A new flagship laptop arrives at the far end of a long technological arc, where raw power has grown so abundant that the question is no longer whether a machine can do the work but whether the work demands it. The Verge's reviewer tests Apple's top-end MacBook Pro 16 with the M3 Max chip, a $7,199 configuration that shows remarkable speed and endurance. Yet the review quietly returns to a familiar human question about value: whether a premium tool is a true necessity or an aspiration that most people, including the reviewer, would not choose to pay for.
Apple's MacBook Pro 16 with M3 Max Delivers Unmatched Power, but Its Price Is Hard to Swallow
The hardware was never the issue.
Mark
Why does a review of a $7,199 laptop matter if almost nobody will buy that one?
Mimi
Because the reviewer's point is that the machine is excellent and the price is the story. The base M3 Max is $3,499, and the M3 Pro 16-inch starts at $2,500.
Luke
Worth noting the review unit is the extreme configuration. Its results don't automatically carry to the base model with 30 GPU cores and 36GB of RAM.
Mark
How big are the gains over last year's M2 Max?
Mimi
Large in multi-core work. Cinebench multi-core was 1684 against 1036, and an Xcode build took 70 seconds against 114. The video export gain was small, 1:30 versus 1:39.
Luke
And the GPU picture is mixed. Geekbench shows modest per-core change; Cinebench shows more than double, and the reviewer only guesses that's because it was updated for ray tracing.
Mark
What about the battery claim of 18 hours?
Mimi
It came from an intensive test on high-power mode, including a workday that ended with 20 percent left.
Luke
The 24-hour figure for typical office use is the reviewer's guess, not a measurement.
Mark
Is it a gaming machine?
Mimi
The hardware handled Baldur's Gate 3, Lies of P and Dreamlight Valley well. The limit is the small Mac catalog.
Luke
Only three native games were supplied by Apple, so that's a thin sample for judging gaming overall.
O Pulso
- A $7,199 review unit sets an uncomfortable price tension against a $3,499 entry point that still feels steep for most buyers.
- Benchmarks show the M3 Max roaring past the M2 Max and M3, cutting a Premiere Pro export and Xcode build times sharply, while the 4.7-pound body strains against the idea of portability.
- Battery life near 18 hours under intensive testing shows the machine can keep pace all day, though the reviewer suspects typical office use could stretch even further.
- Gaming performance is capable, but a sparse Mac game catalog leaves the hardware's potential waiting for software to catch up, and the review lands on a clear verdict: buy only if your real workload demands it.
A new flagship laptop arrives at the far end of a long technological arc, where raw power has grown so abundant that the question is no longer whether a machine can do the work but whether the work demands it. The Verge's reviewer tests Apple's top-end MacBook Pro 16 with the M3 Max chip, a $7,199 configuration that shows remarkable speed and endurance. Yet the review quietly returns to a familiar human question about value: whether a premium tool is a true necessity or an aspiration that most people, including the reviewer, would not choose to pay for.
The laptop in hand costs $7,199. It carries a 16-core CPU, a 40-core GPU, 128GB of memory and 8TB of storage, and it is the most powerful MacBook Pro 16 Apple sells with the M3 Max chip. The reviewer for The Verge admits they could not imagine spending that much of their own money, and suspects most readers feel the same way.
The context softens the excitement a little. The M2 Pro and M2 Max models arrived only about ten months earlier. Had these numbers appeared in 2021, they would have dazzled. Now a spec bump feels smaller than the leap Apple Silicon already made. The entry M3 Max model starts at $3,499, and a cheaper M3 Pro version offers the same body for $2,500.
The benchmarks are where the machine earns its keep. Exports, compiles and multi-core workloads run markedly faster than on the M2 Max or the base M3, and battery life stretched to about 18 hours in the most demanding tests. Design is nearly unchanged, and the new space black finish resists fingerprints better, though it looks more like charcoal than true black when set beside other Apple laptops.
The trade-off is weight and size. At 4.7 pounds it feels closer to a desktop replacement than a true portable. Gaming runs well, but the Mac game library remains thin, and the reviewer's verdict is that buyers should judge whether their real work justifies a premium the reviewer's own work could not.
The laptop the reviewer was handed costs $7,199. It carries a 16-core CPU, a 40-core GPU, 128GB of memory and 8TB of storage, and it is the top-end MacBook Pro 16 with Apple's M3 Max chip. The reviewer, writing for The Verge, says plainly that they could not imagine spending that much of their own money, and suspects most readers feel the same.
The context matters. The M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBook Pros arrived only about ten months earlier. The review argues that if these M3 Max numbers had appeared in 2021, they would have been jaw-dropping, but Apple Silicon has already made its big leap, and a spec bump is less exciting than a whole transition. The entry price for the M3 Max 16-inch is $3,499, for a 14-core CPU, 30-core GPU, 36GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The same CPU and GPU with less memory and storage starts around $4,000. Buyers who only want the 16-inch body can take the M3 Pro version from $2,500. The Verge scored the machine 8, praising performance, battery life and a space black finish that handles smudges better, and dinging the price and the usual Apple complaints: limited upgradability and a smaller gaming catalog.
Design is nearly unchanged from the 2021 and early 2023 models: same keyboard, display, camera, trackpad and ports. One tweak is that the screen in SDR mode now reaches 600 nits, 20 percent brighter than before. The new element is space black. The reviewer found it less black than the name suggests. Next to a space gray MacBook Pro 14 it reads as black, but beside a midnight MacBook Air 15 or a leather jacket it looks closer to charcoal. A new anodization technique does reduce smudging, though after a week fingerprints were visible on the lid and palm rests, just not as badly as on the midnight Air. Coworkers were curious enough to ask for a FaceTime unboxing and to come over for a look, though they were only mildly impressed.
The benchmarks are where the machine earns its price. Against the M2 Max 16-inch (12 CPU cores, 38 GPU cores, 32GB, 1TB), the Premiere Pro 4K export finished in 1:30 versus 1:39, and against the 14-inch M3 it was more than twice as fast, which took 3:47. Cinebench 2024 multi-core scored 1684 on the M3 Max, 1036 on the M2 Max and 612 on the M3. Geekbench 6 multi-core came in at 21,277, 14,833 and 12,078 respectively. An Xcode build took 70 seconds, against 114 on the M2 Max and 133 on the M3. PugetBench for Premiere Pro, which normally takes 15 to 20 minutes, averaged about seven over four runs.
Single-core results were roughly even between the M3 and M3 Max, and both ran 10 to 15 percent faster than an M2 core. GPU results are less tidy. Geekbench 6 shows M3 GPU cores performing about like M2 cores, while Cinebench 2024 shows the M3 more than twice as fast per core, probably because that benchmark was updated for features like ray tracing. The reviewer sees room for further gains as apps catch up. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider the M3 Max ran about four times faster than the M3 and roughly 16 percent faster than the M2 Max.
The machine was hard to stress. Fans were loudest during Tomb Raider at top settings, and similar with Lies of P. Battery life was striking: about 18 hours in testing on high-power mode. One workday began at roughly 8:30AM with 49 percent charge, ran unplugged at about 200 nits, and ended the commute with 20 percent left. The reviewer cautions that such tests are the most intensive case and guesses typical office use could reach 24 hours.
The tradeoff is size. At 4.7 pounds, it barely fit a backpack sleeve, took up nearly a cafe table's width, and was noticeable on an hour-long standing commute. The reviewer calls it more a desktop alternative than a laptop, though the large display, ProMotion and HDR brightness are pleasant for work and video.
On gaming, the reviewer says the hardware is capable and that the catalog is the problem. Baldur's Gate 3, Lies of P and Disney Dreamlight Valley all played well, though some Baldur's Gate 3 cutscene textures looked gloopy. Browsing Steam's Mac selection, the reviewer found the pickings still paltry, if better than a few years ago. For buyers, the question is whether their actual workload justifies a premium the reviewer's own work could not.
Citações Notáveis
The reviewer says they cannot fathom paying this much of their own money for a laptop and suspects most readers feel the same.— The Verge reviewer
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