Apple has given a lot of love to its MacBook Pro line in 2023. It doesn’t feel like all that long ago I was writing the reviews of the MacBook Pro M2 Pro/Max model so it’s a little strange to be talking about the upgrade to those models not even a year later.

Still, that’s where we are and while there isn’t too much new to say about the design of the new MacBook Pro models – just like there wasn’t with the iMac 2023 – there is plenty to say about performance. I want to spend a little longer with the MacBook Pro (M3 Pro/Max, 2023) before I deliver my final review, but here are my initial thoughts.

No changes to design (almost)

The latest MacBook Pro carries an identical design to its predecessor, but there is one key difference and it’s a good one. There’s a new Space Black colour option, which is so much better than I expected it to be. When I saw the colour announced, I found it a bit underwhelming. It just looked like the Space Grey we’ve seen in the past rather than anything particularly new or striking.

In the flesh though, it’s a whole different story. The Space Black option has got plenty of depth, and it’s more serious than the Midnight option on the MacBook Air (M2, 2023). It also appears to be less prone to fingerprints. The Space Black finish is said to use a process that creates an anodisation seal to reduce fingerprints and in my time with the device so far, that’s certainly true compared to my MacBook Air.

Apart from the new Space Black colour, the design is the same as the M2 Pro/Max models that arrived in January 2023. It’s a solid and premium quality of build with an aluminium casing, and overall, it’s a very sturdy machine. The base is thicker than the MacBook Air so you feel like you are getting a very substantial device (as you should for its price), while the flat lid makes for a lovely looking laptop too.

Speakers flank the keyboard – which is a delight to use and the same as you will find on the MacBook Air and the Magic Keyboard – and there is Touch ID in the top right. This might seem like a gimmick but the Touch ID button is actually exceptionally useful, from authenticating payment through Apple Pay, to autofilling passwords. There is no Touch Bar at the top of the keyboard anymore – and this goes for not only the M3 Pro/Max models, but the base MacBook Pro too. At the bottom of the keyboard is a trackpad, which is very responsive, while fans are positioned at the base of the MacBook Pro.

Ports are plentiful on this model too, thank goodness. On the left edge, you’ll find MagSafe along with two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the right edge, there’s another Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI port and an SDXC slot – the latter of which is the one thing I miss the most about the MacBook Air, though many buying this model will likely have more appreciation for the HDMI port.

I have the 14-inch MacBook Pro model in for review and while it is heavier than the MacBook Air 15-inch by around 10g, it’s by no means too heavy. In fact, it’s quite surprising how portable this model feels. It’s uniformed design is lovely, the solid build is reassuring, and the Space Black is stunning.

Still a great display

There are a couple of different options for the MacBook Pro M3 models. The base model moves from a 13-inch screen to a 14-inch screen, though this model doesn’t come in Space Black (I know, it sucks). The M3 Pro and M3 Max models – more on these chips in a second – are both offered in 14-inch and 16-inch display sizes.

As I mentioned, I have the 14-inch model in for review, though both the 14-inch and 16-inch models have a Liquid Retina XDR display, and it’s quite simply glorious. It’s not a new display as such – it was on the MacBook Pro (2021) models, as well as the previous 2023 models, but it’s still a display worth shouting about.

There’s a 3024 x 1964 pixel resolution on the 14-inch model, coupled with 1000 nits XDR brightness – which is double that of the MacBook Air – and a 1600 nits peak brightness for HDR content that delivers excellent dynamic range. SDR brightness tops out at 600 nits, which is 100 nits brighter than the M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pro that launched in January. Elsewhere, there’s a P3 wide colour gamut on board, along with technologies like True Tone and ProMotion – the latter of which offers adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, adapting to what is on your screen for super smooth scrolling and responsiveness. True Tone meanwhile, adapts the display to your surroundings, but creatives will likely want to make sure it is turned off for greater colour representation as it does have a tendency to turn everything a little yellow.

Overall, the display experience on the MacBook Pro (M3 Pro/Max, 2023) is excellent. Colours are punchy with plenty of vibrancy and pop, detail is great and there’s plenty of depth and consistency across the screen. There is a notch at the top of the screen which houses the 1080p FaceTime HD camera, though sadly no Face ID sensors. I’d love to have seen Face ID on the MacBook Pro – it feels like its long overdue now – but the mid-cycle update was probably always unlikely to get it. The notch does break up the lovely slim bezels, but it is something you don’t notice day-to-day.

Plenty of power and performance

I mentioned that the MacBook Pro M3 models come in a couple of different configurations. All configurations of the M3 chip are built on a 3nm process. The base model has the standard M3 chipset, like the iMac, and it comes with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. The MacBook Pro with M3 Pro chip has up to a 12-core CPU with 6 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores and up to an 18-core GPU with a 16-core Neural Engine, while the MacBook Pro with M3 Max chip has up to a 16-core CPU with 12 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, up to 40-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine.

All MacBook Pro models have hardware-accelerated ray tracing and they all come with video encode and decode engines, as well as a ProRes encode and decode engine and AV1 decode engine. In terms of memory, the base model of the MacBook Pro offers 8GB as standard, configurable up to 24GB. The M3 Pro model offers 18GB as standard, configurable up to 36GB. The M3 Max meanwhile, offers 36GB as standard, configurable up to a high 128GB. Storage options start at 512GB SSD in the base MacBook Pro, and are configurable up to 8TB for M3 Max models, though you are talking some serious dollar when you spec the MacBook Pro out to these levels.

My review unit has the M3 Max chipset with a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. It has 64GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage, and it retails for just over $4000, so it’s a pretty substantial outlay in terms of cost, and it’s not even the top-spec model. From my experience so far however, it delivers an incredible amount of power – far more than I would be able to max out. This is a machine for those working on 4D rendering for example, rather than just photo editing or video editing. Still, for any task I have put the MacBook Pro (M3 Pro/Max, 2023) on so far, it has had absolutely no issue whatsoever in completing.

Everything is lighting fast, switching between tasks with a breeze. I exported an 8-minute video with a 4K resolution, which was around 3GB in size and my review unit managed this in just over 4 minutes. The iMac with M3 chip by comparison, did this in around 8 minutes, while the MacBook Air with M2 chip also needed around 8 minutes. The same video exported in ProRaw took my review unit 32 seconds, compared to around 1 minute and 30 seconds on the MacBook Air (M2, 2023) and the iMac with M3 chip. I ran the same test on the MacBook Pro (M2 Pro/Max, 2023) model earlier this year and the 4K export took around 2 minutes and 30 seconds, while the ProRes file took 34 seconds, so there are certainly some improvements.

I’m still testing the performance of the MacBook Pro (M3 Pro/Max, 2023) but in my experience so far, there appears to be very little you could throw at this machine, and have it not handle with ease. The latest macOS software – Sonoma – runs brilliantly too, and there are some nice new elements that are handy too, like the ability to add widgets directly to the desktop, Game Mode, and the various presenter options.

Battery still in testing

I’m still testing the battery life of the MacBook Pro (M3 Pro/Max, 2023), though it’s claimed to offer up to 12 hours of wireless web surfing, or up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback. I’ll be testing this over the coming weeks in preparation for my full review, though I suspect the MacBook Pro won’t be able to match the MacBook Air. Still, the MacBook Air has an insane battery life, so even if the MacBook Pro can get close with this amount of power under the hood, I’ll be happy.

When it comes to charging, the model I have for review comes with a 96W USB-C power adapter and a colour-matched MagSafe cable, which charges the battery to 50 per cent within 30 minutes. There’s a 70W charger with the 11-core M3 Pro models, while the 16-inch model comes with a 140W charger. None of them are dual-ports though, like the MacBook Air has the option of, which is missed as it’s very useful especially when you’re carrying around such a large charger. What I did very much appreciate however, is the USB-C end of the braided black cable that comes with the Space Black MacBook Pro is also black, rather than white like the MacBook Air’s Midnight cable so that’s definitely a plus in my book. It’s the little things.

First impressions

The MacBook Pro (M3 Pro/Max, 2023) may not have changed in terms of design, but that’s no bad thing. The design is premium, solid, and it delivers an excellent experience overall. The Space Black colour is also lovely, with a serious feel and seemingly less attracted to fingerprints than other MacBook models.

There is some impressive power under the hood of the new MacBook Pro too. If you bought the MacBook Pro (M2 Pro/Max, 2023) model earlier this year, you very likely won’t need to upgrade, and the same might even be said for the M1 Pro/Max models. But if you’re running an older MacBook Pro – especially one not on Apple Silicon – you’re in for a treat.

The MacBook Pro (M3 Pro/Max, 2023) is by no means cheap. In fact, they are very, very, expensive. But they are also very, very, good.