A new flagship laptop arrives in the long procession of machines that promise more power and must answer for the heat it brings with it. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Max chip carries the familiar shape of its 2021 predecessor, and it asks the same old question of every upgrade: whether the gains in speed justify the cost in warmth, noise and money. For most people, this reviewer suggests, the answer is a quiet no, and the wiser choice may be to wait or to buy something already proven.
Apple's M2 Max MacBook Pro 14-inch Is Faster and Lasts Longer, But Runs Hotter and Louder
Faster, longer-lasting, and hotter: the M2 Max asks for a trade-off.
Mark
The headline says faster and longer-lasting but hotter. How big is the heat problem?
Mimi
Peak, not typical. Several performance cores hit 105 degrees Celsius during Cinebench, and fans passed 5,000 RPM at times. Surface temperatures stayed comfortable.
Mark
And compared with the 2021 models?
Mimi
The 14-inch M1 Pro ran about five degrees cooler on average. The 16-inch M1 Pro ran 10 degrees cooler with fans at about half the speed.
Luke
Those are the reviewer's measurements on his units, one test setup. It's not a broad sample, so I'd treat the numbers as indicative.
Mark
Why does the reviewer still recommend buying older models?
Mimi
Because most people gain little. Single-core is only 2% to 3% faster, and the GPU edge over the M1 Max is small in some tests.
Luke
Worth noting the Tomb Raider comparison was across sizes, 16-inch M1 Max against 14-inch M2 Max. The reviewer admits it's not one-to-one.
Mark
What about the storage issue?
Mimi
Base 512GB models use a single NAND chip, so they're slower than the 2021 version. The review unit had 2TB, so he didn't experience it directly.
Luke
Right, so the slowdown is stated as fact, but no numbers are given for it here. And the 19-hour battery result is one test of web browsing, not a typical workload.
Le Pouls
- Peak CPU temperatures hit 105°C and fans spun past 5,000 RPM, turning a famously cool machine into a noisy, warm one under load.
- The M2 Max posts record multi-core scores for a 14-inch laptop, yet single-core gains barely reach 3 percent, so the headline lift is narrower than it first appears.
- Against the 16-inch M1 Max, the new chip wins some export races but loses in gaming, leaving buyers to weigh uneven results.
- Battery life stretches to 19 hours and 20 minutes, a welcome relief that softens the thermal complaint.
- The reviewer steers buyers toward discounted M1 Pro and M1 Max models, where savings of a few hundred dollars may outweigh the new machine's modest advantages.
A new flagship laptop arrives in the long procession of machines that promise more power and must answer for the heat it brings with it. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Max chip carries the familiar shape of its 2021 predecessor, and it asks the same old question of every upgrade: whether the gains in speed justify the cost in warmth, noise and money. For most people, this reviewer suggests, the answer is a quiet no, and the wiser choice may be to wait or to buy something already proven.
Digital Trends tested the top-of-the-line 14-inch MacBook Pro, equipped with the M2 Max chip, a 12-core CPU, a 38-core GPU, 64GB of memory and 2TB of storage. At a list price of $4,099, it earned a nine out of ten and an Editors' Choice badge, though the reviewer's praise came with a clear caveat about heat and noise.
Much of the machine is familiar, and the reviewer counts that continuity as a virtue. The Liquid Retina XDR display, with its 1,600 nits of brightness, still outshines many gaming laptops, and the keyboard, speakers and build quality carry over. Connectivity has been refreshed with HDMI 2.1, Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E, while the 1080p webcam and the notch without Face ID remain unchanged.
Performance is where the story gets complicated. The M2 Max set a new multi-core record among 14-inch laptops the outlet has tested, beaten only by a 17-inch gaming machine. Single-core gains were minor, and GPU results were mixed: exports ran 30 percent faster than on the M1 Pro, but the 16-inch M1 Max still matched it in playback smoothness and nearly matched it in gaming.
The real trade-off is thermal. Under Cinebench load, cores reached 105 degrees Celsius and fans sometimes exceeded 5,000 RPM. The machine still runs cooler and quieter than rivals like the Razer Blade 14, but it is noticeably warmer and louder than the 2021 model. Battery life, on the other hand, improved to 19 hours and 20 minutes in web browsing, the longest the reviewer has measured on any MacBook.
The reviewer deducted a point for these compromises and for the fact that few existing owners would gain much. His practical advice is to check discounted M1 Pro and M1 Max models first, since the savings could easily outweigh what the newer chip offers.
The review unit Digital Trends tested was the top of the line: a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Max chip, a 12-core CPU, a 38-core GPU, 64GB of memory and 2TB of storage. The reviewer's verdict is that it delivers the extra performance Apple promised, but at a cost in heat and fan noise. The model carries an MSRP of $4,099 and earned a score of nine out of ten, along with an Editors' Choice designation.
The 14-inch size is framed as the middle option. The 13-inch MacBook Pro uses only the M2 chip and falls short on graphics, while the 16-inch is powerful but bulky for some buyers. The 14-inch also has a configuration the 16-inch lacks: a $1,999 entry-level model with a 10-core CPU and a 16-core GPU. The reviewer did not test that one.
Much of the machine is unchanged from 2021, and the reviewer counts that as a strength. The Liquid Retina XDR display remains, with 1,600 nits of brightness that, by the reviewer's account, even this year's mini-LED and OLED gaming laptops do not match. The speakers, build quality and keyboard also carry over. Connectivity has been updated: HDMI moves to 2.1, wireless to Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E. MagSafe 3, three Thunderbolt 4 ports and a full-size SD card slot remain. The 1080p webcam was not upgraded, and the reviewer notes that higher-resolution webcams now exist. The notch still has no Face ID.
One complaint concerns storage. In base configurations, Apple uses a single NAND chip on the 512GB model, which sharply reduces read and write speeds. The same issue affected the 256GB M2 MacBooks. File transfers will be slower than on the 2021 model, and Apple does not tell buyers about the difference. The reviewer's 2TB unit was very fast, but he still objected to the lack of transparency.
On the CPU side, the M2 Max has two more efficiency cores than the standard M2 chips. In Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R23 it set a new multi-core record among 14-inch laptops the outlet has tested. Only a 17-inch gaming laptop, the MSI GT77 Titan with a Core i9-12900HX, beat it. Single-core gains were just 2% to 3%.
The GPU jump is larger on paper, from 32 cores to 38, but the results are mixed. In PugetBench's Premiere Pro test, the M2 Max was 41% faster at GPU effects and 30% faster at exports than the M1 Pro in the 14-inch model. Against the 16-inch M1 Max with a 32-core GPU, the gap narrowed: exports were faster, but the older machine had smoother video playback and equal GPU performance. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the 16-inch M1 Max reached 84 fps against 81 fps for the 14-inch M2 Max. To beat it, a buyer would need a gaming laptop with an RTX 3070 Ti. RTX 40-series laptops, including 14-inch models with up to an RTX 4090, are due this year.
The catch is thermal. Apple's chips have been known for running cool and quiet, but the M2 line pushes harder on the same 5nm TSMC process. During Cinebench, several performance cores hit 105 degrees Celsius, and the fans went above 5,000 RPM at times, though surface temperatures stayed comfortable. The 14-inch M1 Pro ran about five degrees cooler on average. The 16-inch M1 Pro ran 10 degrees cooler with fans at roughly half the speed. Even so, the reviewer says the M2 Max still runs cooler and quieter than rivals such as the Razer Blade 14, Lenovo Slim 7 Pro X and Dell XPS 15.
Battery life improved too. The laptop lasted 19 hours and 20 minutes in a web-browsing drain test, a couple of hours more than the 2021 model and the longest of any MacBook the reviewer has tested. He got through a day and a half of work on one charge.
The point deducted from a perfect score reflects the thermal trade-off and the fact that only a small minority of owners will benefit over the 2021 model. His advice is to check prices on M1 Pro and M1 Max models first, since savings of a few hundred dollars probably outweigh the gains.
Citations marquantes
If you want to upgrade this year, check prices on M1 Pro or M1 Max models first, since saving a few hundred dollars is probably the better option.— Digital Trends reviewer
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