Apple has bid farewell to the Touch Bar, a feature introduced in 2016, as the company unveiled its latest entry-level version of the 14-inch MacBook Pro. This announcement signifies a clear departure from the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar keyboard, which has been a part of Apple’s lineup for years.
The star of the show is the all-new M3 chip, fabricated on a cutting-edge 3nm process. Apple promises remarkable performance improvements, with claims that tasks like Final Cut Pro rendering could be up to 60 percent faster when compared to the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro. However, precise performance statistics are selectively shared by Apple, leaving room for curiosity about how much of a leap the M3 chip offers over its predecessors, including the M1 and M2 models.
The M3 MacBook Pro’s hardware design remains consistent with its 14-inch siblings, featuring a 14-inch screen and the now-familiar notch.
Nevertheless, this advancement comes at a price, with the M3 MacBook Pro starting at $1,599, which is a $300 increase over the previous M2 model, with the base configuration including just 8GB of RAM, considered modest for a premium laptop. Additionally, the space black color option is exclusive to the higher-end 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, still priced at $1,999.
The Touch Bar, although it had its admirers, has seen its time come to an end, as it was omitted from the redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros introduced in 2021. Apple had continued to update the 13-inch Touch Bar model with M1 and M2 chips until this recent announcement.
The new M3 MacBook Pro is open for preorders starting on Monday and is set to be released on November 7th. This marks a significant transformation in Apple’s MacBook lineup, embracing more powerful chips while bidding adieu to a feature that had a mixed reception among users.