Apple Discontinues 13-Inch M2 MacBook Pro as 14-Inch M3 Model Becomes Base Variant: See Price Difference

Apple introduced its new line of MacBook Pro models, all powered by the company's latest M3 chip, on Tuesday. At its ‘Scary Fast' showcase event on the eve of Halloween, the Cupertino, California-based company took the covers off on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops running on the new 3nm chipset. The new Apple laptops are already up for pre-order in 27 countries, including India, and will go on sale starting November 7. Apple, meanwhile, has already discontinued its lineup of M2-powered MacBook Pro models.

While the M3-powered Mac models are now up for pre-order, the new laptops' M2 cousins are no longer listed on Apple's website. This, of course, is not surprising as Apple usually discontinues select older-generation products after launching their refreshed versions. For example, iPhone 14 Pro models were halted after the company introduced the iPhone 15 series at its ‘Wonderlust' showcase in September. Similarly, Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra were taken off Apple's site when Series 9 and Ultra 2 models were unveiled at the same event.

This time, however, the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops have replaced three previous models. The M2-powered 14-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros, launched earlier this year in January, have expectedly been discontinued. Additionally, Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 model has also been taken off its website. Tipster Ishan Agarwal first spotted the development and posted about it on X on Tuesday.

Earlier Apple store page with 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro models 
Photo Credit: Apple

This also means that the entry point pricing for a MacBook Pro in India has risen considerably. The now discontinued 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro started at Rs. 1,29,900 for the 256GB SSD storage variant. The 512GB storage variant, on the other hand, came in at Rs. 1,49,900. Now, with no 13-inch MacBook Pro model available, the lineup begins with the base variant of the new 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro, with 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD storage, listed at Rs. 1,69,900 on Apple store. This represents a difference of Rs. 40,000 between the starting prices for previous and current entry-level MacBook Pro models in India.

Both the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models come in M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max powered variants. The 14-inch variant with an M3 Pro chip starts at Rs. 1,99,900, while the M3 Max variant of the laptop comes in at Rs. 3,19,900.

Current Apple store page with new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models
Photo Credit: Apple

While the pricing for an entry-level MacBook Pro has gone up, the new 14-inch Apple laptop represents a considerable upgrade over its M2-powered 13-inch predecessor. Built on 3‑nanometre technology and featuring a new GPU architecture, the M3 lineup brings processing and graphical improvements compared to the previous generation.

The company's M3 family of processors are equipped with up to 16 CPU cores, up to 40 GPU cores, and up to 16 Neural Engine cores. All new Apple laptops also come with Liquid Retina XDR (3,024x1,964 pixels) displays with a 120Hz refresh rate. The base 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 chip can offer up to 22 hours of battery life on a single charge, Apple claims.