We looked at all the differences regarding features and performance of each MacBook Pro model.
Apple has recently introduced its refreshed 2023 MacBook Pro product lineup with the implementation of M2 Pro and M2 Max processors. The latest generation of Apple laptops has been revealed to the world through a press release and the high performance of these MacBook Pros has captured the attention of a large number of consumers. But are they really a better option than the previous generation MacBook Pro?
The last time Apple launched a MacBook Pro on the market was relatively recently with its 2021 MacBook Pro. This equipment was presented during the month of October 2021, while The new MacBook Pros have arrived in the middle of January 2023So it’s only been a year and a couple of months.
Taking into account this premise and the characteristics of each MacBook Pro model… Is it worth the generational leap?Is it advisable to buy a new MacBook Pro in 2023? Should you wait for future generations before renewing your 2021 MacBook Pro? We answer these and other questions in this comparative analysis.
Index
Design
Two 2023 MacBook Pro models.
While the design of the previous generation MacBook Pro was drastically renovated in 2021, the 2023 update follows the same line. No major design changes have been implemented except for minor details. The differences in this regard are barely perceptible.
All versions are available in colors Silver and Space Gray. Both MacBook Pro models have a display with a top bezel (notches) that houses the front-facing FaceTime HD camera, a feature Touch IDMagic Keyboard with scissor system, Trackpad Force Touch and have three Thunderbolt 4 ports, one HDMI port, and one MagSafe port. However, some features of these ports are more advanced in the 2023 model.
For example, the HDMI port on the new MacBook Pro now supports external monitors with displays up to 8K and 60Hz. Another big difference is that 2023 computers have connectivity Bluetooth 5.3 Y Wi-Fi 6Eoffering a much higher connection speed, especially in more densely populated areas, although these are not product design differences.
Screen
The MacBook Pro display has a 120Hz refresh rate.
This is another section in which you will hardly find any differences between the 2021 MacBook Pro and the 2023 MacBook Pro. This provides us with very valuable data for the final assessment.
The two MacBook Pro models offer, in turn, two versions with screens Liquid Retina XDR (extreme dynamic range) of 14.2 inches and of 16.2 inches with technology Promotion and both generations have exactly the same resolution, the same pixel density and a refresh rate of up to 120hz. No news in this category.
| MacBook Pro 14″ | MacBook Pro 16″ | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 models | 3,024 x 1,964 pixels | 3,456 x 2,234 pixels |
| 2023 models | 3,024 x 1,964 pixels | 3,456 x 2,234 pixels |
Battery
MacBook Pro in Space Gray from an aerial view.
The generational leap from the 2021 MacBook Pro to the 2023 MacBook Pro offers a considerable improvement in battery life. Apple has increased the autonomy of its laptops thanks to the efficiency of its latest generation processors.
The MacBook Pro line of products launched in 2021 offered a battery of a maximum of 21 hours of video playback and 14 hours of web browsing.
For its part, the MacBook Pro 2023 line of equipment offers a battery of a maximum of 22 hours of video playback and 15 hours of web browsing.
Processor
Here, in the performance of the processors, is where the most notable differences exist between the MacBook Pro of 2021 and 2023.
- M1 Pro chip: 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU.
- M2 Pro chip: 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU.
- M1 Max Chip: 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU.
- M2 ChipMax: 12-core CPU and 38-core GPU.
M1 Pro vs. M2 Pro
Promotional image of the M2 Pro chip.
The 2023 M2 Pro chip has 40 billion transistors (20% more than the M1 Pro chip) and its performance runs multi-threaded tasks 20% faster than the M1 Pro chip of 2021. At the graphic level, the performance of the M2 Pro processor is a top 30% to that of the M1 Pro chip.
With the new 2023 MacBook Pro, the M2 Pro chip incorporates an extremely efficient and advanced multimedia engine, with hardware acceleration to H.264, HEVC and video encoding and decoding ProReswhich allows you to play multiple 4K and 8K ProRes video streams while consuming very little power.
M1 Max vs. M2 Max
Promotional image of the M2 Max chip.
As for the M2 Max chip – the most powerful Apple Silicon processor ever – it has 67 billion transistorswhile the M1 Max chip has 57 billion transistors. It has twice the bandwidth of the M2 Pro and its graphics processing speed is 30% faster than that of the M1 Max processor.
Additionally, the powerful M2 Max processor has built-in two video encoding engines and two ProRes enginesso it is capable of encoding video twice as fast as the M2 Pro.
On the other hand, the Neural Engine 16-core processor of the 2023 MacBook Pro is capable of speeds up to a top 40% to the previous generation.
Finally, the RAM of the new MacBook Pro is logically much higher than the previous generation. Unified memory base options remain the same, with 16 GB and 32 GB of RAM in both models. But the 2023 MacBook Pro has an option for up to 96GB of RAM while the 2021 lineup tops out at a 64GB RAM configuration.
Technical specifications
Check the table of Technical specifications and the hardware features of the MacBook Pro released in 2021 and the latest generation MacBook Pro to learn all their differences.
MacBook Pro 2021
The technical specifications of the MacBook Pro released in 2021 offer many similarities regarding the hardware components of the MacBook Pro of this year 2023. Consult the following table to discover all its hardware features.
| MacBook Pro 14″ | MacBook Pro 16″ | |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | Liquid Retina XDR | Liquid Retina XDR |
| Resolution | 3,024 x 1,964 pixels | 3,456 x 2,234 pixels |
| display technologies | ProMotion with 120 Hz refresh rate. | ProMotion with 120 Hz refresh rate. |
| Processor | M1 Pro, M1 Max | M1 Pro, M1 Max |
| CPU | 8 cores (M1 Pro), 10 cores (M1 Max) | 10 cores (M1 Pro), 10 cores (M1 Max) |
| GPUs | 14 cores (M1 Pro), 32 cores (M1 Max) | 16 cores (M1 Pro), 32 cores (M1 Max) |
| Memory | 16 GB of unified memory (expandable to 64 GB) | 16 GB and 32 GB of unified memory (expandable to 64 GB) |
| Operating system | macOS 13 Ventura | macOS 13 Ventura |
| base capacity | 512 GB of SSD storage | 512 GB of SSD storage |
| capacity configuration | 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB of SSD storage | 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB of SSD storage |
| Camera | FaceTime HD at 1080p | FaceTime HD at 1080p |
| Battery | 17 hours of video playback and 11 hours of web browsing | 21 hours of video playback and 14 hours of web browsing |
| ports | 1 HDMI port, 3 Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, 1 MagSafe 3 port and 3.5mm jack. | 1 HDMI port, 3 Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, 1 MagSafe 3 port and 3.5mm jack. |
| Colors | Silver and Space Gray | Silver and Space Gray |
| starting price | €2,249 | €2,749 |
MacBook Pro 2023
The MacBook Pro has hit the market in 2023 with the same screen, the same ports and the same FaceTime camera, but it incorporates very advanced hardware innovations that you can check in this table of technical specifications.
| MacBook Pro 14″ | MacBook Pro 16″ | |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | Liquid Retina XDR | Liquid Retina XDR |
| Resolution | 3,024 x 1,964 pixels | 3,456 x 2,234 pixels |
| display technologies | ProMotion with 120 Hz refresh rate. | ProMotion with 120 Hz refresh rate. |
| Processor | M2 Pro, M2 Max | M2 Pro, M2 Max |
| CPU | 12 cores (M2 Pro), 12 cores (M2 Max) | 12 cores (M2 Pro), 19 cores (M2 Max) |
| GPUs | 19 cores (M2 Pro), 30 cores (M2 Max) | 19 cores (M2 Pro), 38 cores (M2 Max) |
| RAM | 16 GB and 32 GB of unified memory (expandable to 96 GB) | 16 GB and 32 GB of unified memory (expandable to 96 GB) |
| Operating system | macOS 13 Ventura | macOS 13 Ventura |
| base capacity | 512 GB, 1 TB SSD storage | 512 GB, 1 TB SSD storage |
| capacity configuration | 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB of SSD storage | 2TB, 4TB or 8TB of SSD storage |
| Camera | FaceTime HD at 1080p | FaceTime HD at 1080p |
| Battery | 18 hours of video playback and 12 hours of web browsing | 22 hours of video playback and 15 hours of web browsing |
| ports | 1 HDMI port, 3 Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, 1 MagSafe 3 port and 3.5mm jack. | 1 HDMI port, 3 Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, 1 MagSafe 3 port and 3.5mm jack. |
| Colors | Silver and Space Gray | Silver and Space Gray |
| starting price | €2,449 | €3,049 |
Price
MacBook Pro 2021
This is the list of prices of the two MacBook Pro models introduced in 2021:
| MacBook Pro 14″ | MacBook Pro 16″ | |
|---|---|---|
| M1 Pro (512GB) | €2,249 | €2,749 |
| M1 Pro (1TB) | €2,749 | €2,979 |
| M1 Max (1TB) | – | €3,849 |
MacBook Pro 2023
Below is the table of prices from the base configuration options of the new MacBook Pro line released in 2023:
| MacBook Pro 14″ | MacBook Pro 16″ | |
|---|---|---|
| M2 Pro (512GB) | €2,449 | €3,049 |
| M2 Pro (1TB) | €3,049 | €3,279 |
| M2 Max (1TB) | €3,749 | €4,199 |
MacBook Pro 14″ and 16″ | Reserve
Conclusion: Which model should you buy?
After knowing all differences of the comparative Between MacBook Pro 2021 and MacBook Pro 2023 we are left with many evaluations that depend on various factors to take into account.
First of all, if you already have a 2021 MacBook Pro, perhaps the best thing to do would be continue to keep the same team and not upgrade to the 2023 MacBook Pro because they share many similarities both at the design and hardware level.
On the other hand, if you do not have a MacBook Pro or your model is more than 3 years old, we would invite you to buy the 2023 MacBook Pro ahead of the 2021 MacBook Pro, then the price differences are not that great on most models.
In general, perhaps the most appreciable differences can be seen in the battery and in the processors performance. In the case of the battery, each new generation model of 2023 offers 1 more hour of battery life. But at the performance level, the differences between the different MacBook Pros are abysmal.
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