Right now, the base MacBook Pro 14 M3 starts at $1,399 via Best Buy, though it's often discounted even lower. For this price, you'll get an M3 chip (consisting of an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine), 8GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with 3024 x 1964-pixel resolution.

The port selection on the MacBook Pro M4 is a little bit better than the M3. The base model now has three Thunderbolt 4 ports (compared to two last time), and you still get an SD Card slot, HDMI port and headphone jack. If you want more bandwidth with Thunderbolt 5, you’ll need to step up to a M4 Pro model, though.

Overall, the M4 Pro 16-inch MacBook Pro is a powerful workstation and Apple makes the package even better with Thunderbolt 5, the 12MP Center Stage camera, and the Nano-texture glass display option. It’s a loaded laptop for the most demanding users.