MacBook Pro to get free upgrade to bring it in line with the new MacBook Air

Some MacBook Pro users could be excused for being a tad confused by the recent launch of the M3 MacBook Air. That's because the newer machines came with a feature that was missing on their own laptops.

Basically, although it is one of the best laptops around, the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro isn't capable of multi-screen support, while the new Air equivalents are.

It was something we reported on in November last year, as only MacBook Pro models sporting the M3 Pro or M3 Max are currently capable of supporting two (or more) external displays when the lid is closed.

However, the good news is that Apple has confirmed that the standard M3 silicon can now support the feature, hence its inclusion on an Apple silicon MacBook Air for the first time. And that means it will be updating its 14-inch Pro accordingly.

You might have to wait a little while – a few weeks perhaps – but Apple told 9to5Mac that it's coming in the form of a software update.

Multi-display support is the main reason why I opted for a MacBook Pro carrying the M2 Pro chip last year, rather than a MacBook Air. I like to drive two monitors at once to extend my desktop, and the standard silicon couldn't offer that.

It's great therefore, that owners of the latest MacBook Pro models will soon be able to enjoy the experience too. And while we found the announcement initially surprising, the feature also makes the 13- and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air variants very much worth considering.

The new MacBook Air starts at £1,099 / $1,099 - that's for the 13-inch version with 8-core graphics and a 256GB SSD – while an entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro is considerably more, at £1,699 / $1,699. However, the latter does come with improved 10-bit graphics as standard, plus a 512GB SSD.

And now it'll gain one of the features we thought was oddly missing at the time, it makes for a compelling choice.