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.

There'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.

MagSafehasprovedsafertoo,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.

There'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

Every16-inchMacBookPromodeliseligibleforanexclusive,triple-digitdiscountatAppleAuthorizedResellerAdoramawiththiscost-savingactivationlinkandpromocodeAPINSIDER.AppleCareisalso$80offwiththesamecode.

Detailedstep-by-stepinstructionsoutlininghowtoactivatethecouponcanbefoundhere,withthebestMacBookProdealsatyourfingertips24/7inour16-inchMacBookProPriceGuide.