this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2023
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The issue is that the 15" M2 Air and the 14" M3 Pro are too close together. The only really save here is that Apple jumped up the M3 to appear in the 14" Pro before the 13" Air this time. Maybe that will be the plan going forward? That Pros get new gen chips first.
The M3 MBP and 15" M2 Air are too close together with 8GB and the M3 in the new 14" chassis without 16GB ram just isn't good value proposition for an MBP model. Now if the M3 MBP only cane with 16GB or 24gb it would be a slam dunk... but telling people an MBP with 8GB is a bad joke and the upgrade to 16GB is way too expensive in a $1600 laptop.
I dunno, I think there is a bit of overlap for the 13" MBA and base 14" MBP. Once you spec them for similar internals, it's a $200 difference which nets you the XDR/ProMotion panel, extra cooling, and built-in HDMI 2.1 and SD card slots, while also reducing (albeit not eliminating) the arbitrary external monitor limit.
The problem is that the base MBA is such a good computer in its own right that it's debatable whether it's worth speccing the internals higher rather than just committing to a slightly more expensive MBP to start.
Form factor was a huge deciding factor in me getting the MBA over MBP
M2 air - consumer / light creativity laptop & THE Mac laptop to buy in this price range.
M3 base 8GB RAM MBP - corporate purchase computer for managers who are running MS office and keynote.
Expensive for what it is but they’ll claim back some of the sales tax.
No consumers and genuine pros should ever buy this machine - it’s not meant for you.
I haven't played with pricing across the laptops as its not my area of interest but I do know comparing the mini to the studio usually results in a beefed up mini costing as much as the studio with a lower tier processor; the memory and storage costs are such that you need to pay attention to where other models start.