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8.5
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Like it
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Excellent screen
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Good size and reasonable weight for everyday use
Does not like
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Screen notch
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The entry-level model is too expensive for what it offers
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Restrictions on the number of ports and displays in the M3 model
The new, cheaper entry-level model of the MacBook Pro 14 amazes me. I understand that $1,999 (the price of the configuration we tested) is quite high, but now it just seems like a heavier MacBook Air 13 with an HDR display. I like the MacBook Pro 14, but you’re probably better off paying less and getting an Air or going to $1,999 for a model with the M3 Pro and at least 18GB of RAM.
As configured, the MacBook Pro 14 isn’t powerful enough to actually do anything other than play HDR content. In other words, there’s actually no ‘pro’ in the cheapest model, any more than the M3 iMac is for pros. It’s a price-performance setup that only a business buyer who doesn’t need to use it could love.
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, end 2023)
Price as assessed | $1,999, £2,099, AU$3,299 |
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Display | 14.2-inch 3,024×1,964 254ppi 14:9/16:10 aspect ratio; 500 nits SDR, 1600 nits HDR; 120Hz |
CPU | 3.2GHz Apple M3 8 cores (4P/4E) |
Memory | 16GB LPDDR5 |
Graphic | Apple M3 integrated 10 cores |
Storage | 1TB Apple SSD AP1024Z, SD card slot |
Gates | 2 x USB-C/Thunderbolt 4, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm audio |
Networking | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 |
Operating system | macOS Sonoma 14.1 |
Weight | 3.4 pounds/1.6 kg |
The design is more or less unchanged from the 2021 model; the difference is mainly in the port selection, which is determined by the basic level of the chip. An M3 processor means only two USB-C/Thunderbolt ports and only one high-resolution external monitor in addition to the built-in screen.
Look at this: Short test report Apple MacBook Pro 16- and 14-inch, M3 series
The two USB-C port limit won’t be a major drawback for everyone, especially if you’re only taking it between docking station locations. But if you need to work in airports, coffee shops, or other locations with limited access to electrical outlets, having all the charging options (ports and the MagSafe power connector) on one side may be a problem for you. For example, in my case I had to connect the analog headphone jack to another system on my left side, but also to a power outlet on the right side. That left it stuck in the middle of my desk because I couldn’t get it out of the way.
The ports on the right side of the silver M3 MacBook Pro 14 (top) versus the older space gray M1 Pro version (bottom).
The good news is that as long as you charge it regularly, you don’t have to worry about the battery running out. It lasted about 18 hours during testing, which is impressive. Apple touted the longer battery life of 15 to 22 hours depending on what you’re doing, but that only applies to the M3 model. Our 18 hours as tested fell right in the middle. The M3 Pro model has the same battery, but consumes more power, leaving battery life unchanged from before, at 12 to 18 hours. Still pretty good.
Performance
The screen is essentially the same as that of the MacBook Pro 16, which is excellent – clear and accurate – for everyday use, content creation and gaming. (I haven’t tested it separately, though. If you want details, I recommend checking out that review.) It’s fine for playing new Metal and M3-GPU optimized games; Lies of P actually ran quite well, but the optimized games use MetalFX’s auto-scaling technology and the screen is small, so it’s easy to get playable frame rates and still look shiny. But despite offering a friendlier gaming environment, Apple still doesn’t have many games from the more prolific platforms.
All charging connections are located on the left side.
I think some aspects of the configuration’s performance are memory-bound; in other words, too little memory can hold this back due to the uniform memory architecture. Apple has improved the graphics optimization so that you don’t under-allocate or over-allocate GPU resources, but if you only have 8GB of UMA memory, there’s really no room for the CPU and GPU to share memory if you use them slams both. This could explain some of the unexpected performance differences between the MacBook Pro 14 (16 GB) and the iMac (48 GB), since they have the same processor.
Otherwise, even the M3 model is an improvement over the Intel-based MacBook Pros, if only because we’ve noticed that between generations of updated MacOS versions, the fact that the Intel chips were old when Apple built them in and the overhead of enterprise security and its associated applications begin to flounder and battery life pales. Business buyers, I’m talking to you. If your current system already has an M-series processor, you’ll need to spend more to get the performance boost you’re looking for.
Geekbench 6 (multicore)
Apple MacBook Air 15 (M2 8C/10C) 9,859Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M2 Pro 12C/19C) 10,592Apple iMac (M3 8C/10C) 10,697Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3 8C/10C) 12,049Mac Studio (M2 Max 12C/38C) 15,014Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3Max 16C/40C) 21,482
Cinebench 2024 CPU (multicore)
Apple iMac (M3 8C/10C) 651Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3 8C/10C) 710Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M2 Pro 12C/19C) 1,043Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max 12C/38C) 1,048Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3Max 16C/40C) 1,672
Cinebench 2024 CPU (single core)
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3 8C/10C) 122Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max 12C/38C) 131Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M2 Pro 12C/19C) 140Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3Max 16C/40C) 140Apple iMac (M3 8C/10C) 141
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3 8C/10C) 3,327Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M2 Pro 12C/19C) 3,395Apple iMac (M3 8C/10C) 3,711Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max 12C/38C) 6,144Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3Max 16C/40C) 12,795
Battery drain test for streaming video playback (minutes)
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3 8C/10C) 1,129Apple MacBook Pro 13 (M28C/10C) 1,253Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3Max 16C/40C) 1,263Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3Max 16C/40C) 1,474
Test system configurations
Apple iMac (2023) | Apple macOS Sonoma 14.1; Apple M3 (8-core CPU, 10-core GPU); 24 GB unified memory; 1TB SSD |
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Apple Mac Studio (2023) | MacOS Ventura 13.4 or Sonoma 14.1; Apple M2 Max (12-core CPU, 38-core GPU); 64GB RAM; 2TB SSD |
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (end 2023) | Apple macOS Sonoma 14.1; Apple M3 (8-core CPU, 10-core GPU); 16 GB unified memory; 1TB SSD |
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (early 2023) | Apple MacOS Ventura 13.2 or Sonoma 14.1; Apple M2 Pro (12 CPU cores, 19 GPU cores); 32 GB LPDDR5 RAM; 1TB SSD |
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (end 2023) | Apple macOS Sonoma 14.1; Apple M3 Max (16-core CPU, 20-core GPU); 48 GB unified memory; 1TB SSD |