now this is the brand new Macbook Pro 16 with M2 Max it's one of the more expensive skus you can
buy with 64 gigabytes of RAM it has a 12 core CPU and the 38 core GPU the only difference
between this and the most expensive model is more storage or getting it with 96 gigabytes
of memory but this laptop I was just expecting a year-over-year update but I was not expecting
that this laptop would perform just as well or sometimes even better than a completely maxed
out 120 gigabytes of RAM M1 Ultra Max studio now before I get to the performance and trust
me you're going to want to hear this we've got to talk about quality of life updates because there's
a few that go along with this new model for one it's still the same weight as the previous MacBook
Pro 16 so there's no difference there the port lineup is identical so you're still getting the
same feature set the big difference though is that this power connector has a new braided cable the
same braided cable that you'd find on a MacBook Air M2 feels better it looks better it's just a
nicer cable the other thing is the type C ports are no longer Thunderbolt 3 but have been upgraded
to Thunderbolt 4. but the most important thing the one that mattered to me the most is that the
HDMI port is now 2.1 I'm someone who uses a TV as a monitor the LG C2 OLED and that TV does not have
a display port and it doesn't matter if you use a type c adapter utilizing HDMI it will not work
there is no display port it won't get 120 hertz with the older MacBooks or the Mac Studio this new
Macbook with an HDMI 2.1 Port I can connect it via HDMI and get a full 120 hertz if you have another
display that has a higher refresh rate this laptop is going to support it as well the beauty about it
because there is three type c ports and an HDMI port you can hook up to four displays at the same
time so you'll have tons of screen real estate to utilize besides that on the right hand side you
have the HTML my port the other type c port and of course that full SD card slot you also get Wi-Fi
6E so faster Wi-Fi to utilize and Bluetooth has been improved from 5.0 to 5.3 but everything else
in terms of the way the keyboard feels to type on and the size of the touchpad is identical to the
previous MacBook Pro 16. the speakers are still top-notch to the best in the business I don't know
another laptop that gets sound quality of this good and the webcam is still 1080p but the notch
for some of you which I know is a major complaint is still there one thing I do love about this mini
LED display is how bright it can get it's the same as before I'm not seeing Improvement it's still
very color accurate and one of the best displays you can get on a laptop right now now performance
is where things get really interesting and I do a lot of synthetic benchmarks because it's
a good way of seeing year-over-year improvements generally but as I tell you guys in every video it
never tells the true story real world workloads matter way more and yes this has faster single
core clock speeds than any other M1 product on the market as it should the clock speed can hit higher
multi-core clock speeds are a totally different story we're talking about a 12 core CPU compared
to 20 on the Mac Studio and I know I compare it to the max steel a lot I don't have an M1 Max here in
the studio but I was just shocked how well this performs compared to a desktop computer in fact
if you're a video creator regardless of whether you're using Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut or
even DaVinci Resolve this M2 Max MacBook Pro 16 performed better in most situations like they were
just neck and neck all the time with the MacBook Pro 16 edging out the Mac Studio which is insane
to me on top of that if you're a 3D developer or a 3D artist rather this is also faster than the Mac
Studio and that's kind of weird like why is a 38 core GPU losing out to a 64 core GPU I obviously
don't have the perfect answer but based on my gut it means the M1 Ultra is probably not utilizing
those GP cores as well either this is a software issue or the cache and buffer on the GPU portion
of the chip is not big enough to saturate the GP cores efficiently and with the M2 Max they added
more cash a bigger buffer so that it's done properly but if you're a developer or someone
who's using nothing but the CPU the performance difference between the Mac Studio and M2 Max
is obviously a lot more noticeable now I know a lot of you are probably saying Matt then what's
the point of buying a Mac Studio well honestly probably not a lot right now for talking strictly
performance because this MacBook Pro 16 is performing just as well and you're saving like 2
000 Canadian dollars now if I was you I'd either just buy a MacBook Pro 16 with an M2 Max or
I'd wait for a Mac Studio that has the M2 Ultra because they're going to do a much better job of
saturating those GPU cores and giving you much better performance than what the M1 Ultra could
do before now battery life on this is still fantastic some of the best battery life I've
ever experienced in a laptop I don't have an exact number because there's no specific tests that are
very worthy to show you like Wi-Fi tests that these companies show are absolutely ridiculous
it's not real life but based on my personal use I had zero issues editing video browsing the net
with tons of tabs open watching content sending out emails and still having battery at the end of
the day I'm talking about a 12 hour use case so the battery life is impeccable I will say though
that the SSD speeds are faster on this MacBook Pro 16 than the Mac Studio not by a lot but it's
something to point out but the fan on this guy did go on a bit quicker than the previous MacBook Pro
16 I reviewed with M1 and it wasn't loud like I could hear it in fact I had a PC laptop beside
me and every time I would do a performance test on the Asus g15 the fan was just going crazy like
it was over 50 decibels it was ridiculous this guy over here was just quiet the entire time and
what really continues to impress me is the fact that when this thing is not connected to the wall
you get very similar performance I'm not going to say exact performance because the M2 Max has
an option to put it on a high power mode which like pushes out a tiny bit more performance if
you don't mind a tiny bit more heat and having the fan come on a bit earlier now granted if you're a
gamer you're not buying a Mac like this GPU inside of here is not even powerful as an RTX 3060 when
it comes to gaming specifically but if you're a video creator if you're someone who's doing music
or you're a developer this is like the best laptop to have I would also like to add if you currently
have a MacBook Pro 14 or 16 with M1 Max or M1 Pro do not get jealous there's nothing to get
jealous about the design is pretty much the same performance is better but it's not significantly
better where I feel like you need to go out and upgrade your computer is great feel great about
your purchase enjoy it for the next few years until you actually need an upgrade but I will say
though if you're looking at a Mac Studio I would take a hard look at the MacBook Pro 16 with M2
Max instead because you're going to save yourself a lot of money and get very similar performance
I hope this review was helpful if it was let me know in the comment section down below like the
video if you liked it subscribe if you haven't already and I'll see you guys in the next one