News JVTech Apple announces the most powerful MacBooks in history: M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, price, availability, everything we know
We were looking forward to them, they made us yearn, here are the most powerful MacBook Pros ever made by Apple. With the next generation of homemade chips, truly Pro Macs are shaping up to be a new standard.
The new MacBook Pros are here!
Few people expected it, Apple not having the habit of laying us major products in the middle of January. Don’t worry, you haven’t missed a possible official presentation from Apple. In effect, everything happened via an update on the Cupertino brand’s website, but not only: for the first time, a short 15-minute announcement video like a keynote accompanies the launch.
Without warning, a new page has arrived to reveal what the new MacBook Pros look like. And as you might expect, there’s not much to get your teeth into. There are no visual changes from previous versions.
Released in 2021, the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros adopt an all-new format and an all-new design. It is therefore normal not to see any change in look from the second iteration, especially since the latter is already very successful. The chassis adopts an assumed thickness to allow optimal air circulation, even if everything remains easily transportable.
Still no concessions are made to deliver the ultimate Pro experience, starting with the screen. We find Mini-LED for top contrasts, a variable refresh rate up to 120 Hz, and refined borders up to the notch placed on the top of the screen. If you’ve never had the opportunity to test the product in store, know that it does not impinge at all on the use. This notch houses a 1080p webcam.
What makes the strength of this model is also the variety of ports. It’s been a few years since Apple turned its back on many dubious decisions taken in the past, but the conclusion is there: what does it feel good to have a good old HDMI port and an SD card port. Professionals rub their hands on it. Along with that, 3 USB-C ports and a high-impedance headphone jack complete a range of ports that is pleasing.
Same thing for the MagSafe charging port, which snaps together in the blink of an eye, which the old-timers know well. In short, no change on the outside of these MacBook Pros, but it’s the inside that interests us.
The M2 Pro and M2 Max chips
After the arrival of the M1 chips in 2020, the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips in the first editions of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros were two notches above. Logical continuation of things, the M2 architecture takes place in these new top-of-the-range models:
M1 Pro / Max (MacBook Pro 14 / 16 inch 2021):
- 5nm architecture
- 8, 10 CPU cores
- 14, 16, 24, 32 GPU cores
- 16, 32, 64 GB RAM
- Up to 8TB SSD storage
- Min/max price: €2249/€6659
M2 Pro / Max (MacBook Pro 14 / 16 inch 2023):
- 5nm architecture
- 10, 12 CPU cores (up to 20% faster than M1 Pro/Max respectively)
- 16, 19, 30, 38 GPU cores (up to 30% faster than M1 Pro/Max respectively)
- 16, 32, 64, 96 GB RAM
- Up to 8TB SSD storage
- Minimum / maximum price: 2399€/7379€
The M2 generation brings more power but also and above all an even more perfected optimization. This is an area that is dear to Apple, and the M1 models of 2021 already provide excellent autonomy for almost constant silence. M2 Pro and M2 Max add around 1 hour additional usage on all models: 18 hours of video playback on 14 inches, 22 hours for 16 inches.
2 small bonuses: WiFi 6E compatibility and HDMI which goes from 2.0 to 2.1 to support a screen up to 4K at 144Hz.
The Mac mini boosted with the M2 chip, and a touch of Pro
Remained unchanged since 2020 and the arrival of the M1 chip, the Mac mini finally benefits from its transition to the M2. It therefore joins the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13 inches 2022, which have already convinced with this new SoC.
But the magic doesn’t stop, because the Mac mini M2 also comes with the M2 Pro, by far the most powerful chip ever seen in a Mac mini. According to Apple, this new machine would be 14x faster than the good old Mac mini under Intel processors. This adds new uses for the mini, such as more advanced photo or video editing.
The big surprise is the initial price of the mac mini M2, which loses 100€ compared to the Mac mini:
M2 version:
- 8 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores
- 8, 16, 24 GB of RAM
- Up to 2TB storage
- Min/max price: 699€/2194€
M2 Pro version:
- 10, 12 CPU cores
- 16, 19 GPU cores
- 16.32 GB RAM
- Up to 8TB storage
- Min/max price: €1549/€5229
Availability of MacBook Pro and Mac mini M2
For the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro M2 and Mac mini M2, all models are available from January 24, 2023, you can already order them on the official Apple website.
