Apple has refreshed its 16-inch MacBook Pro with a new M2 Max chip inside a body that looks just like the 2021 machine, and the reviewer's verdict is a quiet one: for anyone already carrying that earlier laptop, there is little reason to rush. The story is less about a revolution than about the slow, honest work of making a good machine a little better, with the largest gains showing up in graphics and in how long the battery lasts. Such moments often ask buyers to weigh what they truly need against what a new label promises.
Apple's 2023 MacBook Pro 16 with M2 Max: A Faster Chip, a Quieter Story, and a Hard Upgrade Case
The most impactful difference is the efficiency
Apple has refreshed its 16-inch MacBook Pro with a new M2 Max chip inside a body that looks just like the 2021 machine, and the reviewer's verdict is a quiet one: for anyone already carrying that earlier laptop, there is little reason to rush. The story is less about a revolution than about the slow, honest work of making a good machine a little better, with the largest gains showing up in graphics and in how long the battery lasts. Such moments often ask buyers to weigh what they truly need against what a new label promises.
The reviewer begins by admitting that the story is a dull one. Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro looks exactly like the 2021 model, with a fresh M2 Max chip tucked inside. Anyone who already owns the earlier machine, which still performs well, has little reason to trade up.
The review tested a $4,299 configuration with a 12-core CPU, a 38-core GPU, 64GB of memory and 2TB of storage. Since the keyboard, touchpad and display are unchanged, the reviewer focuses on benchmarks and lets readers judge for themselves. Without an M2 Pro MacBook available in time, a Mac Mini with the M2 Pro stood in for comparison. On processor tasks the two chips were nearly equal, but the M2 Max pulled ahead dramatically on graphics. It exported a 4K Premiere Pro video in 1:38, while the Mini needed nearly three minutes, and it ran games at about two-thirds higher frame rates.
Against its predecessor, the M2 Max is a modest step forward: somewhat more processing power, a higher memory ceiling, and gains of roughly 20 percent in graphics. The real surprise is battery life. Where the M1 Max managed about ten hours on a typical mix of browsing and streaming, the new machine averages close to fourteen, sometimes stretching past eighteen.
The trade-off appears under heavy load. The fans became loud enough to draw colleagues over during demanding tests, and the keyboard grew warm, though ordinary use stayed cool and quiet.
The final question is whether to buy a discounted M1 Max instead. The reviewer's closing argument is incomplete, but deeper price cuts on the older model would tip the balance in its favor. Several tests remain pending, including an Xcode benchmark and a battery comparison with the M2 Pro.
The reviewer's opening verdict on Apple's 2023 MacBook Pro 16 is that the meeting is a boring one. The laptop is almost exactly the 2021 MacBook Pro 16, with a new chip inside, the M2 Max. For anyone who already owns the 2021 model, the answer is plain: there is no good reason to upgrade. That machine, which started at $2,500 or more, is still fine.
The unit sent for review was a $4,299 configuration: a 12-core CPU (eight performance cores, four efficiency cores), a 38-core GPU, 64GB of memory and 2TB of storage. Because the keyboard, touchpad and display match the 2021 model, the review sticks to benchmarks and lets readers draw their own conclusions. Most of it also applies to the 14-inch model, which can be configured identically, except for the battery impressions. The test machine ran macOS Ventura 13.2.
The first comparison is with the M2 Pro. Apple did not send an M2 Pro MacBook in time, so the reviewer used a Mac Mini with a 12-core CPU, 19-core GPU, 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage. On CPU-bound tests, the two chips are neck and neck. The gap is in graphics. The M2 Max finished a 4K Premiere Pro export in 1:38, the fastest the reviewer has seen from a laptop, while the M2 Pro Mini took over a minute longer at 2:48. On Geekbench Compute and the Puget Systems Premiere benchmark, the M2 Max scored more than 40 percent higher.
Gaming shows the widest gap, and it matters least to most Mac buyers. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider at the highest settings and 1920 x 1200, the M2 Max reached 103fps, 66 percent more than the M2 Pro's 62fps. The reviewer offers a rough comparison, with caveats: the M2 Max behaves like an RTX 3070 laptop, though short of MSI's GS76 at 114fps, while the M2 Pro sits closer to RTX 3050 territory. It is not a gaming laptop, and real RTX 3070 gaming laptops cost over a thousand dollars less. The M2 Pro handles occasional games and Premiere and suits most people. Those doing graphically intensive work will have a better time on the M2 Max.
Price and specs separate the two as well. The M2 Pro runs 16GB to 32GB of memory with 200GB/s of bandwidth, while the M2 Max runs 32GB to 96GB with 400GB/s, though the 96GB option requires the 38-core GPU. The cheapest 16-inch M2 Pro model is $2,499 and the cheapest 16-inch M2 Max is $3,299. The 14-inch starts at $1,999.
Against the M1 Max, the M2 Max is an incremental step. The reviewer means the word neutrally. It has 12 CPU cores to 10, though the extra two are efficiency cores, and up to 38 GPU cores to 32. Memory tops out at 96GB instead of 64GB. In testing, multicore CPU performance rose about 20 percent and single-core 10 to 15 percent. Geekbench and Tomb Raider graphics improved around 20 percent. Premiere Pro scores were much closer.
The largest gain is battery life. On a workload of about 20 Chrome tabs plus streaming through Apple Music and Apple TV, the M1 Max machine lasted around 10 hours. The M2 Max averages close to 14, with some trials above 18. That puts it well ahead of laptops built around endurance, such as LG's Gram and Asus' ExpertBook, which the M1 Max trailed slightly.
There is a cost. The M2 Max machine runs hotter and louder. During PugetBench the fans were loud enough that colleagues came over to look, and the top of the keyboard got hot. That happened only under that load; everyday Chrome use stayed quiet and cool. The M1 Max stayed silent and cool throughout.
The remaining question is whether to buy a discounted M1 Max instead. A 10-core, 32-core GPU, 32GB, 1TB M1 Max was $2,999 on Amazon, while a similar M2 Max was $3,499 at Apple. That is 14 percent more money for 15 to 20 percent more multicore power, which looks worth it on paper given the battery gains. The review's closing argument is cut off, but it suggests deeper markdowns on the M1 Max would change that math. The reviewer is still awaiting an M1 Max unit for the Xcode benchmark and an M2 Pro MacBook for battery testing.
Citazioni salienti
There is no good reason to buy the 2023 model if you already have the 2021 model.— The Verge reviewer
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