Apple’s new MacBook Pro M3 was introduced; Goodbye touchbar

Apple is finally saying goodbye to the Touchbar. The company has just introduced the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, which replaces the 13-inch MacBook Pro with a touchscreen keyboard. The new MacBook Pro has a standard M3 chip. The 14-inch model was previously only available with the advanced Pro or Max chips.

The most notable feature of the new MacBook Pro is its M3 chip. As rumored, the M3 is a 3nm chip, and Apple promises significant performance improvements over the 13-inch MacBook Pro M1. As usual, Apple has only shared some select performance stats. So it’s not entirely clear how much of an upgrade this new chip is compared to the older M1 or M2 models.

Since Apple’s new entry-level MacBook Pro uses the same exterior design as its other 14-inch MacBook Pros, it has a 14-inch screen and a notch.

However, the new specs also mean a higher starting price. The MacBook Pro with the M3 chip starts at $1,599, which is $300 more than the $1,299 starting price of the MacBook Pro M2. It also has only 8 GB of RAM in its base configuration, which is not a lot considering the premium price of the laptop. You also can’t get the device in Apple’s new space black color, which is reserved for the higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, which start at $1,999.

The TouchBar has been a guest of Apple for a long time, as the company first added it to the MacBook Pro in 2016. While the feature had its fans, it wasn’t popular enough for Apple to stick with long-term. The company dropped it from the redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros that were introduced in 2021. But Apple continued to update the 13-inch TouchBar model with the M1 and M2 chips, finally keeping it on Monday.