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MacBook Pro M1 MAX Review! 1 Month Later 14 and 16!

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After a full month with both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, my experience has been good: the M1 Max machines are really, really good laptops, and hit all the marks professionals wanted. I used them for my actual job, casual surfing, general computing and making videos. Both have the same M1 Max (10-core CPU, 32-core GPU); the 14-inch has 64 GB and a 2 TB SSD, the 16-inch 32 GB and 1 TB.

Design

Instead of form over function and thinner and thinner laptops, Apple finally went with a case that makes sense for professional use, with thermal capacity to take advantage of the chips. It’s flat across, with cues from the iPad Pros and iPhone 12/13, rounded and tapered at the edges so you can get your fingers underneath. The laser cutout of the logo on the back is exceptionally well done, even better in person.

Coming from a previous 13-inch, you’ll notice the size and weight: the 14-inch is about half a pound heavier than the previous 13-inch Pro, and the 16-inch about half a pound heavier than the previous 16-inch. If portability is key, stick to the 14-inch; the 16-inch is amazing, but unwieldy at times. I took it to my kitchen table for lunch: the table is rounded, so I had to push the laptop quite far away to fit my food, which wouldn’t be a problem with the 14-inch.

Notch and hinge

Both have the notch, and it comes down to two things: either you ignore it quickly, like I did, or you see an eyesore every day and should steer clear. It’s really just added real estate for the menu bar: without it, a thicker bezel would still give a 16:10 screen. After a few days, you don’t notice it apart from wonky bugs: the mouse sometimes follows the edge of the notch, goes behind it, or teleports from one side to the other. These will be worked out. The hinge is better than on previous MacBooks: more stable and solid yet fluid and smooth, a weird but enjoyable experience.

Cameras, keyboard and trackpad

Both have the updated camera sensor and new image signal processing (I tested for any difference between the two). The keyboard is fantastic: all black keys on a double-anodized black well, with no Touch Bar and a full row of full-height physical function keys and a big touch sensor. The trackpad is, as always, the best (no better trackpad, period): massive on the 16-inch, slightly smaller on the 14-inch but a perfect size for multi-finger gestures.

Display and speakers

The best displays I’ve ever used. I can feel the difference with my eyes compared with previous MacBooks or a 4K display. It’s the first time Apple has had full 2x Retina resolution in laptops, and the refresh rate slows down when nothing’s moving and ramps up fast when you move things (many apps haven’t been updated for it yet). Dragging a Finder window blurs the line between virtual and physical objects. I notice ProMotion more on bigger screens than on my iPhone 13 Pro.

The six-speaker system has two force-canceling woofers on each side and two tweeters. The 16-inch’s speakers are bigger: about 82 dB vs. roughly 78 to 79 dB on the 14-inch, and the 16-inch sounds a lot fuller. The 14-inch is still great, but the 16-inch could be your only speaker system on most desks.

Ports and MagSafe

A headphone jack and two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the left with MagSafe; an SD card slot, a Thunderbolt 4 port and HDMI out on the right. The SD card slot is the biggest advantage for me, since I use SD cards for everything and no longer need a dongle away from my desk. MagSafe is back, but I’m not sure I care: you can fast charge with the 96 W (14-inch) or 140 W (16-inch) adapter to 50% in about 30 minutes, but I now have USB-C or Thunderbolt chargers almost everywhere, a Thunderbolt dock at my desk, and I can travel with one type of cable for everything (even my iPhone with an Anker magnetic charger), so I’ll likely put the MagSafe cable back in the box.

Performance

In Geekbench, the 16-inch edges out the 14-inch in single and multi-core, and the 14-inch did slightly better in graphics (Metal about 68,000 vs. 65,000; the same in Unigine Heaven), probably because of 64 GB vs. 32 GB. In my Final Cut Pro export (about 10 minutes of multicam 4K), the 16-inch took 4:00 and the 14-inch with 64 GB took 3:52, versus 6:30 on the M1 MacBook Pro. I expected a bigger difference, maybe four times the performance given four times the GPU and about four times the cost. The SSDs are so fast that I don’t think it matters which you get, just pick a size. In daily use (work, browsing, video editing) I saw zero difference between 32 GB and 64 GB; only benchmarks that push the GPU showed a small edge for 64 GB.

Heat and fans

The 14-inch always runs about 10 degrees Celsius warmer than the 16-inch: low 50s with fans around 2,400 RPM in regular use. You don’t hear the fans, but they come on frequently, and the palm rest, trackpad and keyboard are always a little warm. The 16-inch pretty much never turns its fans on and stays cool.

Battery

Apple claims up to 14 hours of wireless web on the 16-inch and 11 on the 14-inch (versus 17 on the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which I think is a better indicator than the movie-playback figures). In daily use I can get through a full day on either, with more left on the 16-inch, and a bit more on an M1 Pro. Heavy rendering would get maybe four hours, still probably more than any previous laptop.

Which one I’d use

For my usage only (work apps, browsing, general computing and video), either can handle it, and the performance differences make no difference to me. The 16-inch has the best screen I’ve used and louder speakers, but the footprint makes me hesitate to take it to the couch or kitchen table. The 14-inch is a great size but runs a little warm, and its frequent fans bug me, though I don’t hear them. All else being equal, size isn’t what I want right now, so the 16-inch is out; and with the 14-inch with M1 Max I don’t see the performance benefit, only higher temperatures and probably a hit to battery, so that’s out too.

What I really want is an M1 Pro or even plain M1 MacBook Air with 32 GB of memory, because 16 GB was my limiting factor. But since I always want the newest thing, I placed a new order for a 14-inch M1 Pro (10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 32 GB, 2 TB SSD), which I think is the perfect balance for my use. Are you someone who needs the M1 Max or would an M1 with more memory be enough? (Spoiler: a later video, “I Was Wrong About the 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro,” explains how this turned out.)

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