When Apple released its first M2 MacBook Variants last year, the MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro, we were torn. The Air’s design and feature set made the 13-inch Pro look ancient, but its lack of a fan put a cap on its utility for power users. Now the M2 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are here to rectify the situation, combining the same modern design as the Air with all the internals needed to run their new M2 Pro and M2 Max processors.
Apple announced the new Pro models via its newsroom and a youtube video this morning, alongside a new Mac Mini featuring options for the base M2 and the M2 Pro. It’s the same strategy the company used for its M1 lineup, in which the company waited to release its larger MacBooks with custom silicon variants.
In exchange, the M2s had time to power up. The M2 Pro brings with it 10/12 cores (depending on your configuration), 32GB of unified memory, a GPU with up to 19 cores, and a neural engine (for AI) that Apple promises is “40 per cent faster.” The Max pushes the GPU up to 30/38 cores (depending on your configuration) and comes with up to 96GB of unified memory.
By comparison, the M1 Pro topped out at a 16-core GPU and the M1 Max hit its cap at a 32-core GPU. That said, expect the M2 Pro and M2 Max to do more with their cores than their predecessors. Apple’s claiming 40% faster image processing in Photoshop on the M2 Pro and 30% faster effects rendering in Cinema 4D on the M2 Max, for example, but stay tuned for the Gizmodo review to see our own benchmarks.
New chips aside, not much has changed for the new MacBook Pros. Over the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro, you’ll get more screen space and a better webcam, but those improvements were already there on the M1 Pro and M1 Max models. New to this year’s models is Wi-Fi 6E compatibility and support for 8K external monitors running at 60 Hz or 4K external monitors running at 240 Hz.
The New Mac Mini with base M2 and M2 Pro is also staying the course on design, though it’s also seeing a Wi-Fi 6E update.
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max are already available on Apple’s website and will start shipping out on January 24. The 14-inch starts at $AU3,199 and the 16-inch starts at $AU3,999.
The Mac Mini with base M2 and M2 Pro will be up for purchase on January 24, with a starting price of $AU999.
