Rewrite this content Apple suddenly surprised us with several new products when unveiling its latest processors, the M2 Pro and the M2 Max. We see those processors appear in the latest additions to the MacBook Pro family, including in all new models of the MacBook Pro 16 inches (2023).With these new more powerful chips, the MacBook Pro 16 inch (2023) probably get a spot on our list of the best MacBooks than Macswhen we have been able to review it, but is this new laptop really better than the MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021)? Is it worth upgrading if you already have the previous model or should you wait a little longer?Answering these questions is still a bit difficult at the moment, since we don’t yet have a lot of concrete information about the 2023 model. The choice is made even more difficult by the fairly large price difference between the two versions. To make the choice a little easier for you, we put the two against each other, so that you can see which ultimately suits you better and your budget. (Image credit: Future)MacBook Pro 16 inch (2021) vs MacBook Pro 16 inch (2023): Price and availabilityThe MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021) with the M1 Pro chip was available at launch from 2,749 euros. The more powerful model with the M1 Max chip cost you at least 3,849 euros. The entry-level model of the new MacBook Pro 16-inch with the M2 Pro has a suggested retail price of 3,049 euros and the M2 Max variant can be purchased from 4,199 euros. Of course you can also choose to put together the new models with even higher specs, just like you could on the 2021 versions, but then you will logically also have to deal with even higher prices. Both versions are (or will be) available almost everywhere, but the 2021 MacBook Pro on Apple’s website has already been replaced by the 2023 MacBook Pro. This new version can already be ordered, but will only be available from 24 January. (Image credit: Future)MacBook Pro 16 inch (2021) vs MacBook Pro 16 inch (2023): SpecsThe entry-level model of the MacBook Pro 16 inches (2021) with the M1 Pro chip had a 10-core CPU, a 16-core GPU, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD storage space. The M1 Max version had a 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD storage space.The MacBook Pro 16-inch entry-level model with M2 Pro chip, on the other hand, has a 12-core CPU, a 19-core GPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage space. The M2 Max entry-level model has a 12-core CPU, a 38-core GPU, 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD storage space. The version with the M2 Pro can be upgraded to 32GB of RAM and the M2 Max version can be upgraded to an amazing 96GB of RAM. With both models you can also expand the storage to 8TB (SSD storage). The connections are the same on both devices, so there is not really an improvement. Still, it was already a pretty good offering, with three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port with support for 8K video, an SDXC card reader, a headphone port, and a MagSafe 3 port. It’s still missing an Ethernet port, though, which is a bit of a disappointment for those of us who prefer a wired network connection. (Image credit: Future)MacBook Pro 16 inch (2021) vs MacBook Pro 16 inch (2023): PerformanceAt the moment, we cannot really compare the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021) with the MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) in terms of performance. We’ll have to wait a while until we can test them using different benchmarks. What we already know based on the information that Apple has released is that the 2023 Pro series will be a lot faster again and should therefore deliver improved performance. That can be very useful for people who use their MacBook Pro for video editing. The M2 Max model may well be the ideal laptop for that kind of work. The M2 Pro model is said to have a battery life of 18 hours and the M2 Max version can last for 22 hours, according to Apple. That 18 hours from the M2 Pro is a bit lower than the battery life we got on the 2021 model during testing (nearly 19 hours), so it does sound like a fair estimate. MacBook Pro 16 inch (2021) vs MacBook Pro 16 inch (2023): Which one should you buy?The 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023) is unfortunately a few hundred euros more expensive in the Benelux than the previous model was at its launch, so the price of the 2021 model is (now) certainly more attractive. If you want to buy a new MacBook for the first time (in years) and the higher price doesn’t bother you that much, then it’s probably best to go for the very latest MacBook Pro. You then get a better chip and better performance and you may also be able to use it a little longer, but the question is whether that improved performance is worth the money to you. However, for owners of the M1 MacBook Pro 16-inch, even with that improved performance, it’s hard to recommend the M2 version. The M1 chips are still quite powerful and certainly the M1 Max is a very good chip for productivity and for professional video editing. We do not yet know how big the difference will be with the M2 chips. That will only really become known when we can do official benchmarks and other tests. In practice, these results can sometimes deviate from the claims of the manufacturer. For now, it is probably useful to at least wait for the official reviews for the new models to come out. By then you may be able to better assess whether the improvements are really worth the higher price for you, especially if you already have a MacBook Pro 16 inches (2021). and add more content about MacBook Pro 16 inch (2021) vs MacBook Pro 16 inch (2023): which one is best?
