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During the pandemic, I made a major shift and became a full-time Mac user. Before we were all confined to our homes, I used to switch between my MacBook Air for personal stuff and writing to the Windows workstation at the office for all official work. Stuck at home for close to two years, I did not have the second option and life became a lot simpler. In 2021, I made another shift, this time to the first MacBook Pro running on Apple silicon. And since then I have been using this device as my go-to computer. Now, maybe it is time to shift again, to the new 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the M3 Apple silicon.
Interestingly, though two years have passed since the M1 MacBook Pro (review) was launched, the new version is almost identical in looks to the 2021 edition. So much so, that if during set-up I had used the copy from the old Mac option, then even I would not have been able to differentiate between the two. Yes, there would have been one difference, that the new version was running macOS Sonoma out of the box. There is one small difference when it comes to ports — this has one USB-C port less than the 2021 model. Thankfully, Apple has not removed the HDMI port, which for me is an essential feature as I am always using the MacBook Pro to power a TV when talking to the team or having Zoom calls.
MacBook Pro M3 looks almost identical to the M1/M2 MacBook Pro (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
The 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display is 3024×1964 pixels and packs a punch. You notice this from the outset with the live wallpapers of macOS Sonoma. While it is almost the same as the one in the 2021 version, for anyone on older devices the change will be very apparent. So is the backlit keyboard and trackpad… no changes here.
Over the past couple of years, my daily work profile has changed and I need some serious power in my device to handle huge data sets, mostly in Excel or Google Sheets. This is one workflow that is still hard to handle on iPhones and iPads; one has to turn to a computer to understand the sheets and work on them. When some of the sheets have data running into many thousands of rows, a lot of computers do show their reluctance to be of assistance, at least not at the speed you want them to. The new MacBook Pro had no issues opening a spreadsheet with data for over 100,000 unique rows and then running formulas and filters on it. I have not been able to open the same sheet on many other laptops.
In fact, with the kind of power the M1 packed into the older MacBook Pro, over the past couple of years, there hasn’t been even one instance where I felt the device was not able to handle a test. The new one is powered by the M3 which has a whole silicon generation in between, so there is no question of it not being able to handle a data sheet. This is made to handle video workflows where you are editing 4K videos on the move and exporting editing. For me, patching six 4K clips with edits, colour corrections, and transitions was a breeze on the MacBook Pro and the 90-second clip exported in about 15 seconds as a high-quality file. But frankly, this is only a tad bit faster than what it would have taken on the M1 device.
MacBook Pro natively running Lies of P game (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
The other aspect that makes the new M3 processors is its ray tracing abilities which appeal to gamers. I am not one, but still, I had to see how good it was. It was at this moment that my teenage son decided to step in and take charge. But his expert help was not needed. As soon as he started negotiating the levels of the Lies of P game, I could see why there was a look of awe on his face. As the lead character walked across the dark corridors the light reflected on his sword, and so did the lightning when it flashed occasionally. It was almost as if you were watching a well-thought-out frame of a Hollywood movie. Everything was so smooth even though I was just controlling the game using cursor keys. And this was all happening on a 14-inch laptop.
One place where the MacBook Pro has pushed the envelope even further is with battery life. This is a device you can take for a two-day trip without a charger as this gives you about 22 hours of battery life on a full charge. And with wireless connectivity and some heavy lifting, you will easily be able to manage two workdays. While the MacBook Pro has the MagSafe 3 now, I would use it only for charging at home or the office and just use the iPhone charger while on the move. With the iPhone moving to USB-C, you now need just one charger for all your Apple devices.
Despite being a light machine, it offers up to 22 hours of battery life (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
With a starting price of Rs 1,69,900, the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 is now the device all power users and creators will aspire for. If you have been looking to upgrade from an Intel-era MacBook then this is the best time to switch. But if you are already on an M series silicon device I would advise you to hold on, unless your workflows have changed so much in the past year or so that you need more raw power under the hood. The MacBook Pro is now equipped to take on the Pro workflows you can expect for a couple of years and more. This is your time to future-proof your work.
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