It's been 4 months since Apple released the brand new M2 MacBook Pros in the 14 and 16”
versions and in that time I have made this M2 Max version my primary device for everything
including my day job, YouTube, personal and whatever else I need a computer for. I really
like this computer as my daily driver, but there are a couple things I wish
were better so let me tell you how I feel about this laptop after 4 months of use.
This right here is the 14” MacBook Pro with the base M2 Max, or Baby Max! Yes,
Baby Max is a thing, I said it in previous videos, so it is a thing!. This silicon has 12 cpu cores,
32 gpu cores, 32gb of memory and I did go ahead and upgrade the storage to 2 TB.
The way I use this laptop and the way I want to review it is from
the perspective of a desktop-laptop. Yes, I use this laptop primarily as a
desktop machine and the term comes from Marco on the accidental tech podcast,
which you should check out. But this machine basically lives on this desk connected to my
CalDigit dock and studio display 90 percent of the time; however, When I travel I like
to take this with me because I like the portable power just in case I need it, which I rarely do.
The 14” size of this macbook pro fits just perfectly below the studio display allowing
me to have 2 displays right in front without having to look left or right. When I used the
16” macbook pro the studio display had to be a bit higher and felt less ergonomic.
I will talk more about the display in a minute, along with performance, design,
and some things I do not like but first I want to thank UPDF for sponsoring this video.
UPDF is a One-stop solution for all your PDF needs that allows you to create and edit any
PDF using Mac, Windows, and mobile devices, all with a single license. You can set UPDF
as your default PDF reader for a fast and fluid reading experience in your viewing preference.
Annotating documents is easy with UPDF. You can quickly highlight
areas that need work and leave a comment for your co-workers with
specific feedback….or you can even add a sticker to really emphasize your point!
With UPDF you can quickly complete fillable documents and create your
own signature using the mouse, trackpad, or a typed version, and add that to the page.
There are so many other features including exporting to multiple formats, reducing PDF sizes,
adding OCR and More. You can try out all of these features for free And when you
are ready to unlock everything, you can save 54% on UPDF and get 10GB of cloud storage by
using the link in the description below, and my thanks to UPDF for sponsoring this video.
When it comes to the design, there is nothing I would change about this m2 max macbook pro’s
appearance. It's the refined classic aluminum laptop that we got in 2021 with the m1 versions.
As a pro machine it doesn't feel too bulky or heavy even when using away from a desk.
On the inside, the 14.2” display takes over with the tiny bezels
and I like the 2-tone look with the black keyboard and silver chassis.
But here is the first thing I dislike about this macbook…..The keyboard material.
I love how the magic keyboard feels and responds. It has just the right amount of travel,
it's not too loud, and it is the same across all of the apple keyboards, from laptops to
ipad magic keyboard to the desktop version. I can switch between devices and not miss a beat.
BUT……The material is junk and after just a few days you start to see wear
on the keyboard that looks like shiny spots. I made a whole video about this
and I have tried using stickers and keyboard covers to prevent the shiny
spots from appearing but they really take away from the feel of the keyboard.
The spots continue to get worse over time, especially on the keys you use the most and
the right side of the space bar, for me. I understand that wear can happen over
time but it literally starts within days on Macbooks. It takes this very expensive laptop
and makes it look cheap and I wish that Apple would change something to help prevent this.
When it comes to the ports on the Macbook Pro, I generally only use 2 of them. I connect the
caldigit ts4 to a thunderbolt port which has SD card readers, external drives,
ethernet, my studio display, and other usb dongles attached. This
also charges my macbook at 98 watts so I do not ever use magsafe in the machook.
Even when I am away from my desk or traveling, I don't use magsafe because I just do not want
to carry around another cord. I was excited when magsafe returned to the mac but quickly
found that it was redundant for me and getting 98 watts through usb-c was just fine for me.
The other port I use a lot is the SD card reader……Yes, I said I use the SD
card reader on the dock, and I actually use both. I like to import from multiple cards at
the same time and sometimes I just use the one on the macbook. ……..I’m happy to have
the reader built in but its actually slower than external readers that I have and I hate
the feel of putting the card in the macbook. It just feels rough and sometimes it just doesn't
connect so I need to remove and re-insert the card multiple times to get the mac to read it.
I don’t use the HDMI port often but it can do up to 244hz 4k if that is something you need.
OK, the display……This
14.2” liquid retina xdr display is just mind blowing. It is the best display that apple makes,
save for the 16” version. The display has amazing colors and brightness,
the pro-motion makes scrolling webpages incredibly smooth and videos play at the propper framerates.
And when watching HDR content, the video almost literally pops out of the display with up to 1600
nits of peak brightness and it makes everything else on the display just look dingy and bland.
And despite a small amount of blooming from the 2000+ dimming zones, it’s still
the best Mac display I have used, but I am hoping for a move to OLED at some point.
And yes, there is the notch but thats OK because it really does just fade away,
just like the notch did on the iphone X many years ago. Sure,
it would be nice not to have a notch but it no longer bothers me.
Camera video
Now I want to touch on performance. Like I said, this is the m2 max version with 12 cpu cores,
30 gpu cores, 32 gb of memory and a 2 tb ssd. And this comes to a mind boggling $3500 which,
I will admit, is overkill for what I need…….But, I like it.
This model is about 10-25% faster than the comparable M1 max model
and that directly relates to the extra cpu and gpu cores in the m2 max. And
comparing it to the other m2 chips it is a pretty linear upgrade in both gpu and cpu.
And as far as my use, this thing is buttery smooth. Most of my work consists of web browsing,
email, remote server administration, teams messaging, video calls….and of course video
editing and some like photo editing with pixelmator pro. I hit most of those programs
really hard and the computer never chokes up or feels laggy, except when I was using premiere Pro.
I edited a few videos in premiere pro and that program did not like my multicam 4k
sony video files no matter what I did or how I converted them. The timeline would stutter and
give choppy playback, and I would see the beach ball a few times per editing. Not only that,
premiere pro would make the fans kick in when rendering and the computer got pretty warm.
Actually, that is a good point, this computer does get warm,
I would even say luke warm. I expected the m2 Max to get warmer than the M2 Pro because
it was the same with the M1 versions but I think its more noticeable with this model.
In regular use with my regular, non-video editing apps running,
The keyboard can get to around the high 20s or mid 30s º celsius. When doing more
intensive tasks like exporting video it can get to the mid 40s or slightly higher. This
is very noticeable and something that does grab my attention now and then.
If I were using this computer more as a laptop,
away from my desk I would probably have a bigger problem with that, but I don't
think it is a deal breaker if you need, or want, this kind of power in this form factor.
And speaking of form factor, this is a laptop and it has a battery. I can get through a full
day of my regular job and personal computing without issue. If I undock at 8am and go work
from the couch or kitchen table I can get 8 or 9 hours of work done and still have 40% of the
battery left over, or depending on the days, I might get a day and a half off one charge.
That's not quite as good as the 13 or 16” macbook pros, but is plenty for regular work. I dont have
any issue with the battery in this laptop but you can expect to get less with heavier workloads.
So, should you get this 14” m2 Max macbook pro? Yes……or no……or….i dont know……
This is a fantastic computer in just about every way. It has the right features for
what I need to get my work done with a design that I simply love. The performance of the m2
max is above what I actually need but I want that extra headroom for whatever comes my way.
For anyone who is not using professional apps for video, photo or audio production,
or big data research, this is going to be overkill and you may want to look at the macbook air or
even the m2 pro version of this. And for anyone considering upgrading from an M1 Pro or Max,
I would say skip it unless you need a computer with more ram or ssd than the one you got.
I do wish apple would use a better keyboard material, that is my number one issues
with macbooks, also the m2 max runs a little hot and the cameras kinda suck/
Anyway, do you need the power of the m2 max or will something else work just fine
for you? Let me know in the comments below. Check out this video if you want to see me
comparing the M2 air to the M2 Pro. Hit the thumbs up button of you liked it,
hit subscribe if you want and I'll see you next time.