With its last batch of MacBook Pros, Apple gave its more demanding fans everything they wanted: Tons of ports, lots of power, and genuinely great screens. As usual, the company is following up that major redesign with a straightforward chip upgrade, featuring the new M2 Pro and M2 Max. They're faster, as you'd expect, but they also deliver a few features power users may appreciate, like 8K video output and support for WiFi 6E.

Once Apple locks in a redesign, it typically doesn't mess with a good thing (save for complete disasters like the trashcan Mac Pro). So it's no surprise to see that this year's MacBook Pro 14 doesn't look any different than the 2021 model. It still boasts a gorgeous 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion support and a prominent notch housing a 1080p webcam. It has all of the ports you'd actually want, including a MagSafe power connection, three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, HDMI, a headphone jack and a full-sized SD card slot. And the overall shape of the computer remains relatively flat, an evolution of the long-lived unibody MacBook Pro design.

Under the hood, though, the MacBook Pro 14 has been dramatically upgraded. It can be equipped with Apple's new M2 Pro chip, which offers up to a 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU, or the M2 Max, which squeezes in a 12-core CPU and 38-core GPU. Much like Intel's new hybrid processors, as well as mobile chips from Qualcomm, Apple relies on a combination of core speeds for its CPUs (the 12-core chips, for example, have eight performance cores and four efficiency cores). The previous M1 Pro and M1 Max topped out with 10 CPU cores and 16 or 32 GPU cores, respectively.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Apple claims the M2 Pro is around 20 percent faster than its predecessor in CPU speeds, and up to 30 percent faster when it comes to graphics. The M2 Max, meanwhile, is up to 30 percent faster than the M1 Max in terms of graphics. We tested the fully-upgraded $3,299 MacBook Pro, which was equipped with the M2 Max chip with 38 GPU cores and 64GB of RAM. It scored around 2,600 points (19 percent) faster in the GeekBench 5 multitasking CPU benchmark, compared to the M1 Max-equipped MacBook Pro 16. It was also 18 percent faster in the GPU-powered GeekBench 5 Compute test and a whopping 60 percent faster than the M1 Max Mac Studio in the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme benchmark.

These are phenomenal results if you're planning to use the MacBook Pro to its full potential. But I'll admit, during everyday usage, I didn't notice any major performance benefits over the previous models. That's not really a knock against the new computer, it's more a testament to how much Apple got right last time. Unlike PCs, you probably won't be gaming too much with your Mac, either, so there's less of a reason to chase frequent upgrades. On that note, it's nice to see some modern games with native Mac support. Resident Evil Village easily hits 60fps on the MacBook Pro at full resolution, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same was true for the M1 models.

If you're among the folks dealing with large video encoding or high compute jobs daily, though, it may be worth moving up from the last MacBook Pro. It took me 31 seconds to transcode a minute-long 4K clip into 1080p using Handbrake — but the M1 Max MacBook Pro 16 took a full 10 seconds longer. Extrapolate that to longer jobs and you could be saving yourself some serious time. And if you've managed to hold out with an Intel MBP until now, it's definitely time to upgrade — you'll easily see a night and day difference in speed.

Aside from its performance, the MacBook Pro 14 remains a wonderful workhorse to live with. The MiniLED Liquid Retina display looks fantastically bright, especially when viewing HDR content. Mostly, though, I appreciated the smooth scrolling thanks to Apple's 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate. The six speaker sound system remains excellent, with crisp and punchy audio that's leagues ahead of most other laptops. And I remain impressed with the MacBook Pro's built-in three-mic array. It's no replacement for a dedicated USB microphone, but it sounds great during video calls.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The MacBook Pro's keyboard is certainly better than the old butterfly models, but I wish Apple was able to deliver more key travel. It's still great to type on, to be clear, I'm just feeling a bit spoiled from the mechanical keyboards I've seen in some gaming laptops. The Pro's trackpad remains best in class though, with a large surface area and responsive performance. After testing the XPS 13 Plus last year, which featured an attractive yet hard to use trackpad hidden in the wrist rest, I'm even more appreciative of Apple's clean design. It turns out that being able to feel the difference between the trackpad and the wrist rest is pretty helpful!

Apple is touting better battery life as another major benefit of the M2 Pro and Max chips, and I definitely noticed an improvement. The previous MacBook Pro lasted 12 hours and 36 minutes during our testing, but the new model made it to 15 hours and 10 minutes. That's a healthy step up, especially if you find yourself stuck on a long flight without any working outlets. Apple says that the new MacBook Pros can reach up to 22 hours of battery life, but take note that figure only refers to the 16-inch model.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Just like last time, the 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999 — a huge leap from the $1,299 13-inch model. I'm still a bit baffled by that MacBook Pro, though. Most mainstream shoppers would be better off with the revamped M2 MacBook Air, while power users might as well bump up to this more powerful 14-inch model. If you're aiming for something bigger, the 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499. New gear also means the old models will inevitably go on sale, so it's worth keeping an eye on the M1 Pro and Max machines if you're aiming to save some money. Sure, they're a bit slower, but you could put that extra money towards buying more RAM or storage.

It's no wonder Apple announced the new MacBook Pros without much fanfare. It's just a simple spec bump, not the sort of thing most buyers would get too excited about. But for the creative professionals who need the most power possible, it's another reason to stick with Apple instead of jumping to a PC.

Apple’s first major announcements of 2023 are here! This week, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham chat about Apple’s new M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pros and Mac Mini. Sure, they seem like solid upgrades, but did they come too late? Also, we dive into the latest rumors around Apple’s AR and MR headsets, as well as news about cheaper AirPods and new AirPods Max. And in other news, we explore the downside of AI in journalism, as well as another round of layoffs in tech.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

• Apple announces M2 Pro and Max chips for MacBook Pro and Mac Mini – 1:23

• The big HomePod is back from the dead! – 15:34

• Apple’s AR headset may be delayed, a cheaper mixed reality headset may be in development – 25:41

• Other News: CNET’s AI article problem, Twitter breaks third party apps, and layoffs at Microsoft – 32:11

• Working on – 44:44

• Pop culture picks – 46:08

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Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Nathan Ingraham
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks

It was only a matter of time until Google launched its own location tracker, similar to Apple's AirTags, Samsung's SmartTag, and of course, Tile. According to the developer (and well-sourced leaker) Kuba Wojciechowski, Google's Nest team is developing a tracker codenamed "Grogu." It'll reportedly include an onboard speaker, as well as support for Bluetooth Low Energy and ultra-wideband (UWB). Wojciechowski found evidence of the tracker when he noticed that Google added support for locator tags in the developer hub for Fast Pair, the Android feature that lets you quickly connect Bluetooth devices. 

While there aren't any specific details at this point, we can expect Google's tracker to work like the competition (attach it to whatever you like, and keep tabs on its location with your phone). It's also unclear if Google can replicate Apple's admittedly slick AirTag experience. Wojciechowski says that the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro both shipped with UWB modules, which would allow them to direct you to nearby objects acccurately. But he notes that Google's "finder" network won't require UWB — BLE should be enough. 

While Google can't guarantee that every Android phone will ship with UWB, Wojciechowski says Google is working with chipset makers to help them support Fast Pair. That means we could see third-party trackers rounding out the location network, something it's hard to imagine Apple ever allowing. As for availability, Wojciechowski didn't find any specific timing, but he notes that it could be announced at I/O this year. That makes sense, as Google is already far behind the location tracking competition.

The IT Crowd was right! You really should try turning everything off and on again to make it work. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss how the FAA did just that to fix its NOTAM system, which alerts pilots of potential hazards. It turns out a database error was enough to send that system into a spiral, which forced the FAA to ground flights Wednesday morning. But of course, this was just one issue facing air travel in America – we also dive into Southwest’s holiday fiasco, as well as potential transportation alternatives.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

• FAA grounds planes after NOTAM outage – 1:34

• Other News: Microsoft may have given up on the Surface Duo 3 in favor of foldables – 28:23

• Biden calls for legislation on social media platforms – 35:31

• NASA is funding ideas for a seaplane and faster deep space travel – 38:18

• Hyundai’s new EV can “crab walk” into parallel parking spaces – 40:49

• Samsung’s first Unpacked of 2023 scheduled for February 1 – 45:13

• Pop culture picks – 52:47

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Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks

CES is on! This week, Devindra and UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith chat about some of the biggest news from the show, including massive upgrades for laptops, wild new TV concepts and two different pee analyzers! As usual, CES is a mix of major news and random weirdness. Senior Editor Karissa Bell also joins to give us her perspective on the ground at the show.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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• What to look for at CES 2023 – 1:36

• PC hardware: Intel and AMD release mobile chips, NVIDIA’s 4090 will be in laptops – 3:53

• TVs and home theater tech at CES – 21:03

• Displace’s OLED TV will suction mount to your wall – 24:43

• Accessibility at CES: L’Oréal’s motorized lipstick applicator and Sony’s Project Leonardo PS5 gamepad –49:28

• Weird stuff: Why were there two different pee analyzers at CES? – 51:25

• Other news – 1:05:52

• Karissa Bell’s in-person CES experience – 1:08:24

• Pop culture picks – 1:15:50

Livestream

Credits
Hosts: Mat Smith and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Karissa Bell
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh

AMD is bringing out some big guns to take on Intel's powerful HX laptop CPUs, and once again, they're also called "HX." The company's new Ryzen 9 7945HX processor is its most premium mobile offering, with 16 cores and 32 threads, as well as speeds between 2.5GHz and 5.4GHz. It's joined by an array of other Ryzen 7000 CPUs unveiled at CES (AMD also announced low-end chipsin September), which will power everything from budget laptops to extreme gaming and creator machines. The big takeaway this year? There will be a Ryzen laptop chip for practically every need.

It makes sense for AMD to focus even more on its HX chips this year. Intel unveiled its high-powered lineup last year, and this week it revealed that there will be even more HX processors in 2023, led by the 24-core i9-13980HX. Like its previous chips, Intel is using a hybrid design which combines Performance and Efficient cores. So while Intel's core count is higher, its chips may end up performing similarly to AMD's, which utilize full-speed cores across the board.

AMD

The Ryzen HX CPUs will run at 55-watts and above (also like Intel's), meaning they'll focus more on raw power than battery life. AMD claims the 7945HX is 78 percent faster than the previous top-end Ryzen 6900HX in Cinebench's multithreaded benchmark, and 18 percent faster in the single threaded test. Compared to Intel's 12900HX, its high-end chip from last year, the 7945HX is 169 percent faster in Handbrake encoding and 75 percent faster with Blender rendering. You can expect to see the 7945HX in some of the premiere gaming laptops this year, like the Alienware m16 and m18, as well as the latest ASUS ROG Strix.

For a better balance between size and power, there's also the new Ryzen 7040 HS series chips, running between 35W and 45W. AMD says these chips are aimed at thin enthusiasts, and you can expect to see them in laptops this March. The Ryzen 9 7940HS is the pinnacle of this lineup, featuring 8 cores, 16 threads and up to 5.2 GHz boost speeds.

The 7040 chips will also feature Ryzen AI, an integrated AI engine that can handle tasks like making background blurs during video calls, or sorting through your photo library. AMD says Ryzen AI can multitask up to 4 different AI workloads (or combine those capabilities on one task), and it's reportedly 50 percent more power efficient than Apple's M2. Intel is also planning to introduce a VPU AI accelerator in some of its 13th-gen chips — previously, we've only seen these accelerators on ARM chips, like the Microsoft SQ3 on the Surface Pro 9.

When it comes to true ultraportables, AMD has the U-series Ryzen 7030 and 7035 lineups, which range from 15W to 35W chips. Those include the Ryzen 3 7330U at the low end, featuring 6 cores and 12 threads, to the 8 core/16 thread Ryzen 7 7730U. (Curiously, Ryzen 3 7335U is just a quad-core chip, but it can use almost twice as much power as the 7330U.)

With last year's Ryzen 7 5800X3D, AMD turned its long-awaited 3D V-Cache technology into a reality. That innovation allowed the company to stack more cache onto its CPUs, something that's particularly helpful for demanding tasks like games. Unfortunately, AMD wasn't able to reach the same clock speeds as the original 5800X, which made the chip tough for some reviewers to recommend. Now, it appears that AMD has (mostly) solved that problem.

Today at CES, AMD unveiled its first Ryzen 7000 CPUs with 3D V-Cache, the 8-core Ryzen 7 7800X3D with 104MB of combined L2 and L3 cache, the 12-core Ryzen 9 7900X3D with 140MB of cache, and the king of them all, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D with a whopping 144MB of cache. What's truly impressive about the 7950X3D and 7900X3D, though, is that they can also reach the full 5.7GHz and 5.6GHz boost speeds of their 2D counterparts. Their base speeds are a bit slower, to be clear, but they shouldn't feel like the step down the 5800X3D was.

It remains to be seen how much of an upgrade these chips will be, but cache-hungry gamers will likely be intrigued. AMD says the new V-Cache CPUs will be available in February, but there aren't any pricing details just yet.

AMD

AMD also rounded out its Ryzen 7000 desktop family, which initially launched last year, with a slew of 65-watt chips coming on January 10th. Those include the 12-core Ryzen 9 7900 ($429), the 8-core Ryzen 7 7700 ($329) and the 6-core Ryzen 5 7600 ($229). Not everyone needs 3D V-Cache, after all.

After taking a big swing at high-end desktop gaming with its RDNA 3 GPUs, AMD is bringing that technology down to laptops. At CES today, the company unveiled an array of Radeon RX 7000 mobile graphics cards. There's the Radeon RX 7600M XT and 7600M, both targeted at high fps 1080p gaming, as well as the RX 7700S and RX 7600S, which are meant for thin and light notebooks. But that's not all! There are also a few more mobile GPUs using AMD's last-gen RDNA 2 technology, which will likely end up in more affordable laptops.

Let's start with the RX 7600M XT, though, as it represents the pinnacle of AMD's laptop gaming ambitions. It features 32 compute units, 8GB of GDDR6 memory, and it can use up to 120 watts worth of power. According to AMD, it soundly beats the desktop RTX 3060 GPU, which is notable since that card is faster than NVDIA's laptop models. The 7600M XT can reach up to 184 fps in Hitman 3 with maxed out graphics settings, whereas the 12GB RTX 3060 hits 160fps. It's not faster in every title, though, as AMD notes that the new GPU is 9fps slower than the 3060 in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (145fps vs 154 fps).

AMD

It'll be more interesting to see how the RX 7700S and 7600S actually perform in thin and light machines. The 7700S features the same 32 compute units and 8GB of RAM as the 7600M XT, but it maxes out at 100W of power. AMD says the 7700S can reach up to 87fps in Cyberpunk 2077 and 147fps in Death Stranding with maxed out 1080p graphics.

Based on my review of AMD's RDNA 3 GPUs, it's clear the company has some powerful architecture. But those cards also lagged far behind NVIDIA's when it came to ray tracing performance, especially once I enabled DLSS 3 upscaling. AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 3.0 upscaling just couldn't compete. The company says it's developed a new feature, dubbed Smart Shift RSR, which offers upscaling "decoupled from the GPU." Details are a bit fuzzy, but it supposedly adds more performance. AMD says it'll arrive sometime in the first half of 2023.

You can expect to see AMD's Radeon RX 7000 GPUs in laptops next month. It'll be featured in AMD Advantage editions of Alienware's M16 and M18, as well as ASUS's TUF Gaming A16. Almost as an afterthought, AMD also briefly noted the launched of several new Radeon 6000 GPUs, including the Radeon RX 6550M, featuring 16 compute units and 4GB of RAM. A wider variety of GPUs is ultimately a good thing for consumers, since it means you're more likely to find a gaming laptop within your budget.

ASUS is taking a stab at glasses-free 3D in 2023, starting with its new ProArt StudioBook laptop. It sports a 16-inch, 3.2K OLED panel that has the ability to flip into 3D at the touch of a button. This feature, which ASUS calls Spatial Vision, uses eye-tracking and a lenticular lens to deliver two separate images to your eyes. That lets you view things like 3D models and movies with the same amount of depth that you'd expect from a typical 3D screen with glasses.

Now this isn't exactly new — Acer has been hyping up its SpatialLabs technology for years, which was most recently featured in a gaming notebook. ASUS appears to be following a similar path by focusing on professional users first. Aside from the ProArt StudioBook 16 3D OLED, Spatial Vision will also make its way to a slightly less premium VivoBook Pro mode, which will hopefully cost less. Pricing details aren't available just yet, but you can expect to pay a great deal more than a typical 2D laptop.

Based on a brief demo with ASUS, Spatial Vision looked impressive on the StudioBook 16, though it took a few tries to get it working properly. It turns out ASUS's eye-tracking technology couldn't deal with a face mask easily, which makes me concerned about using this tech in a crowded office. Once I removed my mask though, I was able to view a variety of 3D models up close. When I moved my head side to side, the eye-tracking sensors rotated the models, almost as if they were physically in the room with me. I didn't get to try out any 3D gaming with the StudioBook, but it'll be interesting to see how shooters work with Spatial Vision.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Personally, I'm excited about the possibilities of glasses-free 3D while watching movies. I was able to see 3D cinema-like depth while viewing the trailer from Avatar: The Way of Water. It was a reminder that 3D can be more than a gimmick when done correctly. Unfortunately, Spatial Vision only supports one viewer at a time, but that's true of every glasses-free 3D solution. It's hard enough to track one person's eyes to keep perspective — adding more people is exponentially more difficult.

Beyond its 3D capabilities, the ASUS ProArt StudioBook 16 3D OLED looks like a premium workhorse laptop. It's powered by Intel's new 13th-gen HX CPUs, as well as NVIDIA's RTX 4000 graphics. It can fit up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and 8TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage, and thankfully there are two user-replaceable slots for memory and storage. The ProArt's OLED screen can also reach up to 120Hz, which makes it useful for late-night gaming together with its NVIDIA hardware.

Even though Spatial Vision looks cool, it's still unclear if people actually want glasses-free 3D. I've talked to 3D artists who prefer having a VR headset nearby to fully explore their models, they don't see much value in getting a bit of depth right on their screens. But I don't blame ASUS, Acer and other companies for exploring the possibilities of this technology — when it works well, it looks absolutely magical.

You can buy Roku TVs with HD, 4K and 8K screens, using either LEDs or bright MiniLED technology. Starting in 2023, OLED may finally join the mix. Today at CES, Roku unveiled an OLED TV reference design, which will help its partners to build Roku TVs with OLED screens. The company isn't saying if any companies have jumped on the design yet, but it's not hard to see TCL adopting it, especially after making the first MiniLED Roku TV set.

OLED Roku TVs will feature everything we love about that screen tech: Namely, inky dark black levels, extreme contrast and excellent viewing angles. As is usual for Roku, though, the company isn't saying much about the specs behind its reference design.

According to Chris Larson, Roku's VP of retail strategy, it takes a minimum of four months for partners to built TVs based on their reference designs. While it would be nice to see some surprise announcements in the middle of 2023, realistically we'll probably hear more about these OLED Roku TVs come the holiday season. The company will also be building its own Roku TVs for the first time this year, but those are mostly targeted at value-conscious users. There's still plenty of room in the affordable OLED category though, so it'll interesting to see if partners can make Roku sets that compete with Vizio's affordable OLEDs.