Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
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GENERAL USE: Excellent—9.0/10
GAMING/AI: Good—7.4/10
ENG/DESIGN: Very Good—8.7/10
SOFTWARE DEV: Very Good—8.8/10
CONTENT CREATION: Excellent—9.0/10
PORTABILITY: Very Good—8.5/10
BATTERY: Excellent—9.1/10
OVERALL SCREEN QUALITY: Excellent—9.3/10
OVERALL PERFORMANCE: Very Good—8.1/10
SIZE: 14.2"
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is a premium laptop with ample storage and a high-quality mini LED display, which comes with a robust Apple M2 Pro processor and integrated GPU, making it suitable for demanding tasks such as engineering or creative work that requires graphics processing. The MacBook offers an impressive battery life and a high-quality build with backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, and multiple USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, but these features do contribute to its premium price tag. Note that it's not the lightest, so while it does offer very good portability, there are more lightweight options if that's a priority. Its screen is notably bright and provides an excellent color coverage, making it ideal for tasks where color accuracy is important. It isn't designed for intensive gaming, as it lacks dedicated gaming features like high refresh rates or hardware ray tracing. If you're looking for a high-performance machine for work that's also capable of handling creative tasks, the MacBook Pro 14 could be a superb choice, as long as the investment aligns with your budget. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Evaluation
Pros
- High screen resolution and pixel density
- Color accuracy covers DCI-P3 and sRGB
- Solid battery life for typical usage
- Excellent build and speaker quality
- Backlit keyboard with fingerprint reader
Cons
- Relatively high weight affects portability
- No touchscreen functionality
- Limited port selection
- Premium price point
Ratings by Category
Build Quality:5.0
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, chassis rigidity, and overall reliability.
Our assessment of build quality includes many details that are difficult to quantify.
Our laptop experts use their best judgment to produce the final score.
General Use Screen Quality:4.9
The general use screen score is based on the screen technology, contrast ratio, resolution, brightness, color gamut and color accuracy. This score does not take into account specialized display features for specific use cases, such as high refresh rate for gaming.
Keyboard Quality:4.9
The Keyboard Quality score is based on the PerfectRec experts’ assessment of tactile feedback, typing comfort, keyboard reliability and typing noise.
Battery Life:4.8
PerfectRec’s Battery Life rating is based on hours of battery life in typical usage scenarios.
General Use:4.7
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
The most important factors in this score include CPU performance, amount of RAM, screen quality, storage, and battery life.
Keyboard quality, speaker quality, low fan noise, heat management, and to a lesser extent webcam quality are all moderately important factors for this score.
Content Creation:4.7
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, and video editing work.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Engineering & Design:4.6
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design, CAD and 3D work.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Software Development:4.6
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software development.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Portability:4.6
PerfectRec’s portability rating takes into account the volume and thickness of the laptop as well as its weight.
Operating Noise:4.6
PerfectRec’s Operating Noise Score is based on fan noise measurements. Laptops with a fanless design, such as Macbooks, receive the maximum score.
Gaming & AI:4.2
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability as well as AI performance, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
While performance (especially graphics performance) is the most important factor determining this score, we also give modest weight to screen quality, heat management, keyboard quality, and storage.
Full Specs
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
| Price | $2,429 | ||
Release Date | January 1, 2023 | ||
Overall Dimensions | 12.3'' x 8.7'' x 0.61'' | ||
Weight | 3.5 lbs | ||
Width | 12.31" | ||
Depth | 8.71" | ||
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | Apple M2 Pro (12C) | ||
RAM | 16 GB | ||
DDR Memory Version | 5 | ||
RAM Slots | 0 | ||
Storage | 1024 GB | ||
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | 13.5 Hours | ||
Battery Capacity | 69.6 Wh | ||
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | 14.2" | ||
Display Technology | Mini LED | ||
Resolution | 3024 x 1964 | ||
Refresh Rate | 120Hz | ||
Display Brightness | 489 nits | ||
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score  | 10/10 | ||
Portability Score | 8.6/10 | ||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | No | ||
Premium Business Laptop | Yes | ||
Fan Noise Score | 8.8/10 | ||
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | 9.5/10 | ||
Speaker Quality Score | 10/10 | ||
Webcam | 1080p | ||
Fingerprint Reader | Yes | ||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | ||
Number Pad | No | ||
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | 0 | ||
USB-C ports | 3 | ||
USB-C Charging | Yes | ||
Display Outputs | 2 | ||
Thunderbolt Version | 4 | ||
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
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NotebookCheck
Andreas Osthoff | January 2023
"In the Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023, the M2 Pro is slowed down. From the improved 5nm process, the new M2 Pro is a very solid upgrade. Graphics performance has increased by about 25% in tandem with a clear improvement in efficiency. The processor has also seen a performance leap of up to 20%, but this is accompanied by an increase in consumption of up to 25%. Fundamentally, Apple its maintaining its advantage over AMD and Intel, particularly in optimized applications where the results are very good in view of the comparatively low power consumption."
Comparison charts
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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