Right now, for $500 you can get a 14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro (Opens in a new tab)which begs the question: why bother with an M2 Pro MacBook Pro when you can have such good value for money?
Because when you compare the benchmarks, the differences in speed are incredibly slight and the battery life of this previous generation system is indeed the same better from the new laptop. It’ll easily keep up with any intense workload for a long time to come, and outside of the in-house chipset, it shares all the same specs.
And those aren’t just the basic specs for this powerful 14-inch device, because the 512GB storage isn’t really enough for any creative professional. No. Instead, the MacBook Pro comes with a 1TB SSD – enough for large projects.
To get something similar to Apple’s latest silicone, you’ll need to spend $2,199 (Opens in a new tab) (To get a machine for $1,999, you’ll need to cut that storage in half.) Not to say you shouldn’t go for the newest and best if you can. If you can get by with the extra $200, fill your shoes! But let’s actually take a look at what extra features you get for that extra investment.
The M2 Pro is 20% faster than the M1 Pro, capable of 10% faster video transcoding, 15% faster SSD write speeds, and six minutes less battery life (although Apple promises an hour longer). If this is worth it to you, go for it. However, these are small increases compared to what was already a monstrous processor in the M1 Pro, which still dominates much of the competition today.
It’s a great laptop at an even better price. That’s why I think you should abandon the M2 Pro hype and make a choice that’s right for your wallet!