Not ten months faraway from the arrival of its stalwart M2 Professional and M2 Max MacBook Professional fashions, Apple has seen match to grace us with one more improve to its most potent MacBooks. The M3 MacBook vary boasts a robust new beating coronary heart and a surprising new coloration. In fact, nonetheless, these are the one two modifications price writing dwelling about. Elsewhere, Apple has retained the identical design and show that made the final one nice, which you’ll recall was additionally the identical design and show from the earlier mannequin.
This MacBook Professional is the third iteration of Apple’s stellar top-of-the-range mannequin, first trotted out in October of 2021. So how a lot has modified, and who is that this MacBook actually for? We’ve put the brand new all-singing, all-dancing M3 Max 16-inch model by way of its paces to see what’s what for 2023. Right here’s our overview.
MacBook Professional 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023): Worth and availability
The MacBook Professional went on sale on November 7 and is available for purchase now from Apple and a swathe of different retailers. The mannequin examined right here is the 16-inch MacBook Professional M3 Max chip with 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU, 48GB, 1TB SSD, and can set you again a cool $3,999. The M3 Professional and M3 Max variants of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Professional fashions comply with the pricing construction of the M2 vary. So it begins at $1,999 for an M3 Professional 14-inch mannequin with 18GB of Unified Reminiscence and a 512GB SSD. The 16-inch mannequin begins at $2,499, and confusingly its M3 Professional chip is a stronger model of the M3 Professional. The M3 Max 16-inch mannequin additionally is available in a 30-core GPU variant with solely 36GB of Unified Reminiscence, priced at $3,499. The wrinkle on this yr’s lineup is a brand new M3 base-model model of the 14-inch MacBook Professional, an enormous improve on the 13-inch MacBook Professional with M2 it replaces within the lineup, beginning at $1,599.
The MacBook Professional is accessible from Apple, Amazon, B&H Photograph, Finest Purchase, Goal, and extra. Within the UK it’s additionally accessible from Apple, Amazon, and John Lewis.
MacBook Professional 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023): {Hardware} and design
Out of the field, the {hardware} of the M3 Max MacBook Professional seems to be and feels equivalent to the present M2 Professional 16-inch MacBook Professional I’m utilizing — principally as a result of it’s. Identical to its predecessors, the M3 MacBook Professional 16-inch is 0.66 inches thick, 14 inches extensive, and 9.7 inches deep. The M3 Professional and M3 Max fashions weigh 2.14 and a couple of.16kg respectively, and it’s price noting that it is a noticeably heavier and chunky laptop computer in comparison with Apple’s Air vary, and even its previous 13-inch MacBook Professional. It’s decidedly thicker and encompasses a squarer design, and if portability is your precedence, the 14-inch model is certainly a a lot better shout than this beast.
Each the previous and new fashions additionally share the identical 1080p FaceTime HD digicam, six-speaker audio, 78-key keyboard, and Contact ID. Both aspect of the MacBook is adorned with three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, an HDMI slot, and an SDXC card slot. Certainly, the {hardware} and design similarities go on and on, as a result of there’s just one distinction.
This yr Apple has developed a stealthy new Area Black coloration. Apple says the brand new end is “unmistakably professional” and makes use of “a breakthrough chemistry that varieties an anodization seal to significantly scale back fingerprints.” Fingerprints are inevitable on a MacBook of this coloration and have been evident from the second I first laid fingers on it. Apple doesn’t say, nonetheless, that it’ll eradicate them fully, fairly simply that it’ll “significantly scale back” them. There’s a noticeable sense that egregious fingerprints fade away rapidly if you first depart them on the chassis.
The impact on the outer shell may be very spectacular. It’s unattainable to go away a fingerprint on the closed lid of the MacBook, as they dissipate immediately each time you take away your fingers, a really marvelous sight to behold. Contained in the clamshell across the fingerprint scorching zone of the TouchPad and keyboard, the coating is much less resistant however nonetheless manages to carry out properly. It does cling on to some fingerprint residue, however not practically as a lot as you’d count on. You should purchase the Area Black in the event you like the colour, nonetheless, not due to the fingerprint coating. The resistance isn’t an additional function that comes with the colour, it’s a necessity as a result of the Black highlights fingerprints extra. In order for you a very fingerprint-less MacBook Professional, you can purchase the Silver one.
The MacBook Professional nonetheless sports activities the identical epic Liquid Retina XDR show. Powered by mini-LED know-how, it boasts 1000 nits sustained full-screen brightness and 1600 nits peak for HDR content material. Apple has additionally improved the brightness of SDR content material, now displayed at as much as 600 nits, an instantly noticeable change that can enhance your MacBook expertise daily.
The 120Hz show is the most effective show I’ve ever used, interval. It’s so crisp, clear, and shiny, and has quickly turn into one in every of my favourite elements of the brand new MacBook.. The adaptive refresh charge helps to protect battery life if you’re doing static work like typing or studying however kicks into life as quickly as you begin scrolling. It makes the entire animations buttery clean, and lends a much-needed enhance to gaming. Now that the MacBook Professional has a GPU able to sturdy gaming efficiency that prime refresh charge makes extra sense than ever. Processing apart, the show is among the key causes a person would select this over the MacBook Air. Anybody who has made the swap to a Professional iPhone in recent times will perceive this.
New chip apart, there isn’t any possible {hardware} improve right here that can tempt anybody away from an M2 or M1 model of this MacBook. Nevertheless, customers of older Intel MacBooks, particularly any with a butterfly keyboard, shall be getting an enormous {hardware} improve because of the brand new show, keyboard, and an array of ports that can depart you begging the query: Why did Apple take away the SD card slot within the first place? A minimum of it’s again, nonetheless, giving professionals that much-needed enhance in connectivity. Simply be sure it stays that method, thanks Apple.
MacBook Professional 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023): Software program and efficiency
This brings us to the explanation why you’re all right here, and the explanation this MacBook exists: The M3 chip. The primary Apple silicon chip constructed on the 3nm course of, M3’s stats actually leap off the web page. As famous, our mannequin for testing offered by Apple packs a 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU, in addition to 48GB of unified reminiscence. This M3 Max chip boasts extra CPU cores than the M1 Max (10) and the M2 Max (12), and Apple continues to be utilizing its potent mixture of efficiency and effectivity cores, sporting 12 and 4 respectively. That implies that if you’re doing “quiet” work like typing in a doc or studying emails, your M3 Max will hum silently within the background, utilizing little or no battery life. Nevertheless, as quickly as you begin a extra intensive job like rendering, graphic design, or gaming, these efficiency cores will hearth into life and supply all the facility you want. Consider it like a hybrid supercar, which might run on an electrical motor upfront if you pop to the outlets, however has a roaring combustion engine within the again for thrashing round a monitor.
Versus the M2 Max, then, this M3 Max boasts 4 extra CPU cores (all efficiency), and two extra GPU cores. M2 launched a sooner Neural Engine, and Apple says this yr’s is healthier nonetheless, 60% sooner than M1 and 15% sooner than M2. The Neural engine powers options like AI picture processing, and Sensible Conform in Remaining Minimize Professional. I’ve seen this demonstrated, and it could remodel a video edited for panorama (YouTube, maybe), right into a video for vertical varieties like TikTok and reels. It should modify the entire framing and cropping, in addition to any titles or results you’ve got within the blink of an eye fixed, and is an immensely highly effective device for creatives.
The M3 effectivity cores are 30% sooner than M2 and 50% sooner than M1, whereas the efficiency cores are 15% sooner than M2 and 30% sooner than M1. Throughout the three, nonetheless, some issues haven’t modified. This M3 Max chip has the identical 400GB/s reminiscence bandwidth as its predecessors, though it affords considerably greater capability choices of as much as 128GB. Whereas not examined right here, it’s price noting the M3 Professional chip is definitely a step again on the M2 Professional chip in some methods, it has fewer GPU cores and decrease reminiscence bandwidth.
So what does all this imply in the true world? Whereas benchmarks aren’t real-world checks, per se, they do give us a strong goal indicator of efficiency relative to Apple’s earlier chips. Geekbench six scores for the M1 Max MacBook Professional register single and multi-core scores of 2379 and 12209 respectively (greater is healthier), in accordance with Geekbench’s personal macOS charts. With OpenCL GPU and Steel GPU Scores of 68145 and 113122. So how does Apple’s first MacBook stack as much as the M2 mannequin, and our personal checks of this model new M3? Right here’s a chart to indicate you, as you’ll be able to see the stats have been so spectacular we’ve additionally included scores for the M2 Extremely chip to indicate simply how far this Apple silicon has come.
| Chip | Single core | Multi Core | OpenCL | Steel |
| M1 Max | 2379 | 12209 | 68145 | 113122 |
| M2 Max | 2737 | 14504 | 85084 | 137595 |
| M2 Extremely | 2770 | 21319 | 128179 | 220465 |
| M3 Max | 3202 | 21180 | 91783 | 156514 |
As you’ll be able to see, the M3 Max is hilariously quick, even smashing the M2 Extremely in single-core efficiency, proving Apple’s efficiency claims concerning the single-core speeds of this new chip. Don’t neglect too that the M2 Extremely checks have been carried out in a Mac Studio with a lot better thermal efficiency.
We additionally examined Apple’s SSDs, yielding Blackmagic learn and write speeds of 5054MB/s and 6416MB/s respectively, which is about on par with the earlier fashions.
We lately put the Feral Interactive’s Pharaoh: Complete Battle title by way of its paces on the M2 MacBook Professional. In that take a look at, benchmarking obtained us 40 FPS on Extremely settings at 2560 x 1700, so I wished to see how this chip would carry out by comparability. As you’ll be able to think about it didn’t disappoint, averaging an astonishing 86 FPS, greater than double that of the M2 Professional. I don’t have the M2 Max to make a direct comparability, so I’ve reached out to Feral for his or her figures, but it surely’s protected to say that Apple’s new upgraded GPU is doing a critical quantity of heavy lifting right here. What’s extra, it helps hardware-accelerated ray-tracing, and testing elsewhere has revealed Lies of P “performs Wonderful” with excessive body charges at 4K decision whereas supporting ray-tracing for beautiful reflections and atmosphere lighting. As that take a look at famous, that is aided partially by the Sport Mode in macOS Sonoma, which brings us neatly to the software program this gadget is packing.
The M3 Max MacBook Professional, like all present fashions, ships with macOS Sonoma. There are cool new screensavers, interactive widgets, and extra, however individuals shopping for a laptop computer of this spec will possible be most to listen to about gaming. Sport Mode ensures that every one the facility of your CPU and GPU goes to your recreation within the warmth of battle on the expense of background duties. It kicks in as quickly as you load up a title and boosts not simply gaming efficiency however audio latency and enter lag as properly. This definitely appears like probably the most succesful macOS in years and gaming is a giant a part of that. Now we simply want builders to start out taking Mac gaming as critically as Apple does. One other Sonoma function, the sport porting toolkit, also needs to assist on this endeavor.
MacBook Professional 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023): Battery life
Due to the wonderful aforementioned mix of efficiency and effectivity cores, the M3 Max boasts completely great battery life. Utilizing it for what I might describe as “common” work, searching, writing, and emails, I used up simply 4% of its life in 90 minutes. Meaning I’ve in all probability obtained one other 35 hours of battery life within the tank. Total, Apple says the M3 Max’s battery is rated the identical as final yr’s mannequin. When you think about the enhancements within the silicon {hardware}, that’s a advantageous achievement.
MacBook Professional 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023): Competitors
As is usually the case with Apple’s premium merchandise, you’re usually selecting between completely different Apple merchandise, fairly than choices from completely different distributors. In order for you a potent laptop computer that runs macOS, you’re solely selection is between this and older MacBook Execs. M1 Max and M2 Max customers possible gained’t be feeling too jealous of the M3 (though it’s significantly sooner), however any Intel person will discover an enormous distinction. Whilst you may avoid wasting cash going for an M2 and even an M1 mannequin, that is undoubtedly the one to purchase. That is extra pertinent when you think about the client base for this laptop computer shall be Professional customers who want as a lot uncooked processing energy as bodily doable, which the M3 Max gives.
The 14-inch M3 Max is a a lot better various for customers who need a extra moveable gadget. In order for you a tool that isn’t going to be pushed to the restrict however shall be each speedy and futureproof, the brand new M3 MacBook Professional is an attractive various.
In order for you a Home windows various, I’d be tempted by the Lenovo Legion 9i (Gen 8), which affords a 165Hz refresh charge mini-LED show, thirteenth Gen Intel Core i9-13980HX, and an RTX 4080 L or 4090 L relying in your specs.
MacBook Professional 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023): Do you have to purchase it?
You should purchase this if
That is your first Apple silicon MacBook Professional
For those who’re nonetheless holding onto that Intel MacBook Professional, now’s the time to make the leap.
You need probably the most highly effective laptop computer Apple has to supply
On the subject of moveable uncooked processing energy, it doesn’t get any higher than this
You need a MacBook critical about gaming
That is the most effective gaming expertise Apple at the moment affords in a Mac.
You shouldn’t purchase this if
You’re on a price range
At $3,999 it is a critical buy and never one for these on a tighter price range.
You aren’t a professional person
For those who don’t want a MacBook for rendering, structure, video enhancing, photograph enhancing, or gaming, there’s merely no have to spend this a lot cash.
You need Apple’s most moveable MacBook
A 14-inch MacBook Professional shall be extra moveable than this one, and in the event you don’t want all that energy, the MacBook Air shall be even higher nonetheless.
MacBook Professional 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023): Verdict
The M3 Max MacBook Professional is an astonishing little bit of package. It’s the top of Apple’s illustrious Mac historical past (thus far) and proof the corporate is making leaps and bounds with its Apple silicon structure. The additional efficiency the corporate has squeezed out of this new 3nm course of may be very spectacular and one which professionals will love and recognize. There will not be sufficient {hardware} modifications right here to justify transferring from any of its Apple silicon predecessors, however Intel Mac customers and first-time patrons shall be blown away by the efficiency. The Area Black coloration is one other welcome addition and a end I’d like to see make its option to the remainder of Apple’s Mac lineup, each cell and desktop.
MacBook Professional 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023): Gallery
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MacBook Professional 16-inch M3 2023
Backside line: Pound-for-pound, the M3 Max is Apple’s best-ever chip, and that is its greatest-ever laptop computer.