iMac (24-inch, M3, 2023, Two ports) vs MacBook Pro (14-inch, M2 Pro, 2023)
Quick look
| Figure | iMac M31 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,3993launch price | £2,1494launch price |
| Chip | M3chip | M2 Prochip |
| CPU | 8-coreCPU | 10-coreCPU |
| GPU | 8-coreGPU | 16-coreGPU |
| Memory | 8GBunified memory, base | 16GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 256GBstorage, base | 512GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Not available5No battery | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 7 November 20233ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 30 October 2023. | 24 January 20234ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 17 January 2023. |
| Security updates | Not available6Security updates | Not available6Security updates |
- Price
- The iMac M3 is £1,399 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the MacBook Pro M2 Pro is £2,149 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
- Kind of Mac
- The iMac M3 is an all-in-one; the MacBook Pro M2 Pro is a laptop. The MacBook Pro M2 Pro has a battery, whereas the iMac M3 has none.
True to scale
An all-in-one and a laptop are different shapes, so they stand side by side rather than superposed: the front face of one and the footprint of the other, from Apple’s published dimensions, at one scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.
Body
| Specification | iMac M31 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 461 x 547 x 147 mm | 15.5 x 312.6 x 221.2 mm |
| Weight | 4.43 kg | 1.6 kg |
| Colours | Blue, Green, Pink, Silver | Silver, Space Grey |
| Ports | Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, 3.5 mm headphone jack | Three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 port, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports7 | 2 | 3 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 3 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.8 | No USB-A ports.9 |
| HDMI | No HDMI port.10 | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | No SD card slot.10 | Yes |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Not available11 | Yes |
| Keyboard | Magic Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID |
| Touch ID | No Touch ID.8 | Yes |
| Touch Bar | Not available12 | No Touch Bar.13 |
Display
| Specification | iMac M31 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 24 in | 14.2 in |
| Resolution | 4480 x 2520 | 3024 x 1964 |
| Pixel density | 218 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Display type | 4.5K Retina display | Liquid Retina XDR display |
| Brightness | 500 nits | 500 nits |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | Not available14 | 1,600 nits |
| Refresh rate | Not available15 | 120 Hz |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | No nano-texture display option.10 | No nano-texture display option.13 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | iMac M31 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M3 chip | Apple M2 Pro chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 8 | 10 |
| Performance cores | 4 | 6 |
| Efficiency cores | 4 | 4 |
| GPU cores | 8 | 16 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M3 with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU | M2 Pro with 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU, or M2 Pro with 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU16 |
| Memory (base) | 8GB | 16GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 24GB | 32GB16 |
| Memory options | 8GB, 16GB or 24GB | 16GB or 32GB16 |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents17 | No, as Apple documents18 |
| Memory bandwidth | 100 GB/s | 200 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 256GB | 512GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 1TB | 8TB16 |
| Storage options | 256GB, 512GB or 1TB | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB16 |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engine |
Battery and power
| Specification | iMac M31 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | Not available5 | 70 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | Not available5 | 1,000 cycles19 |
| Video playback (claimed) | Not available5 | 18 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | Not available5 | 12 h |
| Included power adapter | 143 W20 | 67 W |
| Fast charging | Not available5 | Yes |
Connectivity
| Specification | iMac M31 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Ethernet | Gigabit Ethernet configurable | No Ethernet port.13 |
| External displays (base) | 1 | 2 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | iMac M31 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera |
| Speakers | High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, 2023, Two ports) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple supercharges 24-inch iMac with new M3 chip ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max ·
↩Doesn’t apply: no battery
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Different Thunderbolt generations. iMac M3: Thunderbolt 3. MacBook Pro M2 Pro: Thunderbolt 4.
↩iMac (24-inch, M3, 2023, Two ports): No USB-A ports. No Touch ID.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M2 Pro, 2023): No USB-A ports.
↩iMac (24-inch, M3, 2023, Two ports): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option.
↩Doesn’t apply: MagSafe is a notebook charging port
↩Doesn’t apply: the Touch Bar was only fitted to MacBook Pro
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M2 Pro, 2023): No Touch Bar. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no separate HDR peak for this display
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Install memory in an iMac ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, 2023, Two ports) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
iMac M3. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, maximum continuous power, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, 2023, Two ports) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple supercharges 24-inch iMac with new M3 chip, read 9 Oct 2026.
MacBook Pro M2 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2023) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model, read 9 Oct 2026.
If you own one of them
Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my iMac M3 (24-inch, 2023, Two ports)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Pro M2 Pro (14-inch, 2023)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.