Hands-On With the New M2 Max MacBook Pro

Thursday January 26, 2023 11:14 am PST by Juli Clover

New 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the latest M2 Pro and ‌M2‌ Max chips are available in Apple retail stores and are already in the hands of customers, and we picked up one of the new ‌M2‌ Max machines to answer all of the questions MacRumors readers considering a purchase might have.

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Yesterday, we asked MacRumors fans on Twitter what they wanted to know about the new ‌M2‌ Pro and ‌M2‌ Max MacBook Pro machines, and we got all kinds of questions about whether it's worth the upgrade, how the SSD performs, what RAM choices might be best based on usage needs, how hot it runs, and more.

MacRumors videographer Dan answers all of those questions and more in the video up above, so make sure to watch it. Have another question we didn't cover? Let us know in the comments.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro 14 & 16"

Buyer's Guide: 14" & 16" MacBook Pro (Caution)

Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Top Rated Comments

Nugget

9 months ago

The M-series MacBook Pros are so thick it's almost comical. I remember the first time I saw one I couldn't believe I was actually looking at the latest Mac laptop. They're as thick as the MacBooks Apple made in the early 2000s.

I know! it's great, isn't it?

Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)

adamw

Thanks for this informative video, especially dealing with the SSD speed issue between the different models, so customers can buy the right one that they are happy with! Glad you were using the 1TB model, which do not exhibit the SSD slower issue that the 512GB MacBook Pro M2 Pro and 512GB MacBook Max M2 Max models seem to have.

This video may help explain the SSD speed issue for many MacBook Pro M2 Pro models. Very informative. He expresses the frustration that Pros and Creators feel with this nand SSD speed issue in a lighthearted video:

The MacBook M2 Pro SSD Downgrade/Issue? - I'm Frustrated:

Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Wando64

I can only assume you were not yet born in the early 2000.
The iBook G3 and later the G4 where 3.4cm thick.
The 2006 MBP was 2.54cm thick.
The current model is 1.55cm
Even the 2020 MBP is thicker at 1.56cm

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

IncreasinglyFrustrated

So tempted, but I need my Intel VM for things that have no ARM equivalent.

I ran into the same issue. Bought the M2 Max 12/38/96GB (just arrived this morning, woot!) and a 13900K/4090/256GB windows box (arrived 2 days ago). I added a monitor emulator to the win box, stuffed it in the closet, and now I can connect to it via Moonlight. Feels like the world's best version of VMWare.

Both machines together came out considerably less than what I paid for my iMac Pro 5 years ago.

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

TheYayAreaLiving ?️

Thank you for posting a great video. Honest and transparent review! ??

Sometimes it's not just all about the performance and benchmarks. Basically, these are M1S Macbook Pros. Really wish Apple had released the M2 MacBook Pro 14" - 16" in (Midnight).

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)