Apple Just Dropped 3 New Macs! From the Longest Battery Life Yet to Easy Ordering, Here's What To Know
The Mac Mini, 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro have plenty to offer.
The holidays may have come and gone, but it sure feels like Christmas again thanks to these three new Macs that just dropped from Apple!
While it wasn’t a typical Apple event, the technology giant just took the virtual stage to unveil three new Macs. Specifically, the new Mac Mini, 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro. And all of these options feature Apple’s latest processors—the M2, M2 Pro and M2 Max.
Previously, we’ve seen the M2 in the redesigned MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro, but it now extends to Apple’s compact desktop. Meanwhile, the two new processors, M2 Pro and M2 Max, offer faster speeds and some intense benchmarks, and are in the higher-end laptops.
Let’s break down what you need to know about all three, starting with the MacBook Pros.
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What You Need To Know About the M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBook Pros
This isn’t a full redesign, but that’s not a bad thing. The 14-inch and 16-inch Pros sport the same look that Apple unveiled in 2021. It’s a modern, boxier design that isn’t afraid to be a bit thicker or heavier.
While the previous 16-inch with a Touch Bar was a bit short on ports, the 14-inch and 16-inch offer a bunch of them—including the return of MagSafe, so accidentally tripping over a cable and having your laptop slide off is a thing of the past. That proprietary charger lives alongside three USB-C ports, a headphone jack, an SD card reader and an HDMI port. Both MacBooks feature larger trackpads and excellent matte black keyboards that are great to type on as well.
As for the screens, Apple is sticking with either a 14.2- or 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display that doesn’t skimp on details, gets plenty vibrant and offers a smoother experience thanks to a faster refresh rate. Like the redesigned MacBook Air, there is a notch centered at the top that contains an 1080pHD FaceTime camera.
All of this is staying the same, and our testing has performed really well since its release in 2021. For 2023 though, Apple is dropping two new chips that should speed up the experience over the previous Apple-made ones and the Intel alternatives.
Related: We Tried Apple's Wicked Fast 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro—Here's What We Think After a Week
Apple started the transition to making its own chips a few years back and the end results have been pretty great. Most of the time the fan doesn’t need to kick in so the computer won’t sound like a leaf blower. They also don’t run hot, and they can squash almost any task. The M1 or M2 MacBook Air, for instance, can handle 4K editing, while these Pros speed things up quite a bit.
The new M2 Pro processor features either a 10 or 12 core CPU, up to a 19 core GPU, and a full Neural Engine. You can also pair this machine with up to 32GB of RAM. Apple’s promising up to 20% performance with the CPU and up to 30% with the GPU. All great on paper, but in terms of real-world differences, Apple is giving a few examples. When compared to the M1 Pro in a laptop, rendering items like titles or graphics in Motion is about 20% faster. And compared to an Intel laptop? 80% faster.
With image edits in Photoshop, Apple is noting that it’s up to 80% faster over Intel and 40% faster than an M1 Pro. Meaning that for creative tasks, the latest chip should let you get your work done faster and in general use, the MacBook Pro should be plenty snappy.
Those who need even more power could consider the MacBook Pro with an M2 Max processor. Apple notes that it delivers up to 30% more graphics power over the M1 Max, and with computing power, it’s over 20% percent improved. The M2 Max comes with up to 38 GPU cores and up to 12 CPU cores as well. When rendering an effect in Cinema 4D, Apple promises that it’s up to six times faster over an Intel chip and 30% faster than the M1 Max.
All-in-all, these are shaping up to be some of the fastest laptops on the market. In terms of battery life, Apple notes that you can get up to 22 hours of use—which is a full hour over the previous generation and a claim we’re eager to put to the test.
Whether you need a machine that can handle photo, video, or design renders on the fly, or maybe you’re just after a larger display, the 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pros are models to consider. You’ll see the biggest performance leap if you’re upgrading from a previous-generation MacBook Pro that was powered by an Intel chip. If you ended up getting a 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro or M1 Max chip, you’re likely fine with that model for a while longer.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About the M2 MacBook Air
Apple’s new MacBook Pros start at $1,999 for the 14-inch and $2,499 for the 16-inch. As you swap the chips, add more RAM or increase the storage, the prices will rise, however. We’d also recommend looking at the M1 Pro or M1 Max MacBook Pros while they’re still in stock.
Why? Well, Amazon and other retailers are currently offering a spectacular discount on two laptops that will crush most tasks. The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is $400 off at $2,199. While the 14-inch MacBook Pro with 1TB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and the M1 Pro chip is down to $2,199 from $2,499. You get your pick on screen size and storage size—plus they’re both eligible for free Prime shipping.
What You Need To Know About the M2 Mac Mini
The Mac Mini isn’t getting a new look, but rather getting two new chips. It’s still a small square computer that you’ll bring your own monitor, keyboard and mouse too. Inside you can pick from the standard M2 Chip or opt for the M2 Pro chip which will have more resources for those creative tasks.
If you’re curious as to how the standard, entry-level M2 chip performs, you can see our review of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with that chip performed here. We’ll spoil it a little in that we recorded our highest single-core benchmark test on it.
The Mac Mini with M2 will feature two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, an ethernet port and a headphone jack. If you get the M2 Pro chip inside you’ll score an additional two Thunderbolt 4 ports, which brings the total to four slots.
Apple’s other change with the Mac Mini is a lower starting price by $100. The M2 Mac Mini with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage starts at $599 flat—that gives you a bit more extra cash, considering the $100 savings over the M1 Mac Mini, to get a display or another accessory.
The new Mac Mini is up for order now and will begin shipping on Jan. 24. You can also find savings via Apple’s store on Amazon on accessories like the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad. Apple’s own Studio Display—a 27-inch monitor that is designed for the Mac desktop and laptops with an integrated webcam—is seeing a rare $100 discount.
Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.
