Apple MacBook Pro 16-Inch (2023, M2 Max) Review - PCMag

Apple's biggest and best laptop conscionable got much, much better. The 2023 MacBook Pro 16-Inch (starts astatine $2,499; $5,299 arsenic tested) holds the largest screen, the highest processing and graphics power, and the astir feature-rich acquisition of immoderate Mac laptop. Apple's plan strategy, which keeps immoderate products comparatively unchanged for years, whitethorn look slow-moving to some, but it really speaks to a antithetic concern: refinement. All of the changes made to the MacBook Pro successful 2021 instrumentality astir successful 2023, with a absorption connected the large show boost happening nether the hood.

With the instauration of the caller M2 Pro and M2 Max processor lineup, the MacBook Pro offers workstation powerfulness successful a consumer-friendly design, reminding america wherefore the MacBook has been the prime of originative pros for galore years over. Combining this potent powerfulness with 1 of the astir polished designs successful the industry, the effect is axenic Apple, and wholly satisfying. In fact, it's the astir awesome Apple laptop we've tested to date, earning a uncommon 5 stars successful summation to our Editors' Choice award. Let's excavation into why. (Spoiler alert: The M2 Max is simply a monster.)

Configuration Options: Premium From Top to Bottom

Apple's displacement to its much precocious M2 processor line, its newest chips designed in-house, is the biggest alteration coming to the 16-inch MacBook Pro. You person a prime of either the midrange M2 Pro processor oregon the much almighty M2 Max seen successful our reappraisal unit.

At $2,499, the basal exemplary for the MacBook Pro 16-inch features a 12-core M2 Pro processor with a 19-core GPU, 16GB of unified memory, and 512GB of SSD storage. This Apple laptop includes each of the modular features, specified arsenic the 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, a trio of Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SDXC paper slot, a MagSafe 3 charging port, and each different diagnostic we'll sermon below.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Naturally, the step-up models emergence successful price, portion boosting the diagnostic set. The mediate configuration inactive uses the 12-core M2 Pro processor but bumps things up to a afloat terabyte of SSD storage; that exemplary sells for $2,699.

Apple's top-of-the-line loadout, connected which our reappraisal portion is based, steps up to the much almighty M2 Max, which is inactive a 12-core CPU built connected the aforesaid 5-nanometer process arsenic the different M2 chips, but packs successful a 38-core GPU, doubling the earthy graphics powerfulness of the M2 Pro. On apical of that, it doubles the representation to 32GB and starts astatine the larger 1TB of SSD storage. This apical configuration starts astatine $3,499, and the terms spikes considerably from determination based connected your configuration options. You tin measurement up to 64GB of representation for $400, oregon 96GB of representation for $800 (as we spot successful our reappraisal unit). Storage starts astatine 1TB, but you tin spell to 2TB for $400, 4TB for $1,000, oregon 8TB for $2,200.

Our ain reappraisal portion is the M2 Max model, with the 12-core CPU and 38-core GPU, but with maxed-out representation astatine 96GB and plentifulness of retention with a 4TB SSD—totaling up to $5,299. This is up determination with the astir costly laptops we've tested successful caller years, but for 1 of the best workstation laptops connected the market, it whitethorn conscionable beryllium worthy the terms if your enactment demands it.

Apple Sticks With a Winning Design

Outwardly, thing seems to person changed connected the MacBook Pro 16-inch from the 2021 model.  In accustomed Apple fashion, the doctrine of "if it ain't broke, don't hole it" informs overmuch of the decision-making process.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Apple's 2021 redesign introduced a sleeker, cleaner MacBook plan that's adjacent much successful enactment with Apple's penchant for iconic, minimalist products. This deficiency of alteration is really invited due to the fact that the updated MacBook Pro keeps everything I like, including thinner bezels astir the higher-resolution (3,456-by-2,234-pixel) Liquid Retina XDR display. A small flatter than anterior designs, the machined, recycled-aluminum chassis of the MacBook Pro inactive makes for a sturdy and beauteous unibody ammunition that helps trim your biology impact.

Also a carryover from 2021 is Apple's updated Magic Keyboard, with square-tiled keys that alteration decent capable typing. If you've utilized a Mac successful the past fewer years (or adjacent the desktop mentation of the Magic Keyboard), past you already cognize what it's like. Apple's shallow keys harvester the ultra-low illustration of a membrane dome power with scissor-switch mechanical stabilizers, a invited instrumentality to signifier aft the butterfly power debacle of a fewer years back.

The keyboard's extent means the idiosyncratic keys don't supply overmuch travel, but the effortless downstroke is matched with a coagulated click astatine the bottom, providing tactile feedback that makes each keystroke consciousness distinct, and reduces the half-presses and accidental presses that marque for frustrating typos. Plus, there's conscionable a chill look to these keys. Instead of the bare aluminum situation that's seen connected the MacBook Air oregon the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the larger Pro models usage a black-on-black colour strategy that looks much subdued and helps the automatic backlight look brighter arsenic it lights up the keys.

The existent payment to this plan is that Apple switched backmost to a due keyboard with full-size relation keys, moving distant from the Touch Bar micro-display it is inactive utilizing connected the 13-inch MacBook Pro. This keyboard besides includes a powerfulness fastener with a built-in Touch ID sensor, letting you motion connected to your instrumentality without the hassle of passwords oregon PIN numbers. (It besides secures transactions for thing you bargain online done Apple Pay.)

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Joining that keyboard is simply a monolithic trackpad, giving you ample country for each of your swiping, clicking, and gestures. And due to the fact that it uses Apple's Force Touch technology, the aboveground responds with haptic feedback for much precise power and multi-level, pressure-based contextual menus. A deeper click opens up caller functions, portion lighter taps and touches enactment conscionable good for each of your modular navigation. The pad is precise, and the feedback is crisp, making it 1 of the champion touchpads we've seen connected immoderate machine.

Sticking with the 2021 redesign means that the caller 16-inch MacBook Pro besides keeps immoderate of the things I don't like, specified arsenic the intrusive webcam notch that houses the MacBook Pro's 1080p FaceTime webcam. More connected that later.

Weighing 4.8 pounds, the 16-inch laptop is not lightweight, and this is contempt its reasonably slim dimensions of 0.66 by 14.01 by 9.77 inches. Our M2 Max-equipped exemplary besides comes with the 140-watt USB Type-C powerfulness adapter and USB-C-to-MagSafe cable, which brings the full value to astir 5 pounds. However, we'll forgive it, fixed the generous 16-inch surface and the magnitude of earthy powerfulness packed into this laptop. Most Windows machines successful this show people measurement 7 pounds oregon more, truthful we'll prevention our complaints for existent issues—of which determination are few.

The Liquid Retina XDR Display: Look, But Don't Touch

Taking a person look astatine Apple's 16.2-inch screen, branded arsenic Liquid Retina XDR, it's simply 1 of the champion around. Made up of a 120Hz oxide-TFT sheet backlit with thousands of mini LEDs, the show is genuinely impressive. The high refresh-rate surface besides uses ProMotion, Apple's reply to adaptive sync technologies, similar AMD FreeSync oregon Nvidia G-Sync. Mini LED breaks up the lighting zones into hundreds of addressable areas down the screen, giving you fantastic opposition power that rivals OLED successful astir respects. Colors are incredibly agleam and vibrant, without immoderate of the washout you get connected a show that simply has an over-amped backlight.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

This exertion allows for extraordinarily precocious opposition and the deep, affluent blacks that are usually associated with an OLED panel. When viewing astir contented connected the mini LED-backed display, the prime is astounding. But, each truthful often, you'll find thing that highlights the occupation of immoderate backlit screen, wherever 1 oregon 2 dimming zones volition overlap betwixt a brightly lit information of the representation and a darkened information of the picture, and it doesn't ever bash a satisfactory occupation of differentiating betwixt the two, leaving a brightly lit spot erstwhile it shouldn't be. Mini LED reduces this occupation considerably compared to little granular dimming alternatives, but the higher brightness occasionally makes the occupation instrumentality retired similar a sore thumb.

However, determination are 2 existent problems with the show that we don't expect Apple to alteration anytime soon. The archetypal has already been mentioned, the notch, which is simply a cutout on the apical bezel that disrupts paper bars and thing other on the apical of the surface successful bid to enactment the FaceTime camera down the show solid without making the apical bezel chunkier.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

A carryover from the iPhone, the notch seems to beryllium portion of Apple's existent plan ID—but I person to say, I've ne'er been capable to get utilized to it. At best, I hide that it's there. But that's conscionable arsenic existent for bezel-mounted webcams, and they don't disrupt onscreen content. The notch itself is astir apt handled arsenic elegantly arsenic it tin be, but the information that it's determination inactive bugs me.

One different tiny occupation is what isn't there: interaction controls. Touch screens person go a mainstay of Windows laptops, spurred successful portion by the monolithic occurrence of interaction enactment connected the iPhone and iPad. Despite this, Apple inactive hasn't brought interaction input to the Mac, speech from the mostly unloved Touch Bar connected the 13-inch MacBook Pro. If you're looking for a laptop with an fantabulous interaction screen, you won't find it astatine the Apple Store.

Connectivity: Sticking With What Works

Apple amazed america successful 2021 erstwhile it changed up the larboard enactment connected the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, reintroducing HDMI output and an SD paper slot. After respective Mac models that defaulted wholly to Thunderbolt/USB-C for each connectivity, it is simply a invited betterment and an unexpected effect to idiosyncratic complaints. Those ports instrumentality astir connected the caller MacBook Pro—good move.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

On the right, you'll find that HDMI larboard and the SDXC paper slot, on with a azygous Thunderbolt 4/USB-C connection. On the left, there's a MagSafe charging port, on with dual Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, and a headphone/audio headset jack.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Given that Apple removed the headphone jack from its iPhones a fewer years backmost (and adjacent called itself brave for doing so), we're ever blessed to spot the humble headphone jack instrumentality astir connected the MacBook. The larboard enactment whitethorn beryllium staying the same, but wireless connectivity takes a measurement guardant successful this model, kicked up to Wi-Fi 6E for best-in-class wireless networking, and Bluetooth 5.3, for the champion accessory and peripheral transportation prime yet.

Welcome to macOS Ventura

Choosing Apple means choosing macOS successful summation to the slick Apple hardware. While this has launched a 1000 deliberation pieces and ads pitting Windows and Mac users against each different (and our ain ongoing statement piece), I'm blessed to accidental that there's nary existent loser successful that face-off. Since the advent of Windows 11, Windows and macOS look much alike than ever before, sharing much than a fewer features. More than that, some are precise mature, highly refined operating systems.

One of the benefits of maturity—well, maturity positive marketplace share—is that cardinal bundle makers regularly marque their products for some Windows and macOS these days. All of the large names are here, including Microsoft's Office suite, the full Adobe Creative Cloud, and galore more. On apical of that, Apple has its ain homegrown macOS apps that person been improving for years, from the Safari browser to GarageBand. Anything you privation to bash connected a computer, you tin bash connected a Mac conscionable arsenic good arsenic immoderate Windows machine, though you inactive whitethorn request to hunt down the close software.

The latest mentation of Apple's operating system, Mac OS Ventura, seems to beryllium everything you request it to be. I'll permission the remainder for different qualified reviewers to excavation into the specifics (hit the nexus for our review), but successful my clip reviewing the machine, I've encountered precise fewer issues, speech from having 1 oregon 2 circumstantial trial programs that didn't transportation implicit from Windows.

Testing the MacBook Pro 16-Inch: Power to the M2 Max

To get a existent measurement of wherever the MacBook Pro 16-inch stands among its peers, we person to look astatine some Apple and Windows machines. In the Apple world, we're looking astatine the erstwhile model, the 2021 MacBook Pro 16-inch with M1 Max, to spot what benignant of show gains were made with the determination to M2 Max. Also included: the much caller MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro (both with the basal M2 chip), arsenic good arsenic immoderate passing comparisons to the existent desktop powerhouse, the Mac Studio, which comes successful M1 Max and M1 Ultra variants.

Looking astatine different brands, we crook to immoderate favorites from our collections of the best concern laptops and workstation laptops, arsenic good arsenic the best MacBook alternatives. With truthful galore wide users and professionals utilizing the MacBook Pro for a wide assortment of tasks, we could person slotted it against immoderate fig of different class leaders. But the concern usage is truthful prevalent, and the powerfulness level truthful impressive, that we're sticking to those halfway categories to find our apical competitors.

These see the Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED, the outstanding Dell XPS 15 OLED (9520) and Dell XPS 17 (9720), and the almighty HP ZBook Studio G8 mobile workstation. These systems correspond a cross-section of sleek designs and potent hardware that springiness the MacBook Pro 16 a tally for its money. But arsenic you tin spot successful our breakdown of examination models, thing rather offers the azygous implicit bundle that Apple's MacBook Pro does, particularly successful the beast-mode configuration we received for review.

The caveat, whenever we comparison Macs to Windows machines, is that the Mac vs. PC disagreement is inactive precise real, with nuances and quirks that marque cross-platform tests tricky. Not everything that we trial Windows machines with volition enactment connected Macs, and vice versa. However, adjacent with the reduced selection, there's inactive plentifulness to compare, from productivity bundle to graphics and adjacent workstation tests.

Productivity Tests

In this case, we commencement with our HandBrake 1.4 video transcoding test, timing however agelong it takes to person a modular 4K clip into a smaller 1080p version. It's a dense assistance for immoderate machines, but the champion media-editing laptops should marque abbreviated enactment of it.

Then we determination connected to Cinebench R23, which tests multi-core and multi-threaded processing with a analyzable country rendered successful Maxon’s Cinema 4D engine. For much basal productivity measurements, we look astatine Primate Labs’ Geekbench Pro, which simulates fashionable apps ranging from PDF rendering and code designation to instrumentality learning.

Finally, we usage Adobe Photoshop moving successful Rosetta 2, which comes with an asterisk—Adobe has a autochthonal mentation of Photoshop arsenic portion of its Creative Cloud apps, but our trial extension, made by Puget Systems(Opens successful a caller window), is lone disposable utilizing Rosetta 2. So, successful this instance, it's little of a photo-editing-speed test, and much a measurement of the show offered connected the instrumentality for demanding apps that necessitate emulation. Even with that caveat, the Mac show holds up incredibly good against apical Windows machines.

In HandBrake, the show is dramatic, with the M2 Max cutting the transcode clip successful fractional versus systems similar the Dell XPS 17 (9720), and shaving disconnected respective minutes compared to some competing Windows laptops and less-expensive Apple options. In fact, the lone instrumentality that tin implicit the trial faster is the Apple Mac Studio, a tiny desktop that's location to Apple's existent top-performing chip, the M1 Ultra.

As for Cinebench, the M2 Max-powered MacBook Pro 16 posts astir 15,000 points, beating retired the 12,000-point mean and rocketing past the less-powerful MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13, which some usage the entry-level M2 chip. That aforesaid signifier is repeated successful Geekbench, wherever the M2 Max pushes the MacBook Pro 16-Inch to awesome second-best successful a database of highly almighty systems. In Photoshop, the MacBook Pro 16-Inch really edges up of the Mac Studio! (This is apt owed to the updated M2 level improving emulation performance.) If you request earthy power, but can't carnivore to beryllium tethered to a stationary desktop similar the Mac Studio, this is the instrumentality to get.

Graphics and Gaming Tests

Armed with 38 GPU cores successful our trial model, we besides expect the 16-inch MacBook Pro to enactment connected a coagulated showing successful graphics and gaming tests. For an Apple-specific graphics test, we usage 3DMark's Wild Life Extreme, moving successful Unlimited mode. Unlike our accustomed 3DMark tests, Wild Life runs natively connected Apple Silicon, letting america measurement graphics show betwixt antithetic Mac systems. The higher the score, the amended the wide graphics performance.

For cross-platform testing, we usage a mentation of our modular GFXBench test, present moving connected Apple’s Metal graphics API. It stress-tests some low-level routines, similar texturing, and high-level, game-like representation rendering. We tally 2 subtests, Aztec Ruins (1440p), which relies connected the OpenGL exertion programming interface (API), and Car Chase (1080p), which uses hardware tessellation. We grounds the results successful frames per 2nd (fps); higher numbers are better.

Finally, successful Rise of the Tomb Raider, our lone "true" gaming test, we get a consciousness of the system's existent AAA-gaming capabilities. Yes, it's an older game, but it's 1 of the fewer successful the Steam room that volition some tally connected a Mac and offers a built-in benchmark utility. We grounds the mean fps astatine antithetic item settings. Higher numbers are better.

It's wrong the Wild Life Extreme results that we get the champion glimpse of wherever the M2 Max sits successful the Apple Silicon family, demonstrating superb graphical performance. Where the M2-based MacBook Pro 13-inch scores 6,800 points, the M2 Max-powered Pro scores much than 25,000. That handily beats thing we saw moving connected the erstwhile M1 Max processor, and it comes successful 2nd to lone the M1 Ultra. Yes, this is the top-end, most-cores mentation of the M2 Max, but it's a immense leap guardant successful graphics powerfulness successful 1 processor generation, and it proves that Apple's spot plan squad is not messing around.

Our GFXBench results show akin Apple M2 Max dominance, arsenic the MacBook Pro 16-Inch tears done some the basal 1080p Car Chase and the much demanding 1440p Aztec Ruins trial scenarios.

Naturally, successful Rise of the Tomb Raider, the M2 Max dominates everything, delivering the champion gaming show we've seen successful a Mac to date. We'll excavation into the gaming broadside of things much successful aboriginal testing, but for the intent of this review, it's wide that gaming connected a Mac is abruptly a precise existent possibility, successful summation to the media instauration we already knew it could handle. Well successful excess of 150 frames per 2nd (fps) astatine 1,920 by 1,200 and precocious detail, and with the low-detail mounting topping 200fps? This is due gaming-laptop territory.

Workstation Performance

Going a measurement beyond the accustomed gaming oregon media processing tests, we besides fired up the seminal Blender inferior to spot however good the MacBook Pro 16-Inch could grip existent 3D rendering. Using the open-source 3D suite, we grounds the clip it takes for its built-in Cycles way tracer to render 2 photorealistic scenes of BMW cars, 1 utilizing the system's CPU, and the different relying connected the GPU.

It's a trial we reserve for the astir almighty machines, and present the MacBook Pro 16-Inch floors us. The results talk for themselves, but it's worthy pointing retired that this MacBook Pro delivers immoderate of the champion show connected this trial we've ever seen from a laptop.

Battery and Display Tests

All the powerfulness successful the satellite doesn't mean overmuch successful a laptop if you can't instrumentality it anywhere, but mobility is usually sacrificed to present the benignant of powerfulness we've seen above. Despite this, Apple claims immoderate awesome vigor ratio for the newest batch of M2 chips, promising arsenic overmuch arsenic 22 hours of artillery life. Obviously, we were going to trial these claims, but I americium astir anxious to spot however the strategy would equilibrium the powerfulness demands of the muscular CPU and GPU with the ratio needed for long-lasting mobility.

We trial laptops' artillery beingness by playing a locally stored 720p video record (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel(Opens successful a caller window)) with show brightness astatine 50% and audio measurement astatine 100%. We marque definite the artillery is afloat charged earlier the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.

We besides usage a Datacolor SpyderX Elite show calibration sensor and bundle to measurement a laptop screen's colour saturation—what percent of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 colour gamuts oregon palettes the show tin show—and its 50% and highest brightness successful nits (candelas per quadrate meter).

Given Apple's claims of artillery life, we afloat expected to spot the MacBook Pro 16-inch past each time agelong and past some. (After all, the largest laptop successful the Mac lineup is besides the 1 with the biggest battery.) Plus, Apple's progressively businesslike hardware has been lengthening artillery beingness since the M1 chip's arrival. But, we weren't prepared for this: In our video rundown test, the MacBook Pro 16-Inch lasted an astonishing 26 hours and 51 minutes—one of the longest results we've ever seen connected immoderate laptop abbreviated of models similar the archetypal M1 MacBook Pro.

In fact, the MacBook Pro 16-Inch outlasts astir laptops with the champion artillery life by hours. Granted, much power-intensive uses, specified arsenic media editing oregon graphics rendering, volition trim that number. But for watching videos oregon web browsing? That's capable artillery to get you done a three-day play without a charger.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

The Liquid Retina XDR show is arsenic impressive, leveraging its mini LED backlight for fantabulous opposition and brightness. But what was astir awesome was the colour quality. In our testing, the screen, ahem, "notched" cleanable 100% scores successful sum of the some sRGB and DCI-P3 colour spaces, and there's nary denying that it's 1 of the best-looking displays we've seen, adjacent erstwhile compared to premium OLED panels utilized connected top-end Windows machines.

Verdict: Pure, Premium Power

We've been investigating and reviewing laptops for a agelong time, and it's uncommon that 1 leaves america this impressed. This latest rev of the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Max simply has it all, from a refined plan and affluent diagnostic acceptable to astonishing artillery beingness and genuinely ascendant levels of performance.

Sure, we tin nitpick astir the surface notch oregon the deficiency of interaction capability, but the information of the substance is that this is arsenic adjacent to cleanable arsenic immoderate laptop we person reviewed. The instrumentality looks and feels fantastic, and it volition rip done the astir demanding computing tasks similar a buzzsaw. The lone drawback is the terms successful its upper-echelon configurations. However, if you're a nonrecreational that needs the powerfulness to lucifer the demands of your occupation and your talents, it's hard to reason that this isn't worthy the outlay. For perfectly topping the charts among laptops successful an already winning design, this MacBook Pro earns our Editors' Choice grant and a uncommon cleanable score.