Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Is This the Perfect Laptop For Power Users?”.
Hello, I’m a Mac and I’m a PC, I’m doing fun stuff like movies music, podcast stuff, like that. I also do fun stuff like time sheets and spreadsheets and pie charts, okay, uh for well over 15 years. I’Ve believed in the Mac. I know I sound like the first scene of The Godfather, but hear me out, bought my first MacBook Pro in 2009, when I decided to do YouTube seriously upgraded in 2012, when the retin of display was just irresistible. That particular model was so good that it helped me edit nearly 1,800 videos over the next 5 years.
That said, I will admit that I did fully commit to switch after Microsoft reached out to get me to try a Dell that was double the price along with Premiere Pro, but that didn’t last, even with so much horsepower and all the granularity in the Adobe Creative Suite I showed them how I could edit the same video in half the time on a 5-year-old Mac with Final Cut Pro and listen. I’M not saying the Mac was perfect at the time. Actually, my later experiences with 35-in touch bar models only proved they were far from it. I’M also not saying competing Platforms in both hardware, and software are bad.
Apple has just catered to creators for far longer than its competitors and its vertical integration of creative software. For its Hardware, yes, the 16-inch model came to save face at the tail end, but my choice to stick to the Mac was mainly a practical one. I’Ve noticed Apple software was just easier to use which totally lured me as a beginner. But then, if we’re honest, neither platform was what I’d call free from compromise back in the day and especially when it came to laptops. The last thing I would have ever expected was for Apple silicon to be such a paradigm shift in the industry. Here I was in 2020 buying the cheapest MacBook Air and pro for review.
Thinking, they’d be a minor step up from their Intel predecessors and just being good computers for the average show. But boy was I wrong the moment I saw a $ 999 entry level and fanless machine completely smok my $ 5,000 Intel variant. I was hooked. These chips had finally cracked the code and giving you true desktop performance on a laptop that could then actually last all day on battery power. Yes, competitors have spent the last 4 years trying to catch up, we’re finally about to see some decent competition for Microsoft and Qualcomm. But a lot of their benchmarks have me thinking that even their best offerings are still years behind from what I’ve been using.
For the last couple of months, this is the M3 Max MacBook Pro what Apple calls as mind-blowing and head turning and what I’m going to call, probably the closest I’ve ever seen to the perfect laptop. I know there’s no such thing, but what, if I told you it’s closer than even I thought I’m hi Mar with pocket now and after using it for 6 months. Let me explain to you why, in our extended review ever since the dawn of the laptop, I think the priorities haven’t changed. Even Steve Jobs once said, the dream was to get desktop level performance in a portable notebook.
It was about performance per watt, because that was what was going to. Let us get these things into notebooks. We want thin light powerful, great battery life and Heck if they could also make all that on a sexy machine even better. I’M sure even the most hardcore Gamers would gladly shift to a lighter computer that wouldn’t require, while hugging, if they could and that’s pretty much what this computer is all about visually sure.
Unless you grab the newer space black, it’s hard to tell it from its predecessor and that’s actually a good thing. I really like this improved throwback to Apple’s classic design language with the flattered top and curved bottom. It strikes just the right balance for everything where you don’t just have more ports. These are distributed almost evenly on both sides.
Even the trackpad and palm rest are just the right amount of large so that it doesn’t dig into your arms. The keyboard well is centered as it should be and flanked by some well- machine speakers. I’M sure the 16-in model speaks to some of you you, but I’m a 14-in guy, as I feel it’s the sweet spot for frequent Travelers. Like me, I’ve spent the last 6 months on a plane every week and this machine is just perfect, regardless, if you’re sitting in first class or premium economy, cuz yeah any airline seat with less than 30 in of pitch won’t, let you prop anything comfortably on a Trade table, one of the things that I like most is that ever since this design was introduced, size no longer determines the specs.
If you’re like me and prefer a more compact device aside from obviously getting a bit of a smaller power pack, everything else can be configured the same. My review unit is actually pretty maxed out with an M3 Max that Sports, a 16 core CPU 30 core GPU and then is matched with an insane 96 gigs of RAM and 4 TB of storage, along with all the typical bits of connectivity and a fast charger. In the box that connects through the coolest color of a Max saave cable, yes, I know this pretty much amounts to about $ 5,000 in this computer.
But if my experience with the M1 Pro I bought two years ago is any indication most people are fine with the Bas models. Keep in mind, though, that Apple seems to want to separate the pro from the max a lot more this year, which is the reason I picked it with this M3 Max having some added perks for creators. Like me, for example, even if all variants of the MacBook Pro include a media engine, the max is the only chip in the portable lineup that offers double the video en code and press and code decode engines. It’S the reason why I made a full shift to h.265 10bit video as it’s of higher bit rate and quality, all while being more efficient in file size, but which wouldn’t be handled well by any Intel computer. The result is a machine that literally handles all my video edits without a stutter, even with all my Graphics, plugins, all while running all applications in the background and without the slightest ounce of heat, while on my lap, obviously coming from an M1 pro has only helped Me see this computer cut my export times in half or faster, which is pretty insane, but then there’s the the fact that this M3 Max also follows on the A7 Pro support for Hardware, accelerated rate tracing sure.
The Mac has never been famous for hardcore gaming. In the past, but that changes here I’ll admit I wasn’t much of a computer gamer before since I couldn’t have the best of both worlds. But I’ve spent the last couple of months traveling with my backbone, PS5 iPhone controller, given how compact it is and which works perfectly through USBC on the Mac. It’S just crazy to see this computer Blaze through resident, Evil 4 without a single Jitter and all while not closing any of the apps I’m running, which includes Final Cut Pro.
That said, yes, this is the one and only case where you will hear the fans which hey are there for sustained loads like these anyways, obviously, the main reason there’s a huge tax on the hardware is because this is not just an average display. Apple’S mini LED liquid, retina xdr is pushing way more pixels at 120 HZ than your standard gaming computer, it’s still class leading in color accuracy, and even if there are a ton of oleds that try to compete very few if any, are pushing the sustain 1,000. Nits of brightness, this computer provides that can go to 1600 nits at Peak this match, with probably the best six speaker system. I’Ve heard on a computer of this size and yeah. The experience is pretty wild found myself drifting more to the matte black variant as 6 months later. I think the experience has far exceeded my expectations in my typical fashion. I strap a moof, invisible ible, stand to prop it up and have used this computer to edit. Absolutely every single one of my videos, and that’s mostly while traveling battery life on this machine, is just as epic as before, giving me peace of mind, regardless of where I’m at.
It’S also helped me address most of the complaints that I had with my previous M1. Pro, I noticed all M1 variants really struggle with how they handled ssds, to the point where I stopped editing videos out of them. That’S no longer the case here, regardless. If I’m using Samsung t7, that’s half the speed of my new Samsung, T9 and sure each USBC Port is Thunderbolt, 4 capable, but I haven’t felt the need to pay more for those extra speeds.
I even noticed these new machines have zero bugs with external displays, which wasn’t really my experience with the old M1 Pro zero complaints there. Even if disclaimer, my testing has been mostly on a single external display, even if sure that’s the reason why you want to go Max as well as it supports more displays, but fine, I know you’re waiting for it. Yes, there’s no such thing as a perfect product and sure there are a few things I wish were better, but I don’t blame you if you think I’m nitpicking oddly. The first is that I don’t know why, but this computer is more prone to smudges on the keyboard than I’m used to my hands are more oily than average.
Let me just clarify, but then, for some reason I noticed my older M2 MacBook a has aged better. Could be this particular batch or then again, it might just be that ever since this M3 Max arrived, the M2 took a back seat. The second is that, yes, while this space black handles fingerprints, far better than the older midnight M2 MacBook Air, obviously my oily hands have truly challenged this new coating. I do feel the best finish, for most people is silver, even if yes it’ll be hard for you to show off that you have the new machine. If you don’t pick the new Halo color third, is that I do wish the notch on the display had more functionality. I think all of us are just waiting for face ID reach, the Mac cuz, otherwise its existence continues to be debatable.
Fourth, is the power adapter, mainly because I think this design is nearly what 10 years old if we could just get that MacBook Air, dual charger design approach, which doesn’t fall off Airline C Chargers and I’ll be a happy camper for sure? Last but not least, let me just clarify that while I’ll probably remain a 14-in user until my grave, this model isn’t the best at battery life when compared to its siblings. I still walked in knowing this, but as apps continue to get more complex and demanding yeah. I can tell video editing taxes this machine quite a bit more than the previous iteration, for any of you. True Road Warriors I’d: go for either the Bas M3 MacBook Pro or for the larger 16-in model, which both offer up to 22 hours versus 18 on the one that I picked to include. What can I say, I do believe that Apple has created. What for many, could be the perfect laptop this? This 14-in model is compact for travel, but then offers the insane battery life that no other computer with this amount of sustained power is able to provide.
It has all the graphics chops to be the only video editing machine you need, but then is probably the best. Looking gaming machine, I’ve ever seen most important, even if Microsoft made all this Fanfare about their required npu for their new co-pilot plus PCS that are coming soon. All I’m going to say is welcome to 2020 every Apple silicon chip has had a neural engine since day. One, which is the reason a lot of these AI Services work like butter here, whatever AI extras Apple, brings a WWDC in a couple of weeks.
This computer will be more than ready to handle sure competitors are touting more powerful benchmarks. Yet again, but it’s the reason I told you, the Dell story at the beginning apple is not new at this whole thing of competitors having more horsepower and yet being able to do better or the same with less 6 months later. I have to say I have no regrets most of you don’t need the specs I have. The reality is that even the bass M3 Max is more than enough to prove that this computer is way ahead of its time.
Let me know if you agree with my assessment in the comments down below and while you’re at it, follow us on social media and subscribe to our website for more videos like this one. You can also follow me on my personal handles to see me geek out over a laptop. Please give this video a thumbs up.
If you like what you saw, I’m hey, Mar thanks so much for watching we’ll see you on the next one. .