Apple has lifted the lid on its new 2023 MacBook Pro models, most notably powered by the Californian company’s next-generation pro silicon, the M2. Announced via the Apple newsroom and a YouTube video this morning, the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro will come with the choice of M2 Pro or M2 Max, arriving in early February alongside the new Mac mini desktop, which is powered by either the M2 or M2 Pro.
2023 MacBook Pro Australian Release Date & Price
Apple’s new MacBook Pro will come in two variants, the 14-inch laptop and the more powerful 16-inch laptop. We’ve pulled together the Australian release date and price so you can get a quick idea of what to expect without scrolling through this Apple news piece.
- 14-inch MacBook Pro M2 Pro starts at $3,199 for the standard model and $2,959 for education.
- 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro starts at $3,999 for the standard model and $3,679 for education.
MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and M2 Max will be available in Australia from Friday, February 3 with online orders starting today, January 18.
2023 Mac Mini Australian Release Date & Price
Apple’s new Mac mini comes in just one size, of course, given it’s a small desktop computer. See below for the Australian release date and price.
- Mac mini with M2 starts at $999 for the standard model and $829 for education.
- Mac mini with M2 Pro starts at $1,999 for the standard model and $1,849 for education.
Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro will also be available in Australia from Friday, February 3 with online orders starting today, January 18.
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What’s New With The 2023 MacBook Pro?
M2 chips aside, not much has changed in terms of design for the new MacBook Pros. Some of the newer features include WiFi 6E compatibility and better support for 8K external monitors which are running at 60 Hz, or 4K external models which are running at a more generous 240 Hz thanks to an updated HDMI 2.1 port.
Although, the addition of new Apple silicone is a significant feature that will greatly change the way your new MacBook operates. We already saw what the new chip was capable of when Apple kickstarted its M2 MacBook Pro series with the 13-inch model last year. Now the bigger and more powerful models will get more screen space and a better webcam, much like the difference between the standard 13-inch M1 MacBook and the proceeding 14-inch and 16-inch versions.
The M2 Pro has 10 or 12 cores depending on your configuration as well as 32GB of unified memory, a neural engine that is apparently 40% faster than the previous version, and a GPU with up to 19 cores. All of that translates to an incredibly smooth and efficient high-end laptop that should go far in satisfying power users like video editors and other creatives.
If you go for the M2 Max, expect a significant boost in GPU performance with up to 30 or 38 cores, alongside a whopping 96GB of unified memory. This translates to, for example, effects rendering in Cinema 4D that is 6x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro and up to 30% faster than the previous generation. Generally speaking, expect around 30% greater graphics performance when compared to the M1 Max.
Anyone opting for the M2 Max model can also expect an incredibly powerful media engine with twice the ProRes acceleration to speed up media playback and transcoding. You should have no problem streaming more demanding 8K videos and 4K videos should be an absolute breeze.
What’s New With The 2023 Mac Mini?
Much like the new MacBook models, don’t go expecting the Mac mini to look any different. With a small form factor, the portable desktop computer now gets its power from either the M2 or the all-new M2 Pro, boosting power considerably.
With the M2 model, you have support for up to two external displays. Three if you’re going for the M2 Pro model, which could really brush up your productivity in the office.
Anyone going for the M2 Pro model can expect a 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU as standard, and up to a 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU with advanced configurations. You’ve also got up to 32GB unified memory and a ceiling of 8TB storage.
However, unlike with the 2023 MacBook Pro, there is no option to configure the Mac mini with the pinnacle M2 Max silicone. Of course, there are very few users that will actually need something this powerful but we imagine Apple may end up designing such a model as early as next year.
In practical terms, if you’ve got the Mac mini with M2 Pro then, when compared with something like the 27-inch iMac with Intel Core i7, you can expect up to 50% faster filter and function performance in Adobe Photoshop and up to 4.4x faster object tracking in Final Cut Pro.
This should be an easy sell for PC gamers as well. When compared with the M1 Mac mini, the Mac mini with M2 Pro should give you such speedy performance that you’d get up to 2.8x faster gameplay with a modern game like Resident Evil Village. Gaming performance is up to 15x faster than the fastest Intel-based Mac mini.
