new year new MacBooks. Apple has quietly introduced updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, now featuring Apple-made M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets. That’s actually the only major change from its 2021 MacBook Pro predecessors. However, this wasn’t the only new hardware announcement. There’s also a more powerful Mac Mini, with an M2 chip, for an enticingly low $599.
The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are the first to feature Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, successors to the 2021 M1 Pro and M1 Max. Last year, Apple introduced the standard M2 chip in the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, but these updated chipsets are more powerful and efficient.
You can choose one of these chips for each machine; they offer up to a 12-core CPU, the M2 Pro up to a 19-core GPU, and potentially up to 32 GB of unified memory. Opt for the M2 Max and you can upgrade to a 38-core GPU and up to 96 GB of unified memory for really power-hungry tasks. Making these upgrades increases the price significantly, but thankfully, the base price of these laptops remains the same. The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999 and the 16-inch model starts at $2,499. You can order them now, and they’ll ship on January 24th.
Apple says the M2 Pro has 20 percent more transistors than the M1 Pro and doubles the bandwidth of the M2, from 100 GB per second to 200 GB per second. According to reports, the image processing speed of the M2 Pro is 40% faster than that of the M1 Pro. All of this should lead to improved performance across the board, but the proof will be in the pudding – we’ll get our thoughts on these devices soon.
Other enhancements to the MacBook include support for 8K/60-Hz and 4K/240-Hz external screens when using the HDMI port, and support for Wi-Fi 6E when using a Wi-Fi 6E router. In many other respects they are the same as their predecessors. You get the same great 120Hz display, a durable build, and an improved port selection, including three USB-C ports, HDMI, an SD card slot, a headphone jack, and a MagSafe connector. However, this means that what we don’t like remains the same. These 14-inch and 16-inch laptops are heavy and not the kind of machines you want to take with you. Still no Face ID (only Touch ID).
We’re also not thrilled with the battery life, but Apple has addressed that in the latest models. Specifically, the battery life of the 16-inch MacBook Pro has increased from 21 hours to 22 hours. It’s not a huge boost, but it’s still what Apple calls “the longest battery life ever for a Mac.” We will wait and see.
