MacBook Pro M3 Update: Is Apple's Pricing Strategy & Specs Worth It?
Apr 30, 2024
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0:00
Why don't you tell us about the MacBook Pro
0:01
Yeah, we could talk about that. Especially since I'm just going in circles
0:06
So let's see here. Let me bring up my notes. We have the three new M3 MacBook Pro models
0:13
So first and foremost, I guess I would tell you, you probably already know this, but the
0:17
13-inch MacBook Pro is no more. The Touch Bar model is gone forever
0:24
And what they did instead is they added a new lower cost 14-inch MacBook Pro model with
0:30
an M3. So you don't even get an M3 Pro. It's literally like, and again, we're going to have to wait and see the benchmarks
0:38
But it's essentially like a MacBook Air, but with a better screen and maybe better speakers
0:45
or something. And so you're getting an M3 and a MacBook Pro, which that's the chip that they would
0:53
normally use in a MacBook Air. So I'm like, how different in performance is this going to be from a MacBook Air
0:59
Probably not very much at all. It will probably be the same. You'll just get less Pro features in other areas
1:08
Like the screen is the one that I think is most obvious. Because now they also have a 15-inch MacBook Air
1:14
So if they put an M3 in the 14-inch MacBook Pro, but you could also get the M3 in the
1:21
15-inch MacBook Air at some point. Now that's going to mind freak me here live on the show
1:28
I don't know what the main differences are going to be between those machines or if they're
1:32
even going to put an M3 in the MacBook Air at this point
1:36
It starts at a lower price now. So what is it? $1599 is the new low price
1:42
And it's funny, somebody on the new X was like, well, at least the price is lower now
1:49
And I was like, well, it is, but it's only because they're putting an M3 in there
1:52
So it's not lower because they're lowering their price. They're just going to give you a lower specced tier
1:58
They introduced a newer, lower model. Yeah, exactly. Well, at least now I feel like if somebody's interested in a MacBook, you don't need to
2:07
give them a warning before they buy a computer. You can point at any MacBook and say, they're all good
2:12
Buy whatever you can afford or whatever you want. Whereas before you couldn't say that. You had to say, oh, but stay away from this particular model
2:19
Now you can get a MacBook Pro starting at $1599 with the M3
2:23
It goes all the way up to $4,000 now if you want the one that Apple showed off on stage
2:27
the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the 16-core CPU, the 40-core GPU. I think the play might be this
2:36
If you really want one of these new machines, and this is what I'm thinking about
2:41
The 14-inch MacBook Pro might be the way to go. Because now it's the one that you can actually get for an affordable price, in my opinion
2:53
if you want it fully specced out with a 16-inch CPU, 40-core GPU version of the M3 Max
3:00
I would probably vie for that one and lose a little bit of screen real estate, assuming
3:06
that it performs as well as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which hasn't been the case in previous
3:11
versions of the Mac series of chips. Usually the 14-inch doesn't perform as well
3:19
I'm hoping they fix the thermal design in such a way that it will keep up with the 16-inch
3:25
version of the M3 Max. Then, yeah, you lose a little bit of screen real estate, but you get the same performance, hopefully
3:34
You also get the portability. I love how lightweight the 14-inch is
3:39
And then if you want, you can also get the Space Black version, which, by the way, is only available for M3 Pro and better specced versions of the MacBook Pro
3:51
I think we have. Just to put a bow on it, to say what I've already said 10 times, I'm waiting for the benchmarks
3:57
I'm excited to see how the M3 versions perform against the same priced M2 versions
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