Do you still remember that 13-inch MacBook Pro that I would highly not recommend you to buy? Good riddance to that because Apple discontinued that model following the introduction of an all-new model of the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3. Thanks to an even lower starting price of $1,599 (from $1,999), we can finally say goodbye to the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
To briefly recap, the 13-inch MacBook Pro was last updated with the M2 chip following the redesign of the M2-based MacBook Air. The main advantage of the 13-inch Pro is that it has an active cooling system for better-sustained performance for more intensive tasks. However, the 13-inch Pro was lagging behind in both its seven-year-old design and features when compared to the M2 MacBook Air, and the MacBook lineup got even more confusing with the debut of the larger 15-inch MacBook Air this past summer. If you were to match the memory/storage configurations between the 15-inch Air and 13-inch Pro, you’d see that both of these machines started at the same price, yet the 15-inch Air offered more features for the money. For instance, the 15-inch Air is packed with a 1080p FaceTime camera, a six-speaker system, and a full-height row of function row keys. The 13-inch Pro still lacked those features.
Before tonight, the MacBook lineup consisted of the following:
- 13-inch MacBook Air with M1 chip starting at $999
- 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip starting at $1,099
- 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip starting at $1,199
- 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chip starting at $1,299
- 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro/Max starting at $1,999
- 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro/Max starting at $2,499.
As you can see, the 13-inch Pro was in an odd spot because, for about the same price as the 15-inch Air, you’d get a smaller screen that lacked the more modern features found in the redesigned MacBooks.
Because Apple just killed off the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which was also the last model to feature the controversy Touch Bar in place of the function keys, the Mac laptop lineup finally makes sense now as there’s now a MacBook for everyone at every price price. Now you may be wondering $1,599 for a 14-inch Pro. That’s still $300 more than the 13-inch Pro that it replaced. To put things in perspective, consider if you want to match the storage/memory configurations between these machines. For instance, if you choose 16GB unified memory and 512GB storage on a MacBook Pro, you would have to pay $1,699 for the previous M2 13-inch Pro vs. $1,799 for the new M3 14-inch Pro. Now that’s $100 worth of spending to get the latest features the MacBook Pro has to offer if you want the same configuration. Not to mention, that Apple compares the previous M1/M2 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro on its website.
As of tonight, the MacBook lineup consists of:
- 13-inch MacBook Air with M1 chip starting at $999
- 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip starting at $1,099
- 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip starting at $1,199
- 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 chip starting at $1,599
- 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro/Max starting at $1,999
- 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro/Max starting at $2,499.
The M1 MacBook Air has been the best starting MacBook model. Sure, it may not have the most modern design or the newer features like a 1080p FaceTime camera, but it still offers a core Mac experience a just under $1,000. And you’ll always find more advanced new features as you go up the price ladder. What’s even more interesting is that the 15-inch MacBook Air and lower-end 14-inch MacBook Pro are now the sweet middle ground in the lineup. Especially with the same storage/memory configurations between those two machines, you can either save $100 if you prefer a larger display or spend $100 more if you want all of the breakthrough technologies such as the XDR display.
Tonight’s unveil of the M3-based MacBook Pros makes this family the strongest lineup of MacBook ever, and there’s no better time to buy a Mac now that we have both the 15-inch MacBook Air and the new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro from this year. What do you think of Apple’s revamped MacBook lineup? Let us know in the comments below, or on X at @Appleosophy.
