expiredDr.W posted Dec 07, 2023 05:26 PM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
expiredDr.W posted Dec 07, 2023 05:26 PM
Apple MacBook Pro (Late 2023): 14" Liquid Retina XDR, M3, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
+ Free Shipping$1,499
$1,800
16% offPC Connection
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PROs:
This is th best value laptop you can find with the M3 lineup:
This is a great deal, the new air with m3 will probably start at $1,100. Add 512 GB SSD and 16 GB ram will become $1,500. The M3 pro starts at $2k, I never seen it cheaper than $1,800.
Cons:
Compared to M3 pro models, it is weaker in terms of performance, there is one fewer usb-c port, no new black color, and supports only one external monitor.
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Reviews are obsessed with content creation, which 99% of the audience will never use, and more than one display can be used with a DisplayLink dock, which we use all over our company.
No, a casual user does not need the Pro or Max chips. And don't listen to the "just get M2 Pro for the same price as the base M3" folks. Single core speed matters for casual users quite a bit, and that's where this M3 shines for the price point. For example web browsing will absolutely fly on this machine.
For $1600, expect 32gb/512gb-1tb with M1 Pro/M2 Pro/M3 as a real deal
For $600, expect 256gb
Windows it 32gb/1tb with 4 year old cpu for $300-600.
Apple has condition people into ultra fast cpu, meh unified RAM and SSD ($50 charge $500). Insane profits, well played(Sales of M2 way down)
For $1600, expect 32gb/512gb-1tb with M1 Pro/M2 Pro/M3 as a real deal
For $600, expect 256gb
Windows it 32gb/1tb with 4 year old cpu for $300-600.
Apple has condition people into ultra fast cpu, meh unified RAM and SSD ($50 charge $500). Insane profits, well played(Sales of M2 way down)
A big thing for me is that as soon as you buy a macbook it's just a dead technology with no way to upgrade and a finite life until the OS isn't supported.
Windows OS is very frustrating as of late as it attempts to be more apple like with Apps instead of traditional pc applications. But, the big benefit of a windows PC is that it actually feels faster over time with subsequent OS upgrades and can be refreshed with new memory/hard drives. You can add copious amounts of storage with a few 2 or 4 tb nvme drives.
Also, why are there always so many refurbished macbooks for sale on new products?
Other than buying a refurb M1 pro, this is the lowest entry price for the 14" Liquid Retina XDR screen, speakers, and pro-ports on a Macbook. (Other than a $1450 8GB ram M3 model at Best Buy). I don't want to spend more than $1000 bucks on two year old tech, period. So I purchased the 16gb M3.
There is an awesomer M3 Pro laptop waiting at $1850, I know. It could play more advanced games and complete some advanced tasks faster. For me, the main consideration was gaming. I had to consider that the $350 difference between this 16gb M3 and the M3 pro laptop could buy a Ps5 or Xbox with the deals right now. So that's what I did. In my logic, for my uses, my $1850 went further by buying a next gen gaming system and a less capable Macbook.
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But my points about upgrading windows, long/indefinite OS service length and the fact that windows pc DO FEEL FASTER with OS updates over time, are still valid on a unpopular product like the surface.
Comparing the MBP to a windows laptop with upgradeable/changeable ram/nvme drive was the difference I was highlighting.
A MBP with a reasonable OEM upgrade prices and the ability to change out the nvme drive/memory, would be a killer PC competitor even with an overall higher price tag.
But, the lack of usb-a is still completely infuriating.
Reviews are obsessed with content creation, which 99% of the audience will never use, and more than one display can be used with a DisplayLink dock, which we use all over our company.
Other than buying a refurb M1 pro, this is the lowest entry price for the 14" Liquid Retina XDR screen, speakers, and pro-ports on a Macbook. (Other than a $1450 8GB ram M3 model at Best Buy). I don't want to spend more than $1000 bucks on two year old tech, period. So I purchased the 16gb M3.
There is an awesomer M3 Pro laptop waiting at $1850, I know. It could play more advanced games and complete some advanced tasks faster. For me, the main consideration was gaming. I had to consider that the $350 difference between this 16gb M3 and the M3 pro laptop could buy a Ps5 or Xbox with the deals right now. So that's what I did. In my logic, for my uses, my $1850 went further by buying a next gen gaming system and a less capable Macbook.
An issue on paper is the lower memory bandwidth for the m3/m3 pro chips than previous gen but...real world testing shows m3/m3 pro beating previous gen despite this.
There is a memory cap on the m3 as well so if you need more than 24 gb you need to get m3 pro. For the shopper looking at 16gb configs then it's a non-issue.
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