The M3 chip from Apple is not looking like a huge upgrade
The M3 Max: A Duck in a Mac? What it’s like to get yourself into a computer every day? A review unit Apple sent me
The new M3 Pro chip looks like a duck in the MacBook Pro laptop. For most people who need a computer with a bit of oomph over dreary office tasks and need multiple external monitors, the M3 Pro will serve their needs and have great battery to boot. If you’re a computer upgrader who already has a Mac with an M2 Pro chip or even an M1 Pro, you won’t see much performance improvements unless you shell out more dough for an M3 Max.
The review unit that Apple sent me? It has a 16-core processor, 40-core processor, 40-core graphics card, 128GB memory, and 8 terabytes of storage. It is a speed that is ridiculous at $7,199. You can get the same CPU and GPU performance but with less extreme amounts of RAM and storage starting around $4,000. Apple sells versions of the M3 Max with a less powerful M3 Pro chip that are less powerful and can be used in lieu of the 16-inch version.
I cannot imagine spending that much of my own money on a computer. I suspect most people reading this are the same way. But since I have this one handy, let’s talk about what it’s like to actually use one as your daily driver.
The New M3 MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max Review: The Most Power for The Most Money (Apple Macbook Pro 14 M3 Maxi Review)
The new entry-level M3 MacBook Pro 14 does not have much in terms of design. The chassis for the 16-inch remains the same as the 2021 and early 2023 models: same keyboard, same gorgeous display (though in SDR mode, it can now go up to 600 nits, 20 percent brighter than before), same camera, same trackpad, and the same ports. (Unlike the base 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro, there are no shenanigans with the Thunderbolt ports or external displays, and there better not be for this price.)
What is new design-wise is the space black color option. Black is a powerful color that exudes modernity, elegance, and cool. New Yorkers, Batman, and the fashion industry all wear a lot of it. However, this laptop does not resemble the dark void of space. The purple color of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is a contrast to the space black color. Its darkness and color is determined by what is surrounding it. The gray Macbook Pro 14 looks black next to my space gray one. If there is an obvious blue tint, I think my midnight MacBook Air 15, is more black and appears darker as a result of the lighting. Next to my leather jacket is space black.
Source: Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max review: the most power for the most money
Anodized MacBook Pro: 16 M3 Max Review: The Most Power for the Most Money: Source: Mysterious Things About My MacBook Air
Apple did do a good job of making it less smudgy. It uses a new method of anodization that leaves less of a mark. It isn’t smudge-proof. I can see my fingerprints on the cover after a week. It is not as bad as the midnight MacBook Air, and I wish Apple would bring this to future midnight Airs.
As whelmed as I am by the color, I can’t deny it has a mysterious allure. When a co-worker found out that I was testing them, they asked me to call their boss. Another ran over for a firsthand look when I brought it to the office. They, too, were merely whelmed, but their initial curiosity wasn’t nothing.
Source: Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max review: the most power for the most money
The Memory of the M3 Pro: Invaluable Performance at Half the Pentaquark, And Yet It’s Hard to Squeeze
It’s hard to stress this machine out. I wish I had this level of cucumber-cool when processing stressful situations. The only time it felt like this laptop had to work was when gaming on high settings. The fans wheezed loudest when running Shadow of the Tomb Raider on its highest settings, right as the benchmark test briefly pushed the machine to around 200fps. It was similar to Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but it was less loud. We have a test for 4K export and a test for Adobe Premiere. Pro simulate video editing workloads, and the M3 Max smoked ’em. The M3 can be wrapped up in 90 seconds. Meanwhile, the PugetBench test generally takes around 15 or 20 minutes. It took the M2 Max eight minutes to finish it, but the machine did it in seven minutes.
Meanwhile, YouTuber Jimmy Tries World benchmarked the M3 Pro and found no appreciable performance gains. That includes a comparison to his own two-generation-old M1 Pro MacBook Pro.
It’s lightning-fast. Sometimes, I felt the need to poke it just to make sure it was still on. Getting the battery to die is not pleasant. I have yet to take the 16 off high-power mode, and it has the audacity to go for about 18 hours in my testing.
What is wrong with the Apple M3 Max? Getting the most out of my laptop, which is a bit too small to make a gaming laptop
Let me put it this way. I started my day with about 50 percent battery. I put it in my backpack and used it unplugged for the whole day because of the 200 nits brightness. I opened the laptop and it still had 23 percent battery left after I returned from my ferry ride. It still had 20 percent when I disembarked about 30 minutes later, and enough for about two hours of futzing around online after that. I did not have to plug it in until the next morning.
If you’re new to the 16-inch model, have a think about what you’re giving up in exchange for the performance. This is more of a computer than a laptop and technically portable. At the cafe, there was no room for lunch because of the way this took up the entire width of the table. It just fit into my laptop sleeve. This behemoth is 4.7 pounds, and I felt it during an hour-long commute where I didn’t get a seat on the train. The benefit is that the big display is easy to work on, especially if, like me, your terrible eyesight requires you to blow up your font to 125 percent. It makes for an enjoyable experience when watching videos.
The M3 Max is 100 percent technologically capable of Gaming with a capital G. That doesn’t make this a fully viable gaming laptop. The three AppleSilicon native games that were offered to the reviewers were Baldur’s Gate 3, Lays of P and Disney Dreamlight Valley.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the most significant title of the three. It’s buzzy, people want to play it, and the fact it’s available on Mac is a step in the right direction. All but one of their co-workers asked if they were lying. In this case, I am confident that no game player will get an M3 Max to play Disney Dreamlight Valley.
All three games were incredibly enjoyable, even on this machine. I’m able to turn on all the highest settings in the game and play it well, even though I’m playing a steampunk game called Lies of P. Baldur’s Gate 3 tested my tolerance for textures, as mind-flayer parasites slithering in eyeballs and dragon spittle in the opening cutscenes looked… disturbingly gloopy. The skin and hair looked great, though. For both of these games, I could hear the fans whirring, but the keyboard never got particularly hot — just toasty enough that it became an alluring napping spot for my kitten. The fans never kicked on, as Disney Dreamlight Valley is less taxing.
There’s some hope for the future. Apple has a new Game Porting Toolkit which is similar to the one used by Valve. It’s not the final deal, but it’s another step in the right direction. Apple just needs the games and has the right hardware for it.
The MacBook Pro is needed to be a true gaming laptop if it is to match consoles and gaming PCs. Having a handful of AAA titles ain’t good enough because gamers are not a monolith.
I didn’t like this laptop, but I’m not saying I didn’t like it. I’m only saying that, at the end of the day, this is a relatively modest performance bump for most tasks. The more economical option is to buy a discounted machine while they are still available.
Otherwise, this laptop is for a specific type of person: the kind of pro with workloads who can save a lot of time overall by shaving off a few minutes here and there. The price is unlikely to be an issue for some people because this could be written off as a business expense.
It is a chance for the rest of us to see how far Apple Silicon has come in comparison to its competitors. It might not be exciting, but it can be used to help you make smarter choices down the road.
Source: Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max review: the most power for the most money
Getting the Most Use Out of Your Smart Devices: A Case Study on Using a Mac to Improve Performance in Edge-On Devices
Every smart device now requires you to agree to terms and conditions before you are allowed to use it. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. We began counting how many times you had to agree to use devices, since most people can’t negotiate and are not very good at reading agreements.
The M3 Pro shows overall design maturity, but for those hoping to see bigger gains to justify their purchase, it may be worth waiting for one more generation. However, for anyone with an Intel Mac, now is probably the best time to make the leap. The M3 Pro isn’t a big upgrade from the regular M3 but there are some performance gains that people will appreciate, and they can use two external monitors instead of one.
