MacBook Pro M2 vs M3: Which is better in 2023?
Apple / PexelsNot sure what to choose between the MacBook Pro M1 vs M2? Don’t worry, we’ve gathered all the nitty-gritty details of the two MacBooks to help you decide which one is better in 2023.
Apple has launched the latest MacBook Pro and it comes with a powerful M3 chip. The new laptops also bring various other improvements under the hood, such as a longer battery life and an improved display. With all the improved hardware, the M3 MacBook Pros easily go against the best Windows laptops, and you can even game on them too. Thanks to Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit.
But is M3 MacBook Pro worth buying over the M2 generation MacBook Pros? With a perfectly capable silicon underneath, the M2 MacBook Pro can easily handle any task you throw at them, even demanding stuff like video editing and coding.
However, the M3 MacBook Pro makes a solid case with even better chips. Read on to learn the differences between the MacBook Pro M2 versus M3 and decide which one is worth your hard-earned money.
MacBook Pro M2 vs M3: Design & display
Like most new Apple products, the new M3 MacBook Pro doesn’t look all that different from its predecessor. The design is similar on both M2 MacBook Pro and M3 MacBook Pro but Apple has introduced a new Space Black color, which is less of a fingerprint magnet.
The high-end M3 MacBook Pros arrive in 14- and 16-inch configurations. You won’t find a 13-inch MacBook Pro, which is available in the M2 generation. This also means that the touch bar is gone, for better or worse.
The M2 Pro and Max MacBook Pros landed with a Liquid Retina XDR Display, ProMotion with up to 120Hz refresh rates, an increased resolution, and thin bezels.
The M3 MacBook Pro models feature the same panels but with one major improvement— a brighter display. The new MacBooks can display Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) content at up to 600 nits, up from 500 nits on the M2 generation.
The I/O on the new MacBook Pro laptops is pretty much the same as the M2 counterparts. You get three Thunderbolt 14 ports, an HDMI port, an SD card reader, and a MagSafe connector for charging.
Apple M2 vs M3: Performance
The main highlight of the new MacBooks is the M3 chip, of course. You get to choose from three chipsets— M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. The top-tier M3 Max chip gets a 16-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU, with a GPU performance claimed to be 80 faster than the M1 Max.
Apple didn’t directly compare the M3 Max with the M2 Max, the gap wouldn’t be as long if it did. The M2 Max with a 12-core CPU and 38-core GPU was 30% faster than the M1 Max in graphics, according to Apple.
The M3 Pro brings 13 CPU cores and is allegedly 10% faster than the M2 Pro despite having one less GPU core. The efficiency cores on the M3 chips are up to 30% faster than the M2 family.
Apple’s M3 series also brings some new features. For one, it brings support for Dynamic Caching, which boosts the performance of demanding games and apps by optimizing the memory used by the device while performing tasks.
Gaming fans should also appreciate new rendering features like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading.
M2 vs M3 MacBook: Specifications
| Specifications | M3 MacBook Pro | M2 MacBook Pro |
| Display | 14.2-inch/ 16.2-inch | 14.2-inch/16.2-inch |
| Processor | M3/M3 Pro/M3 Max | M2 Pro/M2 Max/M2 Ultra |
| Resolution | 3024 x 1964 (14-inch) | 3024 x 1964 (14-inch) |
| Weight | 3.5 pounds (14-inch), 4.7 pounds (16-inch) | 3.4 pounds (14-inch), 4.7 pounds (16-inch) |
| Touch Bar | No | No |
| Brightness | 1,600 nits | 1,600 nits |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz | 120Hz |
| Battery life | Up to 18 hours (14-inch), Up to 22 hours (16-inch) | Up to 22 hours |
| Speakers | 6 | 6 |
Overall improvements on the M3 MacBook Pro are not as significant as you’d hope for. Sure, you now get up to 22 hours of battery life on both 14-inch and 16-inch models and the brightness for viewing content is up by 20%, but that’s about it.
We’ll have to wait until we get our hands on one before we can truly begin stacking things up.
M3 vs M2 MacBook Pro: Price
If you’re looking for an M3 MacBook Pro, it’ll start at $1599, whereas the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro starts at $1299. With the 13-inch model now discontinued, Apple has essentially widened the gap between its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro product lineup.
M2 MacBook Pro vs M3: Which one should you buy?
So, which is better, the M3 MacBook Pro or the M2 MacBook Pro? There’s no one answer to this question. If you already own an M2 MacBook Pro, it makes very little sense to spend more and buy the M3 MacBook Pro. Even when you take the new M3 chips into account, the improvements are not earth-shattering.
However, if you own an older MacBook, let’s say the M1 generation or one of the Intel-powered ones, then the M3 MacBook Pro has your name written all over it. It provides all the firepower you’d need to handle demanding tasks. Plus, there’s a brighter display and longer battery life.
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