1. Best overall
2. Best budget
3. Best premium
4. Best last-gen
5. Best last-gen premium
Finding the best MacBook Pro tailored to your specific needs can be a challenging task, especially with Apple's diverse range of options. Whether you're a creative professional, student, photographer, or someone in need of a powerful yet affordable laptop, Apple's lineup of MacBook Pros offers something for everyone, albeit with a more limited selection compared to Windows-based alternatives.
The MacBook Pro comes in various sizes and configurations, catering to different user preferences and requirements. For instance, the MacBook Pro 16-inch is an excellent choice for those who prioritize a larger screen and powerful internals, making it a top contender for the best laptop for photographers and the best mobile workstation. Meanwhile, the MacBook Pro 14-inch offers a balance of power and portability, ideal for professionals who need high performance but are less concerned about screen size. For general users, the MacBook Pro 13-inch provides more than enough capability for everyday tasks, presenting a more budget-friendly option.
Additionally, Apple's recent refresh of the MacBook Pro series means there are even more choices available, including older models that can be found at reduced prices through various online retailers. This guide aims to assist you in navigating these options, ensuring you find the best MacBook Pro that aligns with your needs.
The best MacBook Pro laptop in 2023
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Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best MacBook Pro models on our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
The best MacBook Pro overall
The new MacBook Pro 14, powered by Apple's M3 chip, particularly the high-end M3 Max processor, is more than just a new laptop; it's a testament to the chip's raw power. The highest-end configurations showcase superior performance due to their additional CPU and GPU cores and larger memory capacity (64GB). While the base M3 model still offers advanced features like hardware-based ray tracing, mesh shading, and a fast neural network, it has fewer cores and less memory.
This MacBook Pro stands out for its design, including an option for a fingerprint-resistant Space Black finish, a highly praised keyboard, and the macOS Sonoma platform, offering versatility for various activities. It's considered the best MacBook to date.
However, it's not an affordable option. For those with less demanding needs, like working on standard files or less intensive gaming, the MacBook Pro 13-inch with M2 (included below). The complete MacBook Pro 14 M3 series, from the base model to the M3 Pro and M3 Max, rank among the best laptops available, not just the best Mac devices, with the M3 Max configuration also a contender for the best gaming laptop list.
Read the full MacBook Pro 14-inch (M3, 2023) review
The best budget MacBook Pro
If you're looking for an affordable MacBook Pro that delivers impressive performance and power, then the Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022) is a brilliant option. It keeps the same price as the M1 MacBook Pro 13-inch while touting Apple’s brand-new M2 chip that certainly makes up for the fact that Apple hasn't given its design and look a proper refresh. That makes this the best budget MacBook Pro to get right now if you don't want older internals.
Although this new model may look and feel a bit redundant to M1 MacBook Pro 13-inch owners, they'll appreciate that noticeable boost in performance. In our tests, it achieved better performance in both single and multi-core CPU tests, which means it's much better at multitasking than its predecessor and around twice as powerful as the Intel Core i7-1185G7-powered Surface Laptop 4. It's even more power-efficient as well, giving us two more hours of juice than the M1 MacBook Pro 13-inch in our battery life test.
Read our in-depth MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022) review
The best premium MacBook Pro
Apple's October reveal of the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3) range was a surprising and risky move, coming just 10 months after the M2-based model. This swift update may frustrate recent buyers of the M2 Max model, who expected their high-end laptops to remain top-of-the-line for longer. The quick transition to the M3 series, including the M3 Pro and M3 Max, also casts the M2 generation in a somewhat unfavorable light, especially with the introduction of new iMac models that bypass the M2 chip entirely.
Despite potential customer grievances, the M3 series starts at the same price as the previous generation, offering significant performance upgrades. The MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3) retains its exceptional 16.2-inch display with Liquid Retina XDR technology, 1,600 nits peak brightness, and 120Hz ProMotion tech, ensuring a vivid and responsive visual experience. It also features a range of ports for enhanced connectivity.
The new MacBook Pro is a powerhouse in performance, handling intensive tasks like editing 4K footage effortlessly and even proving capable of running the latest games. This versatility marks a shift in Apple's 'Pro' range, offering both work and play capabilities. However, due to its high cost and lack of a more affordable base M3 option, this model is recommended only for those with the necessary budget and need for such a powerful machine.
Read the full Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max) review
The best last-gen MacBook Pro
It seems that every year, Apple is making the MacBook Pro 14-inch a lot more power than you'd expect. Its 2021 predecessor may have been an almost perfect laptop, but this one blows it out of the water in terms of power, cementing the line's status as a mobile workstation that's reserved for users who can maximize its sheer performance.
However, even though it launched in January 2023, the MacBook Pro 14-inch (2023) is no longer the latest model - it's just been superseded by the MacBook Pro 14-inch (M3/M3 Pro/M3 Max), which can be found higher up on this list. That might be annoying for people who just bought the M2-era model, but it's still a great laptop, and with the new M3 models out, you may be able to find the M2 models for cheaper - though not from Apple, which has now stopped selling those (slightly) older 14-inch MacBook Pros.
Read our full in-depth Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (2023) review
The best older, premium MacBook Pro
If you’re looking for the best laptop for photo editing, the MacBook Pro 16in M2 model offers outstanding performance, wrapped up in that always-sleek Apple aesthetic
We don’t hesitate in calling this “the best screen on a laptop” in our review. Its gorgeous 16in, 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display providing a broad canvas for any photo editing project.
Driving the Apple Macbook Pro is the powerful M2 chip that we found more than capable of handling hardware-intensive creative apps. Benchmarking the machine, it hit a PugentBench Photoshop score of 1,060; Premier Pro scored 1,095; Blender, 123.97. The base configuration comes with 10-core CPU, a 16-core GPU, 16GB memory, and 512GB SSD storage. However, photographers and editors will be better off with the 32GB RAM and 1TB storage configuration.
It’s not the lightest photo editing laptop, and its larger screen makes it less portable. But the Macbook Pro is a great choice if you’re on the go, working at home, in the office, the studio, the coffee shop. Whether running plugged in or off the battery, there were next to no differences in performance during our tests.
Read our full Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) review
