Apple’s new M3-powered MacBook’s are here. (Illustration: Shaurya Sharma/ News18)
Apple’s new top-end 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max costs more than most entry-level cars in India. Here are a few interesting observations from today’s launch.
Apple has just launched its new MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch lineup featuring the M3 series of chipsets. Yes, it comes with a fair share of upgrades, including the much faster M3 Pro and M3 Max chipsets.
As is tradition, Apple is claiming big things for the new products in the form of the new chipset lineup—which includes the base M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max. All these chipsets are claimed to offer much better performance over the M2 series.
Here Are a Few Observations Pertaining to the Prices From the ‘Scary Fast’ Event:
Base M3 Chipset in High-End MacBooks Brings The Price of Entry Down
In a first, the 14-inch MacBook Pro is offered with the base chipset, which is the M3 in this case. Don’t get me wrong; it is still offered with the M3 Pro and the M3 Max configurations, but having the base chipset with the bells and whistles of Apple’s premium 14-inch MacBook Pro adds variety. And for those uninitiated, with the M2 lineup, Apple only offered the MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch models with the M2 Pro and M2 Max options; the M2 was reserved for the 13-inch variant (old design).
An Apple’s to Oranges Comparison
When you step up to the M3 Pro and the M3 Max chipsets, the prices start to climb. As Apple likes to call them, the “world’s best laptops” come with hefty price tags in India. For instance, the top-end 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Max chip and everything else maxed out (128GB RAM + 8TB SSD) costs a whopping Rs 7,19,900.
This makes it costlier than some entry-level hatchback cars in the Indian market. Don’t believe me? The on-road pricing of the Maruti Suzuki Swift base model is Rs 6.6 lakh in India, as per CarDekho. While we can’t compare Apples to oranges, and these two different material objects—designed to accomplish a different set of tasks—it is still food for thought.
However, not everyone would be inclined to buy the top-end stuff. Many would find solace in buying the mid-spec or entry-level models. Here, the 14-inch MacBook Pro shines. The base model can be bought for Rs 1,69,900 with the M3 chipset (10 core GPU), and if you want to go ‘Pro’, you can add another Rs 30,000 to buy it with the M3 Pro chipset at Rs 1,99,900.
New Colours Only for the Top-End Models
Like the 24-inch iMac, Apple has chosen to restrict new colourways only to the top-end models of the MacBook Pro. Notably, the new ‘Space Black’ colourway is only offered when you buy the new MacBooks with M3 Pro and above; it isn’t offered with the base M3 model that costs Rs 1,69,900. You will have to do with just Space Grey and Silver if you want the M3 model.
So yes, these are some of the notable highlights that we observed in the pricing of these new models. We suggest you go through Apple’s website for the sheer number of combinations to “create” the ideal MacBook Pro for yourself. Right from customizing your MacBook with just 8GB of RAM but choosing 2TB of SSD goodness to buying an outrageously expensive MacBook Pro 16-inch with 128GB memory and 8TB of SSD storage—everything is possible with Apple’s current ‘Pro’ lineup.
