Looking for some advice and would greatly value your advice. I want to upgrade from my 2020 M1 13" 8GB/512gb for a little more screen real estate and better display quality (mini LED + 120hz) and better integrated webcam. I'm not a power user at all and I value battery life, so I suspect the M3 Pro is a little better configuration for me since it has more efficiency cores and the 600 nit SDR brightness kind of sways me towards it.
However... I was able to secure the M2 Pro 16GB/512GB deal at Costco for $1399.97 (only gripe is that it is my less preferred color of Space Gray vs. Silver) and of course the M3 Pro 18GB/512gb is currently going for $1849. I bought the Costco machine since they only had two left, but I haven't opened it yet as I'm still trying to figure out what is best for me. The $500 price difference is gnawing at me here although my budget allows for either config.
For those of you that have spent time with both....how dramatic is the battery life difference when the use case is primarily browsing/email/YouTube? And do you notice the difference in screen brightness when they aren't side by side?
However... I was able to secure the M2 Pro 16GB/512GB deal at Costco for $1399.97 (only gripe is that it is my less preferred color of Space Gray vs. Silver) and of course the M3 Pro 18GB/512gb is currently going for $1849. I bought the Costco machine since they only had two left, but I haven't opened it yet as I'm still trying to figure out what is best for me. The $500 price difference is gnawing at me here although my budget allows for either config.
For those of you that have spent time with both....how dramatic is the battery life difference when the use case is primarily browsing/email/YouTube? And do you notice the difference in screen brightness when they aren't side by side?