Upgrade Dilemma: Return MBP M2 Pro for MBP M3 Pro?

[Wealhmær Sylwester]

Greetings, MacRumors forum members,

I'm in need of your insights due to a dilemma I'm facing with my MacBook Pro. Here's the situation laid out:

Context:

• I own a basic 14" MacBook Pro equipped with the Apple M2 Pro chip and 16GB of RAM.
• I have until November 18th to decide whether I should return it.
• I reside in Europe.
• I'm a first-year Bachelor's student in Artificial Intelligence.

What I'd Like to Do:

I'm contemplating whether to pay an additional 90,12€ to exchange my current MacBook Pro for the newer 14" M3 Pro model. Given the nature of my studies, I want to ensure that my laptop will serve me well throughout my degree.

I'm turning to you for advice:

• Do you believe the performance boost in the M3 Pro justifies the extra cost?
• Or should I consider a different model entirely, possibly one that's more powerful or even less powerful depending on the cost-benefit ratio?
  
  I would greatly appreciate your advice on this matter. If you have any suggestions or need more information to provide a recommendation, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

[kp98077]

if you can I'd return it.. for the brighter screen alone - and resale value in the future

 

[Mac Hammer Fan]

90,12 EUR is not much, if it was e.g. 300 EUR I would keep the M2 pro. But keep in mind that Apple crippled the M3 Pro (less performance and GPU cores and less memory bandwith). However the M3 Pro has Raytracing and Dynamic Caching to compensate that.

 

[CalMin]

The machines won't feel very different in daily use. M1 Pro and my M2 Air basically run the same for most things and for everything else you would probably only differentiate with a stopwatch.

That said, newer is generally better, and you will recoup the 90 euros instantly when you come to sell/trade in the future. Just don't think you will notice any difference when you exchange them.

 

[mecloud]

Yes, trade it. Yes Apple did some “things”, reducing the memory access to 150gb/sec and reducing the “performance” core count. But, the single-core M3 performance is a pretty big jump over the M2, I’ve measured about 1950 (M2 Pro) vs. about 3100 (M3 Pro). I say “about” because repeating Geekbench tests gives some slight variances.

In multi-core performance, the M3 Pro is a *very* incremental improvement over the M2 Pro. But the single-core performance is more reflective of “user perceived speed”, and going from 1950 to 3100 Geekbench scores is a significant improvement.

 

[Mac Hammer Fan]

MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023) - Geekbench

Benchmark results for a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023) with an Apple M2 Pro processor.

browser.geekbench.com

@mecloud My M2 Pro score is single core 2676 (and Multi 14156).

 

[OrenLindsey]

Don't get M3 Pro. It will be barely better than M2 Pro, if not identical for your usage. If you are going to get a new device, get M3 Max. That will be a lot better for running AI on it and such (I assume you're doing that).

If you're not running AI on this computer, you definitely don't need to upgrade. The M2 Pro will definitely be enough for you.

 

[mecloud]

Don't get M3 Pro. It will be barely better than M2 Pro, if not identical for your usage. If you are going to get a new device, get M3 Max. That will be a lot better for running AI on it and such (I assume you're doing that).

If you're not running AI on this computer, you definitely don't need to upgrade. The M2 Pro will definitely be enough for you.

I would agree except in this scenario the question was basically “should I trade the M2 Pro for the M3 Pro **cost-free**”. I’ve recently had the opportunity to test the base M3 Pro against the base M2 Pro, and overall the M3 Pro is a slight improvement…enough to justify making that cost-free trade. Slightly better screen, slightly more RAM, and perhaps most significantly, the M3 Pros are not using the single-chip SSD’s that slowed down the base M2 pro internal SSD’s. And of course if Space Black is something the original poster would want…

 

[minuszero]

Since you mentioned studying AI, the M3 series has more than double TOPS in neural engine performance, definitely worth it in your case for that alone imo.

 

[tekksan]

Seems like a small amount of money to get a brighter screen, more memory, better battery life, and better performance.

 

[TheRealAlex]

12 Core M3 Pro punches at the M2 Max level on some benchmarks.

 

[EDS66]

if you can I'd return it.. for the brighter screen alone - and resale value in the future

The screen is not just brighter. Pixel response is faster also.