honda Accord with a Civic engine… still an Accord I guess.
An M3 14"MBP instead of the 13" touch-bar is a great idea. Some pros don't need a lot of CPU/GPU power but they still need the better display, speakers, etc. and will be happy to exchange extra power for more battery life. 8GB is cringy, but ok, we're used to coughing up another $200 for "the good one".
But the real deal breaker for me is taking out the USB-C port on the right hand side. Since I'm one of those people who don't need the extra power, the ports were high among the key selling points for me. So since it's limit-land anyway, I'd rather just continue with the Air.
But the real deal breaker for me is taking out the USB-C port on the right hand side. Since I'm one of those people who don't need the extra power, the ports were high among the key selling points for me. So since it's limit-land anyway, I'd rather just continue with the Air.
Which is pretty much why I think the default laptop, the one that most users will get may well be the Air.
Then again, a lot of people vastly overestimate their needs, have no idea or ever made the effort to think about what they actually need, or are just fooled into thinking that only something that says "Pro" on it is really going to be good enough for browsing Facebook and watching YouTube like a pro.
You get XDR and ProMotion and more nits with the 14”, right? And 1” bigger obviously. And double the base storage I think. Businesses do that all the time though, bundling/packaging. We can’t expect companies to always offer a package with precisely what we specifically want and nothing more. Like how people say 64GB is too little and 256GB is too much. Too much is not such a terrible problem to have IMO. The question is whether the package at the price meets a big enough demand. The 13” MBP seemed to meet a demand for quite a few years, so presumably there are people who want an Air but with slightly better performance and/or slightly better battery life (or maybe they wanted the Touch Bar?). So presumably, since Apple made this switch, there may be a comparable market of people who want that 13” MBP package and/or everything the 14” brings, minus the extra horsepower—which may just not be important to them. I’ve actually seen people in these forums express their dissatisfaction that pro displays are usually tied to pro chips, as they want the former but not the latter, so this should make them happy.
Users who can take advantage of the XDR display are likely content creators or media specialists. They need more than 8/512GB and a base M3. So it doesn’t make sense (to me) to have a fancy display attached to a base M3 with 8/512. This kind of config is for typical browsing and media consumption users.
Putting an M3 in the 14-inch chassis was the right move. But putting an XDR was wrong. Apple should have used a regular edge lit LCD paired with 8/256 and priced at $1,399.
From a customer standpoint, the mbp with m3 may be a bit unorthodox as it seems it was made to hit a certain pricepoint so that apple has a “pro” laptop in that range as they removed the 13.
From apple’s perspective though, it might make sense as they now have a “base” model for those who only want the gorgeous screen and 120hz. For those who need more then apple also has the solution for that just need to add more to the budget.
Personally the base mbp 14 would have been an instant buy from me if this was two years ago. The 16gb ram is overkill for me but i do want that extra storage and that gorgeous screen to match my ipad pro 12.9 with mini led. It came a bit late though, at least in my case, as i already have the mbp 14 m1 pro a couple of months ago, (with the discount i got, it was still lower than the price of the base mbp 14 with m3 announced earlier). Sure the m3 may be more powerful, but that wasnt a problem for me to begin with, the m1 pro was and still is overkill for me, the display though was not something i was willing to compromise so when the huge discount hit, it was a no brainer buy for me even if m2 pro was well in the middle of its circulation. Aside from being cheaper vs the base m3, the m1 pro also has 16gb of ram so its an added bonus even if i’m not really into heavy usage.
I’m curious though how much of a speed bump the m3 would be against the m1 pro, i think they compared it to the m1 in the presentation not m1 pro.
From apple’s perspective though, it might make sense as they now have a “base” model for those who only want the gorgeous screen and 120hz. For those who need more then apple also has the solution for that just need to add more to the budget.
Personally the base mbp 14 would have been an instant buy from me if this was two years ago. The 16gb ram is overkill for me but i do want that extra storage and that gorgeous screen to match my ipad pro 12.9 with mini led. It came a bit late though, at least in my case, as i already have the mbp 14 m1 pro a couple of months ago, (with the discount i got, it was still lower than the price of the base mbp 14 with m3 announced earlier). Sure the m3 may be more powerful, but that wasnt a problem for me to begin with, the m1 pro was and still is overkill for me, the display though was not something i was willing to compromise so when the huge discount hit, it was a no brainer buy for me even if m2 pro was well in the middle of its circulation. Aside from being cheaper vs the base m3, the m1 pro also has 16gb of ram so its an added bonus even if i’m not really into heavy usage.
I’m curious though how much of a speed bump the m3 would be against the m1 pro, i think they compared it to the m1 in the presentation not m1 pro.
Not necessarily. Some people just want the best display there is for that specific machine, afterall its the one thing you will be looking at for the entire lifespan of that device. Personally its just for media consumption for me… it was always a downgrade when i use my ipad pro 12.9 with mini led and switch to my macbook air m2 with the screen, so having them on equal quality works great for my eyes
My vote goes to the base 14" Pro base config. After getting the 16GB option to make it a more usable machine, for $200 more you get more CPU and GPU cores and more RAM. It makes more sense to just get the 14" Pro base config.
I see the lower end M3 "normal" MBPs as the false economic choices. Things like the 8GB RAM configuration shouldn't be a thing in 2023 but it's still there and we shouldn't pick it.
I see the lower end M3 "normal" MBPs as the false economic choices. Things like the 8GB RAM configuration shouldn't be a thing in 2023 but it's still there and we shouldn't pick it.
I think the 'go-to' Apple laptop for enthusiasts is the 14 inch 16GB/1TB Pro. It's a stock config so should be available discounted and includes the typical config upsells you might want.
The 'go-to' Apple laptop for students, casual users and people dipping their toe in the water of Macs will be the Air.
Which leaves the 14 inch M3 in a similarly tricky spot as the 13 inch M2 MBP - really only existing to bridge the Air and 14/16 Pro lineup.
All that said, it is a nice machine.
The 'go-to' Apple laptop for students, casual users and people dipping their toe in the water of Macs will be the Air.
Which leaves the 14 inch M3 in a similarly tricky spot as the 13 inch M2 MBP - really only existing to bridge the Air and 14/16 Pro lineup.
All that said, it is a nice machine.
XDR/ProMotion displays on iPads and Macs are now associated with the "Pro" moniker, so that wouldn't happen. Also, everybody can take advantage of an XDR display. It's on every iPhone nowadays. I don't see a Pro with 256GB either, as it would have lower read/write speeds. If you don't need the fancy display, get an Air M3 next year, or even an M2 right now which is still a quite new machine
This is a very interesting thought - maybe going forward any 'Pro' models get newest M processors, while the Air, iMac (maybe mini?) stay on a generation behind.