Tech
Apple’s first MacBook Pro with an M2 chip will be available this week
The refreshed MacBook Pro with the new Apple silicon will be up to order June 17 and shipping out and in stores on June 24.
If you’re eager to get your hands on the latest Apple silicon, the first available offering will be the new MacBook Pro with M2. It’ll be followed by the M2 MacBook Air’s release that’s expected sometime in July.
Officially, the M2 MacBook Pro will be available to order on June 17, with Apple shipping them out on June 24. The refreshed laptop was announced at WWDC 2022 earlier this month, showing off the improved specs compared to the M1 MacBook Pro that came out in 2020.
Apple says the Touch Bar is indeed here to stay with the M2 MacBook Pro, to the delight of its limited fan base. If you’re instead looking for a MacBook with M2 but without the Touch Bar, the MacBook Air with M2 has got you covered.
M2 improvements — The M2 is Apple’s next generation of silicon and when included in the new MacBook Pro, it means improvements in a couple of departments. Compared to the previous generation, the M2 MacBook Pro has a 10-core GPU and up to 24GB of unified memory, while the eight-core CPU and the storage options up to 2TB remain the same. The 13.3-inch Retina display and the 20-hour battery life will also be the same.
In real-world applications, the M2 will be 40 percent faster when editing RAW images and when playing graphically-demanding games compared to the previous generation, according to Apple. Apple added that users can even convert their video projects to its ProRes codec three times faster than on M1 MacBooks.
If you’re upgrading from a MacBook Pro running on Intel chips, the M2 version will be 3.3-times faster. However, if you’re not really chasing performance and want something much lighter, you might be better off waiting for the upcoming M2 MacBook Air. Comparing the two M2 laptops, the MacBook Air has a better display, a lighter design, and a better camera, but loses when it comes the battery life and audio design compared to the MacBook Pro.
Now or later — For those already sold on the M2 MacBook Pro, it’ll start at $1,299 and be available in two colors: silver and space gray. If you don’t want to wait for shipping, you can always just go to an Apple Store location or any Apple-authorized shops when they should be on the shelves on June 24. But if you’re patient enough, you could just wait until July and then decide between the very comparable MacBook Air and Pro models with M2.
