How the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max replaced our Mac Pro
AppleInsiderissupportedbyitsaudienceandmayearncommissionasanAmazonAssociateandaffiliatepartneronqualifyingpurchases.Theseaffiliatepartnershipsdonotinfluenceoureditorialcontent.
It'sbeenalmostsixmonthssinceApplelaunchedaredesignedpairofMacBookPros.I'vebeenusingthe16-inchMacBookProwithanM1Maxprocessorday-inandday-out.It'ssurprisedmeathowwellit'sadaptedtomyworkflow.
Asarefresher,the16-inchMacBookProcomeswithtwoprocessoroptions,asdoesthe14-inch.UserscanchoosebetweentheM1ProandtheM1MaxSoContheinside.Ichosethelatter.
Thesenewchipsboasta10-coreCPUwitha16-coreNeuralEngine,withmemorybandwidthincreasedto200GB/sontheM1Proand400GB/sontheM1Max.
EachalsoincorporatesanewMediaEngineaspartoftheSoCdesign,enablinghardware-acceleratedH.264,HEVC,ProRes,andProResRAWdecodingandencoding.OntheM1Max,theMediaEnginehasbeenimprovedfurthertoincludetwovideoencodeenginesandtwoProResencodeanddecodeengines,makingitevenbetterforvideoproduction.
Alloftheseimprovementsareisbeforethebuilt-inGPUpoweristakenintoaccount.TheM1Proisavailablewiththe16-coreGPUoptiononly,buttheM1Maxstartswitha24-coreGPUandrisestoa32-coreoption—whichiswhatI'vebeenusinghere.
ThenewchipsalsobringinextramemoryoptionsbeyondwhattheM1supports.Insteadofcappingat16GB,theM1ProstartsatthatlevelofUnifiedMemory,withanoptionfor32GB.
OntheM1Max,yourstartingpointisthatsame32GBcap,butyoucangoupto64GBifyouwant.TheGPUalsousestheUnifiedRAM,makingsensetogoall-outonmemorywhenconfiguringitatpurchase.
Agesago,MacBookProusedtobemygo-tomachine.
Asmyworkflowevolved,IstartedleaningmoreintoadesktopsolutionwithaniPadProforon-the-gowork.IbeganusingthemostrecentMacProfordailywork,withaniPadProforspecifictasksandon-the-gowork.IlovedtheMacProforitsmodularity,andIoutfitteditwithplentyofinternalstorageoptions,moreRAM,andanewPCI-EGPUastimeworeon.
TheMacProwasgreat.TheiPadProisstillaninvaluablepieceoftech,butIgottiredofwaitingforAppletobolsteriPadOSforwhatIneeded.
ForwhatI'dwanttouseitfor,theiPad'soperatingsystemisstillhamperedbypoorexternalmonitorsupportandnosupportforApple'sproapplications,suchasFinalCutPro.Sowebitthebulletandwentall-inonthe16-inchMacBookPro.
Mydailyworkbouncesbetweencopiousphotoediting,videoproduction,andplentyofwriting.The16-inchMacBookProhasprovenadeptatallofthesefunctionsinoneproduct.
So,Iturnedtothe16-inchMacProwiththeM1Maxfulltime.
Truetoform
Thelate2021refreshwasthefirstMacBookProinfiveyearstoseeanyformofaredesign.Thesquared-offlookreturnstothe2008-eraMacBookProgeneraldesignethos,withamodernspin.
Itstacksbetterwithotherdevices—butneitherwenorApplerecommendthat.
HDMIandSDcardreaderThere'snoquestionthatthereturnofportshasbeenbeneficial.WelovethearraythatApplehaschosenfromHDMItothecardreadertoplentyofUSB-C.ApplecouldhavedonewithonemoreThunderboltportontherightside,butoverallit'sasolidselectionforyouraverageuser.
TheHDMIportandSDcardreaderareunderpowered,andinmyworkflow,Ihaven'tusedthemsinceIpickedupthemachine.ApplechoseanHDMI2.0port,andtheSDcardreaderfallsjustshortofthepromisedUHS-IImaximumtransferspeed.
I'dbehappyiftheydisappearedandwerereplacedwithanotherThunderboltport,butIknowwhyAppleaddedthem.
Indailyuse,IdouseaThunderbolt4dock,butprimarilysoIdon'thavetoplugandunplugmultipleaccessorieseachtimeImovemyMac.Likewekeepdrivinghome,thisisApple's"onecable"idea,witheverythingconnectedtothemachinewithonecablethatit'sbeentryingoffandonforthreedecades.
Andaftermonthsofadjustments,I'mstillconflictedabouttheTouchBar.EverytimeIhavetoentershippinginformationontoasiteandIhavetomovefromthekeyboardtothemouseandchooseindividualpartsofouraddress,I'mremindedhowmucheasierthetouchbarwas.
ThesamegoesforopeningarecentfileinAffinityPhotoorjumpingtoaspecificspotonthetimelineinsideofFinalCutPro.Itsexistencewasdivisive,butitwasashametoseeitgoforthosethatusedit—includingme.
Batteryandcharging
WiththelatestMacBookPros,Applegaveusersoptions.TheycanbechargedwithUSB-Castheyhaveforyears,ortheycanchargeviaMagSafe.Apple'sbroughtMagSafeback,anditcannowfastchargewithadequatepower.
Onmy16-inchMacBookPro,the140WGaNpowerbrickcanprovide50percentpowerinonly30minutes.ThishasprovedtobeexceptionallyusefulandhasmeusingmyMacawayfrompowermoreoften.Icanquicklychargeup,thengoandworkwhereIplease.
Thisvariesamongstourstaff.MikeWuertheledoesn'tuseitandhasnointentionofdoingso.
Astheweatheraroundherekeepsimproving,I'mexcitedtogetbackoutsidetowriteandeditinthesun.
Thebatterylifeisexcellent,lastinghoursbetweencharges.DependingonhowmuchvideoeditingI'mdoing,Icanmakeitthroughalmostanentiredayofworkwithoutcharging.
MagSafeonthe16-inchMacBookProMagSafehasprovedsafertoo,dependingontheangle.SincetheMagSafeconnectorissolong,itrequiresquiteabitofforcetodislodgewhenpulledsidetoside.Ifpulleddown,itcomesfreemuchmorequickly.
WhileI'veenjoyedthereturnofMagSafe,itdoesmeanI'mpackinganextracharger.IcouldstilluseUSB-CasIdoonmyiPad,butIwanttheextraspeedMagSafeoffers.Thegoodnewsisthatthereareoptions,anduserscanchooseforthemselves.
Whatdowewantnext
Usingthecurrent-generation16-inchMacBookProforthelastseveralmonthshasgivenmeperspectiveonhowI'dliketocontinuetoseeAppleiterate.Somenext-genfeaturesareagiven.It'sundeniablewe'llseenewM2ProandM2Maxchips—orothervariations—thatwillboosttheperformancefurther.Otherchangesaren'tsoconcrete.
ItwouldbegreatforAppletofinallyadoptWi-Fi6E.Thisemergingstandardunlocksanadditionalfrequencyband.Wi-Fi6Erouterswillbeabletorunonthe6GHzspectrum,whichcanbehelpfulincitiesorapartmentbuildingswherethespectrumiscrowded.
ThismaybeoneofthebiggestupdatestoWi-Fiinsometime.YetApplehasn'tdeployedit,norarethereparticularlycost-effectivewirelessaccesspoints.AportableMacwouldbewell-servedwiththisnewtechnologyforfuture-proofing.
I'dalsolove,thoughIdon'texpect,Appletodropthepricesforupgradingstorageandmemory.Applecharges$400togofrom16GBto32GBofunifiedmemoryandeven$200togofrom512GBto1TBofinternalstorage.Apple'scustomizedoptionswereoftenexpensive,butthey'repushingtheboundaryofacceptable.
Thecurrent16-inchMacBookProThere'sbeentalkofAppleaddingFaceIDtofutureMacBookPros,andIcouldtakeorleaveit.TouchIDisfine,andFaceIDwouldbeaneasieroptionforauthentication,butIusemyMacinclamshellmodewithanexternaldisplay,makingtheadditionofFaceIDmoot.
EveryMac,everyproject,everypieceofhardwareeverbuiltbyanymanufacturerisanexerciseincompromises.Withthe202116-inchMacBookProandtheM1Maxontheinside,thatlistisincrediblyshort.Thismachineisfast,sleek,powerful,fullofports,andpacksagreatbattery.
ThebiggestchangeI'vehadtogetusedtoisrelyingonexternalstorage,ratherthaninternal—butthat'snotanewissueformobile-centricMacusers.AslongasI'mcognizantofthearchitecturaldifferencesandfundamentaltrade-offsbetweendesktopandmobileMacs,theMacBookProhasmeteverychallengeI'vethrownatit.
Aftermonthsofuse,IthinkApplehascreatedanear-perfectmobileMac.ButthatMacStudioiscallingme.
Saveupto$300onApple's16-inchMacBookPro
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