Review of the MacBook Pro 16 (M3 Max)
November 20, 2023 By adminApple’s new M3-powered MacBook Pros were released in an unusual manner. They were introduced during an online-only event in the nighttime hours of a US workday, barely 10 months after the M2 Max MacBook Pro originally reached the market, so many people are interested in Apple’s plan here.
Some sources believe Apple rushed these new laptops to help improve declining MacBook sales shortly before the holiday season, while others believe it was to counter Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite launch. No one will know for sure, given Apple’s penchant for keeping information close to the vest, but these new M3 chip MacBooks are incredibly competent computers, with the highest-tier 16-inch M3 Max MacBook Pro I’m evaluating being nearly completely overkill for most people. It’s certainly one of the greatest laptops money can buy right now, and creative professionals who already adore Apple’s computers will find even more to appreciate. But this gadget is really pricey, therefore it’s not for the majority of people.
MacBook Pro M3 Max 16-inch
Apple’s new laptop is available in a new color and features a significantly brighter screen. Most notably, you’ll receive a new 3nm M3 Max processor with up to a 16-core CPU, making this one of the most powerful workstations available.
- Really, really powerful and efficient
- The best speakers I’ve heard from any portable device
- GPU features hardware-assisted ray tracing
- Very pricey
- Feels like it’s coming too soon ? the M2 Max is just 10 months old
- Can’t upgrade the machine like you could some Windows laptops
Cost and accessibility
Apple released many MacBook Pro models this month, the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max being just one of them. There is a 14-inch version of the M3 Max model as well, and a 16-inch variant that can be equipped with a less powerful M3 Pro CPU. A normal M3 chip with a 14-inch dimension is also available. These gadgets may all be found right now at stores all around the world.
For $3,499, one may purchase a 16-inch M3 Max model with 1TB of storage and 48GB of unified memory. The machine I’m evaluating has the maximum configuration possible: it costs $7,199 and comes with 128GB of unified memory and 8TB of storage.
Design and hardware
With the exception of the new Space Black color, which resembles deep gray, and a slightly brighter display (600 nits, compared to 500 nits in the previous generation), the 2023 16-inch MacBook Pro looks much like the one you’re used to. It’s a clamshell laptop with flat sides and an aluminum unibody. Even with its 0.66-inch thickness and 4.8-pound weight, this guy is still bulky, but its weight makes sense given the power it offers.
Unless you lead a very solitary life, you have undoubtedly encountered this general form factor and design language. There’s nothing new to notice here, save than the coating being a little bit daker than normal.
The Liquid Retina XDR display, named after Apple, is a 120Hz, 3456×2234 Mini-LED panel that covers 100% of the P3 color gamut. It looks fantastic, but because of Apple’s TrueTone technology, which adjusts the display’s color temperature to match ambient light, the color shifts more than most other screens and typically appears warmer. Of course, you may turn this off. Since Mini-LED technology hasn’t improved in the previous two generations, the blacks on these panels are somewhat deeper than those on LCDs but still not nearly as deep as those on OLEDs. I still think it looks fantastic overall, with the notch housing a good but unimpressive 1080p camera being the sole ugly part.
Additionally, the hinge is still superb. Although it’s polished enough to prevent the laptop lid from swaying even when I hammer away at the keyboard on a wobbly table, it’s fluid enough to open with only one finger. The connectors are also the same: there are three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports (which may all be used to power a laptop or an output display), a headphone jack, an HDMI port, a micro-SD card slot, and a MagSafe charging port.
The speakers are far superior than those of the competitors, and the trackpad, keyboard, and speakers remain unaltered. These components are among the finest in the laptop market. The speakers are amazing, the trackpad is roomy and snappy, and the keys have good travel and backlighting. Since the M1 Max MacBook Pro introduced its portable Bluetooth speaker into my life, I have essentially stopped using mine at home.
Performance
So, in terms of the MacBook’s outside, not much has changed. And the interior? The M3 Max fills that role. The M3 Max, which is based on 3nm architecture, has a 30- or 40-core GPU and a 14- or 16-core CPU. This indicates that the CPU has four more cores than the M2 Max from the previous iteration.
The major enhancement, though, went to the GPU since it can now handle mesh shading and hardware-accelerated ray tracing, two techniques that boost graphics performance. Moreover, dynamic caching assigns system memory to the GPU in real-time in response to demand. Stated differently, the M3 Max offers a significant improvement in terms of graphics performance.
Since the M2 Max MacBook Pro is still faster than 99% of laptops on the market, the M3 Max MacBook Pro is a chip that really didn’t need to be released at this time. It’s debatable if Qualcomm and this chip were hurriedly developed in order to compete with the MacBook, which is selling slowly, or both, but this gadget is a flex.