Next week, Apple will start shipping the new Mac mini M2 and the MacBook Pro M2 in 14″ and 16″ versions. The unusual date, i.e. a few weeks after the Christmas business, is due to delays in the process – there are many indications that Apple had actually targeted October or November 2022. In this article we take a look at what to think of the new models and which aspects we think are particularly worth mentioning.The new Mac mini M2 and M2 Pro: Surprisingly good upgrade
It would not have surprised anyone if the starting price of the new Mac mini had risen by 50 to 100 euros – after all, Apple showed in the last price adjustments that the calculations are based on a long-term weak euro exchange rate. Even an identical price compared to the direct predecessor could be described as a welcome step, but instead the acquisition costs even drop from 799 to 699 euros. This is a real surprise, worthy of praise.
The positioning in the range has also improved. On the one hand, the Mac mini covers the role as the cheapest model, but at the same time closes the gap to the Mac Studio in the higher configurations. Whether it’s an M2 Regular, M2 Pro, M2 Max, or M1 Ultra, there’s a desktop Mac for every need. This is a sensible step to cover even more needs. Customers pay at least 1549 euros for a Mac mini with M2 Pro, if you want 12 instead of 10 CPU and 19 instead of 16 GPU cores, Apple estimates an additional 345 euros.
Even if the design is now almost 13 years old, we rate the Mac mini M2 as a very successful update that leaves little to be desired. You can still not expand the Mac mini, but that was simply not to be expected – this design-related property can be expected with almost every Mac.
The MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and M2 Max: To be expected
There were no surprises with the MacBook Pro model year 2023, because the specifications could be guessed in detail in advance. Things got more expensive in the euro area, but not nearly as much as had been feared. With the M1 versions of the MacBook Pro (2021), Apple had already set the bar extremely high and exceeded the performance requirements for most application areas. Because of this, it was very difficult to keep everyone’s mouths open in terms of performance.
Therefore, the updated MacBook Pro 14″ and 16″ can still be described as probably the best, fastest and most enduring notebook on the market – which simply works a bit better, faster and more enduringly (+1 hour running time). Above all, the plus in graphics performance should be emphasized, because if you wanted to identify a weak point, it was the moderate GPU performance compared to strong, dedicated graphics cards. You can look forward to the first real-world tests in the coming week, Apple itself promises 30 percent more performance. Another aspect: HDMI 2.1, Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 6e 802.11ax are also important improvements.
Our conclusion therefore: The 2023 MacBook Pro is a successful update. However, Apple left one point that has been raised again and again since 2021. There is still no configuration for users who prefer 16″ displays but cannot benefit from the high performance at all. A 16″ MacBook Pro with a regular M2 chip would be sufficient for many users.
Tag: macbook issue, macbook pro, macbook release, macbook macos