The 2023 MacBook Professional 14 is the brand new hotness from Apple and it’s certain to be a fantastic laptop computer, however beginning at $1,999 for the M1 Professional mannequin with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, there are many laptops on the market which can be going to be a greater worth for a lot of customers.
Whether or not you’re a diehard macOS or Home windows person, we’ll cowl a handful of choices that are available in for much less (in some instances a lot much less) than the brand new MacBook Professional 14 and supply comparable {hardware} and robust sufficient efficiency to take its place.
Listed below are the highest 5 laptops which can be a greater worth than the 2023 MacBook Professional 14.
1. 2021 MacBook Professional 14
Let’s begin with the plain: the 2021 MacBook Professional 14 stays a superb laptop computer. We awarded it 4.5 out of 5 stars after we reviewed it in 2021 and it has proven little indicators of slowing down within the intervening months. Past the introduction of the M1 Professional and M1 Max chips, which delivered excellent efficiency and battery life (over 14 hours!), the 2021 MacBook Professional 14 additionally introduced with it the brand new MacBook design.
That actual design carries over to the 2023 mannequin, together with the considerably controversial notch, but additionally the universally liked return of ports just like the MagSafe 3 charging port, an HDMI port, and an SD card reader to enhance the trio of Thunderbolt 4 ports. Even a faithful Apple fan could be hard-pressed to inform the previous and new MacBook Professional 14 fashions aside, so it purely comes right down to these new chips.
Now we haven’t seen costs fall an excessive amount of but, however when the 2023 MacBook Professional is stocked in shops, we count on to see the 2021 MacBook Professional 14 drop to its lowest value ever, which may imply $500-$600 in financial savings. Weigh that towards the roughly 30% M2 Professional/M2 Max graphics efficiency enhancements and I believe many will conclude the 2021 MacBook Professional 14 is the precise selection for them.
2. HP Envy 16
Turning to a Home windows machine, the HP Envy 16 is a good looking laptop computer that provides a number of benefits over the 2023 MacBook Professional 14, whereas coming in for lots of much less relying on the configuration. It begins at simply $1,399, however leaping to the configuration with an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU takes it as much as $1,769, nonetheless $230 shy of the bottom 2023 MacBook Professional 14. You possibly can even bump as much as 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, doubling the MacBook Professional on each counts and keep $20 under the MacBook’s beginning value.
Whereas these specs, coupled with the 16-inch 2560 x 1600-pixel 120Hz IPS show, make this a greater than succesful content material creation laptop computer, players will pay attention to that RTX 3060 GPU and know that this wildly outclasses the 2023 MacBook Professional as a gaming laptop computer. The bigger show additionally provides you a extra expansive canvas or a bigger battlefield, relying in your utilization. The 2023 MacBook Professional 16 bumps all the way in which as much as a $2,499 beginning value, so you’re saving much more in that comparability.
The bountiful array of ports can also make MacBook Professional 14 homeowners envious with two USB 4 ports, two USB Kind-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, an AC energy port, a headphone/mic combo jack, and a microSD card reader. Lastly, whereas it is going to bump the value above the bottom mannequin MacBook Professional 14, you’ve got the choice of a 4K multitouch OLED show — strive getting that on a MacBook.
3. MacBook Professional 13 M2
Returning to the Apple fold, the MacBook Professional 13 M2 is an alternative choice that potential 2023 MacBook Professional 14 consumers ought to strongly contemplate. As soon as once more, this mannequin earned 4.5 out of 5 stars and an Editor’s Alternative award from us final 12 months, and it begins at $1,299 a $700 financial savings versus the Professional 14 — and it’s usually on sale.
The usual M2 doesn’t supply the top-end efficiency of its M2 Professional and M2 Max siblings (we’ll discover out precisely what that distinction is as soon as we end our evaluate of the brand new Professional 14), however for a lot of customers, that’s prone to be a negligible trade-off in real-world efficiency and saves you lots of of {dollars}. The opposite excellent news is that you’ve the laptop computer with the most effective battery life, over 18 hours in our testing.
The design and the show are the most important sacrifices you make. The Professional 13 M2 nonetheless makes use of the older MacBook design with the TouchBar and only a trio of Thunderbolt 4 ports together with a headphone/mic jack. The show is a smaller 13.3-inch Retina Show and it lacks the brighter 120Hz mini LED panel of the Professional 14. On the optimistic facet, you don’t have the notch to fret about.
4. Acer Swift 5
In case you are on the lookout for a 14-inch type issue, excellent construct high quality, and a stunning show the Acer Swift 5 is a implausible different to the Professional 14. Our decide for the 2022 Laptop computer of the 12 months was one other recipient of a 4.5 out of 5-star score and our Editor’s selection award.
Whereas the 2023 Professional 14 is certain to outscore it on benchmarks, the Swift 5 shocked us with its “rival-beating efficiency” that eclipsed the MacBook Air M2 — and even the MacBook Professional M2 in some instances. That features speedy video transcoding and ultra-fast file transfers for these of you which can be content material creators.
What’s most spectacular is that the Swift 5 does all this whereas weighing solely 2.65 kilos and coming in at $1,549 for a mannequin that features an Intel Core i7-1260p CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Toss within the 12 hours of battery life together with the strong assortment of ports and it’s straightforward to see why the laptop computer considered one of our writers known as “cheaper and higher than the M2 MacBook Air” can also be a powerful challenger for the Professional 14.
5. MacBook Air M2
Lastly, we return as soon as once more to Apple for the refreshed MacBook Air M2 from final 12 months. Until you’re a content material creator that often finds your self in a time crunch for rendering video or compiling code, the drop-off in efficiency on the M2 Air isn’t going to impression you too tremendously.
The M2 Air acquired a bigger 13.6-inch 2560 x 1664-pixel Liquid Retina show, now mirroring the notched look of the Professional 14 and Professional 16. Regrettably, it didn’t decide up all the brand new ports of its bigger siblings, but it surely did add MagSafe 3 to its pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports.
The Air M2 gives strong battery life at 14 hours and 6 minutes in our testing and is extra transportable than the Professional 14 at 2.7 kilos in comparison with 3.5 kilos. In the event you had been apprehensive about your finances with the $1,999 Professional 14 then you may be thrilled to listen to that the M2 Air begins at $1,199 and we’ve seen it drop all the way in which to $999.
In the event you had been wavering between the M2 Professional and M2 Max fashions of the Professional 14, the Air M2 isn’t seemingly the selection for you. However for those who had been trying on the base mannequin and sweating that value, this provides you in all probability 80% of the expertise for 50% of the value.
