This may have been a low-stakes Apple event on the night before Halloween, but even if none of these new Macs are radically different, a new generation of M-series chips is nothing to sneeze at. The $1,299 iMac shows that Apple hasn’t completely forgotten about its all-in-one desktop (even if it continues to hamper our hopes for a new 27-inch model). The new $1,599 MacBook Pro 14 with M3 makes the laptop, meanwhile the good harbours more feasible (albeit with less RAM). Then there’s the $1,999 MacBook Pro 14 and $2,499 MacBook Pro 16, both of which are getting an annual but very welcome spec boost.
All of these computers are expected in November, with most arriving on the 7th. We’ll have to see how valuable these small improvements are as we review the new Macs, but for now you can pre-order them here if you want to get in on the ground floor.
The 24-inch iMac is back with a modest refresh, offering the lowest barrier to entry for Apple’s new M3 processor. The all-in-one desktop comes in seven colors and starts at $1,299 with an eight-core GPU, an eight-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. (It can also be equipped with a 10-core GPU starting at $1,499.) As for ports, this one is just like the 2021 M1 version, meaning the base model has two Thunderbolt/USB-4 ports, while the $1,499 model gets an extra pair of USB-3 ports. Both configurations now also support Wi-Fi 6E.
The new 24-inch iMac will ship on November 7 and can be pre-ordered directly from Apple starting today, October 30.
Ding Dong! The TouchBar is dead. And we have the new basic model 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 to thank you for it. This new entry into the MacBook Pro line takes the chassis of the two previous models and lowers the price by reducing RAM and integrating the base M3 chip. (Previous models only had Pro and Max series chips.) It’s here to replace the misplaced MacBook Pro 13 with the M2 chip and outdated Touch Bar.
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 starts at $1,599, which is $400 less than the M3 Pro-equipped MacBook Pro with which it shares its body design. It’s available for pre-order from Apple today, October 30, with an expected arrival date of November 7.
Apple is once again pushing the chips 14-in And 16-inch MacBook Pro, both of which now start with M3 Pro chips and are configurable with the more expensive M3 Max. Aside from a new fingerprint-resistant space black color, the high-end laptops are very similar in design and port layout to the M1 Pro models that first shook up the MacBook Pro landscape in 2021.
Like previous generations, the 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999 (pre-order from Apple) with an M3 Pro chip, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Pro starts at $2,499 (pre-order from Apple). Both models will also land on November 7, while the M3 Max configurations will arrive later in November at an undisclosed date.