The M2 Max MacBook Pro: A Revolutionary Upgrade

Recently, Apple updated its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro line with a press release and an 18-minute YouTube video featuring a variety of creators. The event itself was quite impressive, showcasing the capabilities of the new laptops. However, it's worth noting that some speculate this may have been cut from an earlier event, rumored to have taken place late last year.

A Closer Look at the New MacBook Pro

One thing is clear: the M2 Max MacBook Pro is a significant upgrade from its predecessor, with several notable improvements on the inside. Gone are the days of the M1 Pro and M1 Max processors; in their place sit the new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. These advancements promise improved performance and capabilities for users. In addition to these processor upgrades, there have been a few other tweaks made to the laptops.

The Design: Identical on the Outside, but Noteworthy Upgrades Inside

Interestingly, the design of the M2 Max MacBook Pro is virtually identical to its predecessor. The 14-inch and 16-inch models boast the same sleek exterior, with minimal changes in terms of aesthetics. However, this belies a more substantial change beneath the surface. While some may not notice the visual differences, they will undoubtedly appreciate the performance boost provided by the new M2 Pro and M2 Max processors.

The Original Reception of Apple Silicon MacBook Pros

When the first Apple Silicon MacBook Pros were released in October 2021, they received widespread acclaim. These laptops offered a range of improvements over their predecessors, including the return of ports, the elimination of the touch bar, and the reinstatement of MagSafe. The high refresh rate mini LED display was also a welcome addition, providing an excellent viewing experience for users. Perhaps most impressive, however, is the performance of these machines, which has been consistently praised across the board.

User Experience: A Testament to Apple's Commitment to Quality

One of the most striking aspects of the M2 Max MacBook Pro is its ability to please even the most discerning user. Across the board, opinions have been overwhelmingly positive, with few people expressing disappointment or dissatisfaction with their machine. This can be attributed in part to Apple's reputation for producing high-quality products that meet the needs and expectations of its customers.

In conclusion, the M2 Max MacBook Pro represents a significant step forward for Apple, offering improved performance, capabilities, and design elements that are sure to please even the most demanding users. With its sleek exterior and powerful processor, this laptop is poised to make waves in the world of personal computing.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(upbeat music)(upbeat music continues)- So this is the M2 Max MacBook Pro.Let's talk about it.So this week, Apple updated the 14 inchand 16 inch MacBook Proswith a press releaseand an 18 minute YouTube videothat featured a bunch ofcreators at the beginning,which was cool, and then basicallya whole prerecorded eventthat kind of looked like itwas cut out of another event.Matter of fact, it's rumored thatthis basically was cut out of an eventthat they were rumoredto have late last year.Honestly, I buy it,like the URL and the file nameof the video had 2022 in themand the AR files for the new laptopswere compiled in October, 2022,suggesting that these thingswere ready to go months ago.But whatever, none of that matters.What matters is they're here nowand what you need toknow is on the outside,they're basically identical,but on the inside, insteadof M1 Pro and M1 Max,it's M2 Pro and M2 Max,and a couple other tiny improvements also.So the first Apple Silicon MacBook Pros,when they came out in October, 2021,honestly some of the mostunanimously well-liked computersI have ever seen.They added back the ports,they got rid of the touch bar,they brought back MagSafe,they bumped up toan excellent high refreshrate mini LED display,and the performance is incredible.Like across the board,I don't think I've met asingle person who got oneand was like, \"Oh, nah, Imade a mistake with this one.\"So when you see a new onea year and a half later,there isn't really a ton thatwe're expecting to changebecause the big leap wasfrom the Intel MacBook Prosto the Apple Silicon ones.Now we're back to moreincremental improvements.So as you can imagine,yeah, completely identical on the outside,same sizes, same colors,the only way I candifferentiate this new onefrom my old 16 inch M1 Maxis the icon skin I've had on the back.Of course, channel sponsor dbrandis already selling thesefor the 2023 model,so if you want your laptopto look a little differentthan every other MacBook Pro in the world,then, yeah, this is yourbest bet, link below.So the bulk of what's newis coming from the new chip inside.M2 Pro and M2 Max.They are essentially the same price tiersand configurations acrossthe board as beforebut Apple is quoting now20% more CPU performanceand 30% better GPU performance.This in front of me hereis a maxed out M2 Max with the 38 core GPUand the new maximum of96 gigs of shared memory.Shocker, this thing rips.So under the hood, it's built ona new second gen 5 nanometer process,and they've added some cores,two more high efficiency CPU coresand three more GPU cores on the Pro,so it's a 19 core GPU on the M2 Pro.And a 38 core GPU on the M2 Max.Also, the neural engine and media engineare improved to handle machine learningand media playback and transcodingeven faster than they already did.If you're into synthetic benchmarks,I did run Geekbench 5and the single core scoreis now the highest I haveever seen, just over 2,000,while the multi-corescore was north of 15,000.Here's some context to give you an ideaof how impressive these numbers are.And yes, that is aboutthe 20% CPU improvement that we expected.And then, in Cinebench, again,it had a chart topping single core scoreand here's how the multi-core stacks out.So overall capabilities,basically the ceiling has been raised upby the 20 to 30%, which isgreat, but as I mentionedin the original M1 Maxreview a year and a half ago,it's not so much aboutthe raw processing poweras much as it's about the thingsthat it allows you to dobetter or faster than before,hence the name Pro, theoretically.So like I noticed this in thingswhere I have parts of my workflowthat work just right with it.So I have this same I dowhere I screen record with ScreenFlowand it'll do a fullresolution screen recordingand then I'll export that and use itand bring into Final Cut Pro.The exporting of that screen recordinginto ProRes 422 was dramatically improvedwhen we got the mediaengine with Apple Silicon.So a 16 core Intel Mac Prowith a Vega Pro II Duothat retailed for over $15,000,took a three and a halfminute screen recordingand churned that out in 56 seconds.But the M1 max laptopdid it in 32 seconds,So that was so sick,that's one of those thingsyou instantly notice is way faster.This new M2 Max did it in 23 seconds.So again, a prettysubstantial improvement.Like, clearly the outgoingmachines weren't lackingbut they've taken basicallyeverything that was goodabout the old ones and improved it,just bumped it up a littlebit, which is sweet.For everyday daily non-demanding tasksas you can probably imagine,these are still great, totally great.Like, I've already told you all aboutthe excellent mini LED displaythat has a questionableamount of light bleedbut still looks prettygreat most of the time.I've already told youabout the top-notch designand all of the metal build quality,the huge track pad, thehigh quality headphone jack,the return of the built-in SD card slot,I've already told you about all that,but what about thoseother tiny improvementsI mentioned earlierthat aren't the M2 chip?Well, there's a couple things.So first of all, theextra efficiency coresthat I mentioned earlier are great,of course, for battery life.Not only is the batterylife still really goodbut there's also a claimed extra houron both the 14 inchand 16 inch of battery.I'm not seeing a dramatic difference,but, hey, the fact that it'sbetter at all, it's sick.And then these laptops still fast chargebut there's also now a colormatching MagSafe cable.Now this is a slight differencesince these laptops are really only silveror slightly darkersilver, but there you go,it's darker now with aspace gray one, it matches,color matching all the way upuntil the white plasticUSB-C nub on the other end.And then there's a few other capabilitiesWiFI 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and HDMI 2.1.So HDMI 2.1 was actually somethingI was confused aboutmissing on the last versionsince it had been out for a little bit.But it's now here and that allows forup to 8K 60FPSs through onecable via the HDMI port.So that's about time.WiFi 6E is just sort ofstarting to roll out now,that's gonna be great for future proofing.We literally just got WiFi6E routers in the studiofor the first time and the MacBook Proshave consistently beenlike the fastest thingon our wifi network,and it continues to stretchthat lead in that department.And Bluetooth 5.3, again,very much future proofing,but that's welcome.But really the Apple Silicontransition has come a long waysince the very first M1 Max that we sawwhen they first started doing this.There are a lot more well optimized apps,it's a lot more obviouswhat the benefits are.It's still not complete, of course,because we don't have a Mac Pro yet,and also it kind of feels likethey forgot about the iMac.That's just chilling, stillstuck at M1, for some reason.But really, yeah, these area level up from the rest.And I think my overallrecommendations about what to buyat certain spots in the lineupbasically stays the same.So if you're after battery life,M2 Pro is gonna be awesome,if you're after maximum powerat the expense of someof your battery life,then M2 Max is probably the move.And really my prettytextbook conclusion hereis these laptops aren't for peoplewho already have the M1Pro and M1 Max laptopsthat just came out,they are for people who have older laptopsthat now have a bettermachine to upgrade to,unless you're one of atiny fraction of peoplewho got the old onesand was pushing it to its limitsand just needs that 30% more power,in which case, you know who you are.Matter of fact, for thosepeople on older laptops,I think looking for sales nowof the M1 Pro and M1 Max,when you start to find deals on those,those are gonna be really good laptops.Now, you might have also seen the rumorsthat it's possible thatthe first of the M3 laptopsis gonna be coming outlater this calendar yearon a three nanometer process,and you might be wonderingif you should wait for that.To which I would say,you should actually waittill quarter three of2027 when we have the M5sbecause that'll be 30% faster than the M4swhich is 30% faster than the M3s,and you can see where I'm going with this.Like, if you're gonna bewaiting for the next thing,you'll just be waiting forever'cause that's just the way tech is.These are great machines,they're more than most people need,and if you can get your hands on the M1s,those are gonna be reallygood for most people too.Either way, make sure you get subscribedbecause I think,I think actually the new M2 Mac Minisare a way more interesting machine,so stay tuned for that video.Also, I said somethingin in my last review.With that being said,if the next version of this laptopstill has a notch this bigand doesn't add Face ID,I'll wear socks and sandalsfor a day, like Linus.Like, they gotta be planning onputting it there eventually, right?Well, all day today,I'm a man of my word.Thanks for watching,catch you guys in the next one, peace.(upbeat music)\n"