The low end "MacBook Pro" without a "pro" chip and only 8 gigs of RAM cannot seriously be considered a "pro" machine. That is a marketing gimmick.

You only need to bump the RAM to 16 GB to get a nice, quiet, efficient dev machine, similar to an Air, but with the significantly better screen, speakers and longer battery life.

I've reconsidered and there is a some truth to this. I have a 14" M1 Pro and it's the best screen I've seen on a laptop! I honestly don't need the "Pro" chip for what I use it for.

The price cut is the new starting model with just the M3 as a new SKU. The old comparible SKUs are about the same.

It's arguably also a price increase over the outgoing 13" M2 MBP model it replaces which was $1300.

It doesn't really replace the 13" MBP. That was a weird in-between relic with the old screen, a TouchBar and a fan that the CPU didn't really need. Essentially an Air with a bunch of semi-useless upgrades. Both the actual 13" Air and the real 14" Pro were significantly better, more focused machines.

It does because it's the low-end MBP with the base M chip. The 14" M3 has a fan too.

No they didn't, look closely. I was also fooled at first.