Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 review: The M2 Pro is slowed down in the small MacBook Pro

We can keep things short in regard to the case, as there have been no changes since the 2021 model. The aluminum case is still of extremely high quality, but the shape of the case makes the 14-inch model (in particular) look very bulky, although it isn't any higher in direct comparison with the tapered units of the competition. Depending on the position, the raised front edge may prove to be problematic when typing, as the edge quickly presses into the wrists. The MacBook Pro 14 is once again available in Silver or Space Gray and both variants are not particularly sensitive to dirt.

The only visual change concerns the MagSafe cable, where the connector is now in the same color as the case. But the cable itself is still white, even in the Space Gray version.

According to our measurements, the card reader is now slightly faster when copying, achieving a transfer rate of 181 MB/s with our Angelbird AV Pro V60 reference card. According to AmorphousDiskMark, the maximum read speed is 208 MB/s.

A disadvantage of the 2021 MacBook Pro models was the comparatively slow WLAN connection, as only 80 MHz connections were supported. The new 2023 models now finally support Wi-Fi 6E in addition to Bluetooth 5.3, and we were also able to connect to the 6 GHz network of our Asus reference router without issue. The transfer rates are among the best we've seen so far, so the new MacBook Pro 14 is more than twice as fast as its predecessor (provided a suitable router is used).

Apple continues to deliver the MacBook Pro 14 2023 with a one-year warranty, but in Germany, of course, the statutory warranty of 24 months applies. This may differ in other countries, so buyers should double-check before purchasing.

Optionally, the warranty can be extended with Apple Care+. In the US, for example, buyers have the choice between annual coverage (unlimited until cancelled) at US$99.99/yr or three years of coverage at US$279.00. These prices may also differ in other countries and other currencies.

As with the last generation, CPU performance is almost identical, but the new M2 chips now support single-core boost. The efficiency cores reach a maximum of 2,424 MHz and the performance cores a maximum of 3,264 MHz in multi-core operation. In single-core operation, the P-cores are able to reach up to 3,504 MHz on the M2 Pro and even up to 3,696 MHz on the M2 Max.

The big difference between the M2 Pro and M2 Max is once again the integrated graphics card, which now also has significantly more cores. Moreover, Apple has increased the maximum possible size of the shared RAM to 96 GB. Despite the increased base price, the upgrades have also become more expensive. The RAM prices in particular are considerable: an upgrade from 16 to 32 GB RAM will set you back US$400. So if you want the M2 Max, you'll have to pay US$1,100 more than the basic model. The surcharges for the SSDs also remain extremely high (for example, US$200 from 512 GB to 1 TB), considering that a fast PCIe 4.0 SSD in M.2 format is already available for around US$120. For a MacBook Pro 14 2023 in maximum configuration with the M2 Max, 96 GB RAM and 8 TB SSD storage, the final price is US$6,798.98.

The M2 Pro in our review device offers an efficiency cluster of 4 cores and two performance clusters of 4 cores each, so a total of 12 cores and 12 threads. In the old M1 Pro with 8 P cores, we measured a consumption of 27 watts and 31 watts for the CPU cores at full load. In the new M2 Pro, the CPU now consumes 34 watts, although the internal powermetrics utility no longer displays the package power. Based on pure CPU consumption, we see a 25% higher consumption under maximum load. The efficiency of the new SoCs will be discussed in further detail in a separate article.

In short, Apple has been able to increase performance. In native benchmarks such as Cinebench R23, single-core performance is now around 7% faster than the old M1 Pro/M1 Max and 4% faster than the M2 in the MacBook Pro 13. Geekbench shows an 11% lead over the M1 Pro, while the M2 is practically on par. Single-core consumption has increased from around 4 watts to around 6-7 watts.

In the multi-core tests, we see a 20% lead over the M1 Pro, which Apple also advertises. The lead over the normal M2 processor even almost reaches 70% here.

In native Cinebench R23 tests, the new M2 Pro also easily keeps the Intel Core i7-12700H in check when running at 64 watts, like in the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro. However, the Core i7 still has a slight advantage in the single-core test, but when you consider that the performance core of the Core i7 needs around 23 watts for this and the M2 Pro just a little more than 6-7 watts, this is very impressive. The new MacBook Pro 14 also clearly outshines the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor in the Razer Blade 14.

Although the results in Cinebench R15 are not representative, since the benchmark has to be emulated, the multi-loop still gives a good indication of CPU performance under sustained load. Here, the MacBook Pro 14 does not show any weaknesses and can easily maintain its performance without issue. 

This also applies to battery operation, where CPU performance remains completely stable (even at low battery levels, consumption only drops to 3 watts at 3%). More CPU benchmarks are available in our tech section.

The new MacBook Pro 14 M2 is an extremely fast and responsive machine, but this was also the case with the predecessor and you won't notice any difference between the two versions in everyday use. Performance is about 12% faster in the cross-platform CrossMark test, and performance is also excellent in the browser benchmarks.

For the sake of completeness, we again include the results of the PudgetBench tests for Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro, but the tests only run with the emulated Intel version of the applications. But if you start the applications for Apple Silicon, the speed advantage is immense and the Adobe apps run really well on the MacBooks. Basically, the Apple SoCs do an excellent job in image and video editing.

The new graphics unit of the M2 Pro offers either 16 or 19 GPU cores clocked at a maximum of 1.4 GHz. The power consumption of the GPU also increases somewhat, but the difference is significantly lower at 25 watts compared to the previous 22 watts (M1 Pro 16C GPU). As with the normal M2 processor, the GPU has once again become more efficient: the performance increase in the benchmarks is around 25% compared to the M1 Pro, while the gap to the M1 Max with 24 GPU cores is just 11-18% (depending on the test).

Compared to Nvidia GPUs, the M2 Pro GPU with 19 cores falls very much between an RTX 3050 Ti (50 watts) and an RTX 3060 (95W) and is on par with the Radeon RX 6600M (80W), which again is an excellent result given the low consumption of 25 watts. Graphics performance remains completely stable both under sustained load and in battery mode.

Gaming is slowly becoming more interesting on the Mac as there are now more games that run natively on the M1 and now M2. This includes, for example, Resident Evil Village, which runs perfectly smoothly on the MacBook Pro 14 with the M2 Pro in 1080p at maximum details (between 60-90 FPS), which can be clearly seen from the demo sequence in the following video. In addition, we carried out the usual benchmarks of emulated games, which also ran properly. However, we had some difficulties with the Crossover programme (which can be used to run Windows games) in connection with Steam, and so we have not been able to run Witcher 3 or GTA V so far. 

In the emulated games Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Total War: Three Kingdoms, the new M2 Pro is also about 25% ahead of the old M1 Pro and around 15% behind the M1 Max with 24 cores. In Borderlands 3, the lead is slightly smaller at 11-16%.