Programmers looking for a laptop for coding are in luck, as Amazon has slashed the price of the M3 Pro MacBook Pro (yes, it really does have the word ‘Pro’ in there twice).
The MacBook Pro has long been the king of Apple laptops, but the 2021 revision brought with a new design that returned additional ports, brought back MagSafe charging and introduced the stunning Liquid Retina XDR display.
We reviewed the 16-inch M1 Pro model in 2022 and awarded it five stars, noting how powerful it is and praising it for just about everything except the price.
Now, two years and two chip generations later, Amazon is offering the laptop we call a ‘programming powerhouse’ at a $300 discount.
The 512GB version, with the M3 Pro chip, is now $1,699 – bringing it closer than ever to MacBook Air territory.
You can get the M3 Pro MacBook Pro on sale right now at Amazon for $1,699.
I mentioned the M1 Pro version because, in a lot of ways, nothing has changed with the M3 Pro version.
You’re still getting a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR Display with unbelievable contrast, and USB-C ports on both sides and HDMI 2.0, as well as the returning MagSafe.
The big new change here is the M3 Pro chip, which offers improved performance from the M1 Pro (and the M2 Pro), which you’ll certainly feel across basic and more demanding tasks.
The MacBook Air is available with the base M3 chip, but sacrifices ports for a smaller build that’s more portable.
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While M1 and M2 MacBook Pros started with 16GB of RAM, Apple offers 18GB of RAM as standard in the M3 Pro models. They also come with 512GB of SSD storage.
The M3 Pro chip itself has an 11-core CPU and 14-core GPU in this configuration, but the display is just as much a star of the show as the chip.
Despite being unchanged since late 2021, the Liquid Retina XDR display is one of the best I’ve used on a laptop, offering 1600 nits of peak brightness and outstanding color accuracy and contrast.
The notch at the top of the screen was divisive at launch, but it houses a 1080p webcam that’s miles better than what was offered on pre-2021 MacBook Pro models.
Key features: M3 Pro chip, 14.2-inch Liquid Retina display, 1080p FaceTime camera, 18GB of RAM
Product launched: November 2023
Price history: This deal matches the lowest price we’ve seen for this model, last seen in June.
Price comparison: Amazon: $1,699 | Walmart: $1,864 | Best Buy: $1,699
Reviews consensus: A powerful laptop that offers desktop-class performance on the go, the MacBook Pro offers great battery life even when editing video or processing large creative projects. It’s also got a fantastic display, a comfortable keyboard, and plenty of ports – including HDMI 2.0 for hooking up to displays and projectors.
TechRadar: ★★★★½ | Toms Guide: ★★★★ | T3: ★★★★★
Featured in guides: Best laptop for coding
✅ Buy it if: You want a laptop that can double as a desktop, or you’re likely to be doing demanding work with it – often away from a charger.
❌ Don’t buy it if: You want to save money. In that case, the MacBook Air is a fantastic laptop that costs considerably less (albeit with some tradeoffs).
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