Apple's early 2023 14-inch MacBook Pro combines M2 Pro or M2 Max with a 120 Hz mini-LED display, HDMI, an SD card slot and MagSafe charging for creative and development work.
Both reviews praise the performance, mini-LED display and long battery life while seeing little reason for owners of the 2021 model to upgrade. TechRadar highlights its portable design and criticises the UK price rise. Tom's Guide welcomes the faster HDMI connection but dislikes the screen notch and lack of Face ID.
Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting
Pixel density
254 ppi
Colour range
Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Display features
1,000,000:1 contrast; 1,000 nits sustained full-screen HDR brightness; ProMotion adaptive refresh up to 120 Hz; fixed 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 Hz rates; True Tone
Performance
Processor
Apple M2 Pro or Apple M2 Max
CPU cores
10 or 12
Graphics
16-core GPU, 19-core GPU, 30-core GPU or 38-core GPU
Memory
16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB or 96 GB
Storage
512 GB to 8 TB
CPU
M2 Pro with 10-core CPU (6 performance, 4 efficiency) or 12-core CPU (8 performance, 4 efficiency); M2 Max with 12-core CPU
GPU
M2 Pro with 16-core or 19-core GPU; M2 Max with 30-core or 38-core GPU; hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; video decode, video encode and ProRes engines; M2 Max has two video encode and two ProRes engines
AI engine
16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Unified memory; 16 GB or 32 GB with M2 Pro, 32 GB or 64 GB with M2 Max; 96 GB with the 38-core GPU version
Memory bandwidth
200 GB/s (M2 Pro); 400 GB/s (M2 Max)
Storage type
SSD; M2 Pro starts at 512 GB, M2 Max at 1 TB; configurable to 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
69.6 Wh
Weight
1.6 kg
Thickness
15.5 mm
Width × depth
312.6 × 221.2 mm
Battery life detail
Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback or 12 hours wireless web; marketed as 70 Wh, with actual rating 69.6 Wh in Apple's footnote
Charger
67 W USB-C adapter with 10-core M2 Pro; 96 W adapter with 12-core M2 Pro or M2 Max, optional on the entry configuration
Three Thunderbolt 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s; HDMI; SDXC slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support
External displays
M2 Pro supports two at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt or one at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI; M2 Max supports three at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 144 Hz, or two at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz; HDMI alone supports 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz
Keyboard
Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys
Trackpad
Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming
Biometrics
Touch ID
In the box
14-inch MacBook Pro, 67 W or 96 W USB-C adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m)
Configurations
Processor
Memory
Storage
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
16 GB
512 GB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
16 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
16 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
16 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
16 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
32 GB
512 GB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
32 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
32 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
32 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU
32 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
512 GB
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
512 GB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
32 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
32 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
32 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
32 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
64 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
64 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
64 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
64 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max
32 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max
32 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max
32 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max
32 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max
64 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max
64 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max
64 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max
64 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max
96 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max
96 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max
96 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max
96 GB
8 TB
Pros and cons
Pros
+Mini-LED display with adaptive refresh up to 120 Hz
+HDMI and SDXC ports alongside three Thunderbolt 4 ports
+Up to 96 GB of unified memory with M2 Max
Cons
−Memory and storage cannot be upgraded after purchase
−Entry configuration needs the optional 96 W adapter for fast charging
−Weighs 1.60 kg with M2 Pro or 1.63 kg with M2 Max
