There’s a reason why photographers, graphic designers, animators, filmmakers, and basically everyone else in the creative industry (and beyond) choose to work with a MacBook Pro – and it’s not only because it looks good.
Over the years, Apple has successfully transformed the regular laptop into a tool that’s just as essential as a good camera or a highly creative mind. After all, the only thing that separates the good from the best is their ability to translate ideas into actual photographs, films, renderings, and more. The Cupertino-based tech giant knows that, and so has made it its focus to make its latest generation of MacBook Pros one of the best all-round, performance-driven laptops money can buy today.
Available in both 14- and 16-inch versions, the 2023 MacBook Pro features the M2 Pro and M2 Max chip, which unsurprisingly is now the world’s most powerful and efficient chip for a pro laptop. But what does this really mean for you? We dive deep into the satchel-sized beast that is the 14-inch MacBook Pro to find out.
Review: Apple’s 2023 MacBook Pro (14-inch with M2 Pro)
With the M2 Pro chip at the helm, the new laptop is fast, especially if you’re upgrading from Intel-based Mac models. Dramatic improvements you can expect include better performance, battery life, connectivity, and overall productivity – even when you’re not plugged in to the power source – a key feature which many who run power intensive software will surely appreciate.
The original M2 might have an 8-core CPU, but this model features a 10- or 12-core CPU with up to eight high-performance and four high-efficiency cores for up to 20 percent greater performance over M1 Pro. Expect double the amount of unified memory bandwidth than the M2 here – 200GB/s of unified memory bandwidth — and up to 32GB of unified memory too, so you’ll be able to handle multiple pro apps or large projects without the dreaded lag.
With its next-generation GPU, expect up to 30 percent more graphics performance, and a 40-percent faster Neural Engine that speeds up machine learning tasks like video analysis and image processing.
To put things into perspective, image processing in Adobe Photoshop is now up to 80 percent faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro and up to 40 percent faster than the previous generation. With more advanced machine learning capabilities, the new Apple Macbook Pro learns tricks such as automatically identifying layers in an image or video to allow you to do post-production editing more efficiently. Final Cut Pro here will also allow you to play multiple frames of 8K without so much as a nanosecond glitch. You’ll also be able to accelerate video playback and encoding while using very little power.
Which brings us to battery life. Because the new Macbook Pro has been so effectively integrated with the M2 Pro chip, the laptop has the longest battery life ever in a Mac – up to 22 hours of usage.
Other equally impressive numbers to know belongs to the Liquid Retina XDR display, which has a P3 wide colour gamut and supports 1 billion colours, as well as up to 1600 nits of peak brightness to bring HDR content to life with unprecedented details, shadows, and highlights.
A 1080p FaceTime HD camera, six-speaker sound system, and studio-quality mics ensure you’ll be hear and be heard loud and clear on any video call too.
The MacBook Pro also features Wi-Fi 6E for faster wireless connectivity, as well as more advanced HDMI that supports 8K displays up to 60Hz and 4K displays up to 240Hz.
If you’re still wondering if the new Macbook Pro is worth the switch, the answer is yes. The blazing speeds and improvement in efficiency here can’t be ignored; add to that its intelligent machine learning capabilities, and it’s easy to see why it’ll be one of the most sought after devices by budding and professional creatives alike.
After all, we now live in a world where imagination is no longer constrained by technology.
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro starts at S$2,899, and S$2,679 for education, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro starts at S$3,599, and S$3,309 for education. Both models are available at all Apple stores, on Apple’s e-store, and in the Apple Store app.
Shatricia Nair
Managing Editor
Shatricia Nair has a passion for motoring, beauty, and wellness, and is perpetually knee-deep in the world of V8s, retinols, and latest fitness trends. She has nine years of experience writing for digital media, and her bylines have appeared in Prestige, and Augustman. She'll do (almost) anything for good chocolate chip cookies.
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