Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 Review - M2 Max challenges GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

Just like in our review of the new MacBook Pro 14 2023, we can keep it very short here, because the new MacBook Pro 16 still uses the same chassis as before. The base unit still appears to be very bulky due to its design, but the overall proportions are balanced on the 16-inch model. There is nothing to complain about in terms of build quality or stability. The colors are still silver or space grey and the surfaces are not very prone to fingerprints or dirt.

The MBP 16 might look pretty bulky at first, but it is actually the thinnest device in our comparison group at 16.8 mm. The weight of ~2.2 kg is also in line, only the Schenker Vision 16 Pro is noticeably lighter at 1.7 kg, while the mobile workstation Dell Precision 7670 is much heavier at 2.8 kg. The 140W power adapter tips the scale at 345 grams including the MagSafe cable.

The port layout did not change and you still get the MagSafe connector for charging as well as three USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, which can also be used to charge the device. Apple upgraded the HDMI port and it now supports the HDMI 2.1 standard. In addition to the integrated panel, models with the M2 Max can drive up to four (3x 6K@60Hz via Thunderbolt und 1x 4K@144 Hz via HDMI) or three external displays, respectively (2x 6K@60 Hz via Thunderbolt und 1x 8K@60 Hz bzw. 4K@240 Hz via HDMI).

One drawback of the previous MacBook Pro models was the limitation to 80 MHz connections for Wi-Fi 6 networks, so the maximum transfer rates were much lower compared to some Windows laptops. Apple fixed this issue with the 2023 models and the Broadcom Wi-Fi module now supports the Wi-Fi 6E standard. We had no problems to use our 6 GHz Wi-Fi network (Asus reference router) and both the transfer rates as well as the signal strength were excellent.

Apple still uses the same 1080p sensor from the previous model, but the image processing of the new M2 chips was improved, so the picture quality can be better in some scenarios. Considering the large display notch, however, we are a bit disappointed that the camera still does not support Face-ID or Center Stage. Users of iPhones can at least use their smartphones as webcams and there is even a top view, so you can use the area in front of the laptop (great for hands-on videos or product presentations).

Apple still ships the 2023 MacBook Pro 16 with a one-year warranty. It is possible to extend this period via Apple Care+, either for three years for 399 Euros or 149 Euros per year (no time limit), which means the costs are even higher compared to the MBP 14 (299 or 109 Euros, respectively).

The choice of SoCs is pretty simple in terms of CPU performance, because all three models of the MacBook Pro 16 will be identical. In theory, the performance cores of the M2 Max can reach a higher single-core Turbo of 3.69 GHz instead of 3.5 GHz for the M2 Pro (multi-core turbo 3.264 GHz for both SoCs), but we never saw more than 3.4 GHz during our benchmarks and we did not see any performance differences between our test models. The choice of the SoC is therefore based on demands in terms of GPU performance and/or RAM (64 and 96 GB are only available with the M2 Max).

MacBook Pro models with the M2 Max SoCs once again offer an additional High Performance mode, but it does not increase the performance and only increases the fan speed instead. However, the temperatures are not critical by any means, so we performed all the following benchmarks and measurements with the default Automatic mode. The mode Low Charge limits the SoC performance to 22 Watts, but the fans will stay turned off.

We already mentioned that the CPU performance of the new M2 Max does not differ from the M2 Pro we already reviewed in the smaller MacBook Pro 14. However, we can observe a slightly higher power consumption of 35-36 Watts (~34W for the M2 Pro). Apple managed to improve the performance both in emulated tests like Cinebench R15 as well as native benchmarks like Cinebench R23. We see an improvement of 6 % in R23 single and 20 % in the multi test.

The smaller MBP 14 performed well compared to the AMD and Intel competitors with comparatively low TDP values, but the 16-inch rivals generally offer more CPU performance thanks to higher power limits. Geekbench is the exception and the M2 Max is actually faster than the rivals in this benchmark.

Our Cinebench R15 multi loop is emulated, but the test still shows that the performance is completely stable when you stress all cores. The biggest advantage over Windows rivals is that the CPU performance is not reduced on battery power (until the battery level drops to 3 %). More CPU benchmarks are listed in our tech section.

The new MacBook Pro 16 2023 with the M2 Max is once again an extremely responsive laptop, and the good performance is also shown by the benchmarks. Emulated apps usually run without any problems, either, even though many apps (including full Adobe suite, DaVinci Resolve, Microsoft Office) are available as native apps by now, and they are really fast. Subjectively, Photoshop even runs better on the MBP compared to the current MSI Titan GT77 with the Core i9-13950HX and the GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop, pretty the much the best mobile hardware you can currently get. The PugetBench results below are no representative for the actual performance since they only work with the emulated Intel versions of the apps, but we still include the results for comparison purposes.

Apple changed the core configuration for the processor as well as the GPUs and increased the number of cores. The M2 Max SoCs are available with 30 or 38 GPU cores clocked at up to 1.4 GHz. We can see an improvement of 24-28 % over the old  M1 Max with 32 GPU cores in most benchmarks, but the power consumption also increased from 44 up to 64 Watts. However, we only recorded this GPU consumption in the Novabench GPU tests, all other benchmarks topped out at 54W and we usually saw between 46-48W in most tests, so the overall efficiency is better than before. But it also shows that it is not easy to utilize the full potential of the GPU.

Native benchmarks like 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Unlimited show that the M2 Max GPU can even compete with RTX 3080 (Lenovo Legion 7 16) or RTX 3080 Ti laptops (Alienware x15), while the Geekbench performance is roughly on par with the RTX 3060.

The graphics performance is stable under sustained workloads and even on battery power, which is definitely an advantage over Windows laptops with discrete GPUs.

The gaming performance of the new M2 Max with 38 GPU cores is very good, but the biggest limitation is still the small number of native titles for Apple’s own M1/M2 silicon and the limited compatibility with other titles that are emulated via Rosetta 2 or run via additional applications like CrossWare, which allows you play some Windows games.

Resident Evil Village is certainly the best example for a native Apple silicon title right now, which runs completely smooth in 1080p and maximum details (100-140 fps) and the performance is roughly comparable to a GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile. Apple also advertises an optimized version of No man’s Sky for quite a while, but there is still no release date.

Popular Windows titles like Grand Theft Auto or The Witcher 3 also runs smoothly with high details, but you have to be careful with some settings. For example, we were not able to use our Ultra preset for GTA V and the same applies for Witcher 3, because the game crashes when Nvidia HairWorks is active. HBAO also creates a problem where areas are too dark, so you can only use SSAO. Once you have these two settings turned off, the game runs extremely well at 70-80 fps and the performance is very stable. We cannot record the fps numbers and the number of titles with integrated benchmarks is limited, so we only have a small number of results.

Compared to the M1 Max with 32 GPU cores, the new M2 Max is around 25 % faster in emulated titles. You can play games like GTA V and Witcher 3, but you clearly notice that they are not optimized. They run very well (especially Witcher 3), but GeForce GPUs are just superior.

A look at the power consumption shows that the M2 Max is very efficient, because the CPU only consumes around 6W and the GPU between 19-24W in Witcher 3. This means the MacBook Pro 16 is 65-79% more efficient than the two comparison devices Schenker Vision 16 Pro and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G5. (Note: Due to the slightly changed settings, the results are not perfectly comparable and the advantage of the MBP would be a bit smaller at identical settings, but it still gives us a good idea of the efficiency).