For many years now, my autumn has meant testing new hardware, which in the course of it Apple regularly presents. However, while in previous years iPhones were primarily on my desk, Apple Watch, iPads or AirPods, fate had a different plan this year and gave me a brand new one for the test MacBook Pro and not just any one. I got my hands on one of the kings of Apple laptops in the form of a 14" MacBookFor M3 Max with 128GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD storage, the price of which is attacking Apple Online Store for an unbelievable 207 thousand crowns. So we're talking about the best you can get within 14" MacBookú For configure and what will be the best thing for you in the coming months Apple will offer. I was all the more curious about the test, and since I have already – dare I say it – successfully completed it, there is nothing left but to introduce you to my impressions of the machine.
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Design is fun, but this is already the third year
As I already wrote in my unboxing and first impressions of this machine, I specifically got my hands on the space black one. variathe one that Apple in the original it refers to as Space Black. It honestly caught my attention at first glance, and the longer I have this machine on my desk, the more I enjoy it. To my taste, the machine could have been even darker, but compared to all the Macs I have had so far Apple released, is Space Black MacBook Pro It is by far the darkest and, in my opinion, it looks the most professional. Please don't take this to mean that I have to "categorize" the devices based on color, but the Pro series Apple I am always pleased when the shade of a product can highlight its uniqueness, which it certainly succeeded in doing here. Space Black is undoubtedly an exceptional color, both because of its exclusivity, but also because of how much it can change depending on the light falling on its surface. This is exactly what Mac can turn into silver, but also into almost 100% black, which is miniAt least it looks pretty impressive.
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But space black is exceptional varianot necessarily for its surface treatment. Apple he specifically writes the following about him in his press release: "In addition, thanks to a breakthrough chemical process, the notebooks are covered with an anodized layer, so that fingerprints do not stick to them as much." and I have to agree with his words. Fingerprints and other dirt really stick to the body of the Mac much less than they do to other MacBooks, which is quite important news for me personally. I hate a worn-out MacBook, which is why I am now loyal to the silver MacBooku Air, on which these troubles are not so visible. However, I still vividly remember the times when I worked on 16" MacBook Pro (at that time still with an Intel processor) and how it destroyed me inside to see its lid constantly "smudged" with fingerprints, which were caught on it perhaps just by looking at it. And although I cleaned the Mac as best I could at the time, after a few days I simply gave up because I understood that I would probably get it dirty even with rubber gloves in a vacuum. But here, I don't notice anything like that even after a good two weeks of testing. Sure, some little things on the body MacBookThey will remain, but they are not extremes. I am not even afraid to say that fingerprints are less visible on this machine than on my work computer. MacBooku Air even though the body of the Pro model is significantly darker and therefore everything should be visible much better on it. Apple So in this regard, he did an almost incredible job for me and I pray that he will deploy the same technology next year. MacBooků Air and I can return to the dark computer with a peaceful heart.
In short, you will love the display
As I wrote above, MacBook arrived for my test in a configuration that would be suitable for a NASA or SpaceX engineer, even though I myself am just a kid playing in the sandbox with a plastic rocket when it comes to space terminology. In other words, I just want to say that in terms of performance, this machine is simply "shot" (but more on that later) and from my position it would therefore be stupid to say that this machine won me over precisely because of this. However, what will definitely not sound stupid is that this MacBook absolutely won over with its phenomenal display, for which even after a good two weeks I am unable to find words to describe its qualities. And it is clear in a way. The combination of excellent resolution, mini LED backlight, but mainly brightness up to 1600 nits in HDR or 600 nits in SDR and ProMotion with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, it simply entertains me as a "kanc"a "shelter's rat" who makes a living by writing text, basic image editing, watching photos and videos, creating simple graphics, and so on.
What the Mac display can display is simply imagination and with my MacBookem Air It is absolutely impossible to compare, which is of course logical. The color rendering is great, black also looks very good and the overall sharpness of the displayed objects also withstands the highest parameters. But what you will probably feel most is precisely ProMotion. But here I must add in one breath that to make you realize how low a 60Hz refresh rate is MacBooků Air, you really need to try a computer with a 120Hz refresh rate or even higher. Until then, you will claim that 60Hz is enough for you, which is true to a certain extent. It is enough, but when you look at 120Hz MacBookYou realize that you don't really want it to be enough. It's basically the same song we've known from iPhones for the last three years. Until I got my hands on it a few years ago. iPhone 13 Pro with support ProMotion, I didn't realize how much the user experience of using a phone could be improved by a higher refresh rate. However, once I got my hands on it, I got so used to the smoother display of moving content (i.e. scrolling and the like) that when I get my hands on it now iPhone without ProMotion, I have to "switch my mind" to it, because it almost makes me feel like it's broken. That I also feel this way about my girlfriend's iPhone 15, released this year, which she still ProMotion is missing, while I have it in my hand iPhone 15 Pro as the generation of the iPhone Pro series with ProMotion is then a slightly different discussion, from which Apple did not turn out so positively. Let us therefore leave that aside and return briefly to MacBooku.
I really don't want to come across as a notorious braggart here, but I simply can't help but praise the display. As a long-time user MacBooku Air I have to say that the display is actually the only, but absolutely essential, thing that makes me think about whether I will be happy in the future and instead of AirI won't go for the Pro model again. The extra charge is significant even for the basic model, but the difference between the displays MacBooků Air and Pro is so distinctive that it simply cannot be overlooked and ignored when choosing a Mac.
It's all about performance
M3 Max with 16 CPU cores, 40 GPU cores, a 16-core Neural Engine and 128GB of RAM. This is how the uncompromising heart beats in the bowels of this machine, from which it is probably clear to everyone that you would hardly find a more powerful laptop in the world. On the one hand, this is fascinating, but on the other hand, it put me in an extremely difficult task in the form of trying to at least somehow test this performance.
Although I am absolutely not the target of a similarly powerful configuration, I tried to come up with a test that would at least show a little of what is in this Mac. My testing consisted specifically of a CPU benchmark via Geekbench 6, then exporting video in DaVinci Resolve and so on.onecv gpt4all operation. And I must say that in all cases Mac scored.
As for Geekbench 6, it achieved this MacBook Pro specifically 3225 points on a single core and 21222 points on multiple cores, which is a truly impressive score. After all MacBooky Pro with M2 Max introduced this spring, they reached 2600 points on a single core, and on multiple cores they managed to get maxat least less than 15000 points. So I'm not afraid to talk about a jump in growth here. It's almost unbelievable that M3 Max partially outperforms in terms of CPU in Geekbench 6 as well M2 Ultra, so doneby far the most powerful chip ever Apple SiliconIt can only manage around 2650 points on a single core, while on multiple cores it can reach around 21000 points (i.e. at the M3 level). Max). In other words, from a CPU perspective, MacBook Pro (i.e. a laptop!) can compete with workstations in the form of Macs Studio or Mac Pro. I don't know about you, but I personally find this fact almost mind-boggling. Right now Mac Pro for me it wasoneA long time ago, brutal performance in a non-portable body, and now I have a laptop in front of me that I can easily fit into a small bag and which is comparable to the Mac Pro in terms of CPU.
The second part of the test revolved around the aforementioned DaVinci Resolve and exporting a video with slight color adjustments. Specifically, a 1-minute video was exported from iPhone 15 Pro shot in ProRes 4K at 24fps, and exported to 4K 24fps h265. The machine took just 9 seconds to export, and the Mac didn't lag at all while working with the video, was able to display my adjustments in real time, and overall ran absolutely fantastic. Just for fun, I ran the same test simultaneously on MacBooku Air M1, which took "only" twice as long to export, but it is also worth adding that when working with video, the software was already noticeably slowing down, and adding multicam or effects was already a problem. Air de facto instant death, while the Pro "drove" on its scenic ride happily. And that's what this computer is all about. Although only a few people will use its performance to the fullest (meaning the processor is fully loaded with software), its incredible amount is a guarantee that the machine will run reliably even in situations where others simply can't or won't. miniare almost starting to catch their breath. In short, from the M3 Max a sense of security that you feel and appreciate.
In addition to the iPhone video, I also played around with video shot with RED cameras in DaVinci Resolve, which is available for free on the RED website. Specifically, it was an 8K video at 96fps, although unfortunately the free version of DaVinci Resolve only supports 4K 60fps. But even this resolution beautifully showed how powerful the M3 is. Max v MacBookon the Pro. I could play with the video on it as much as I wanted without the slightest lag on the Mac and what's more, the fans didn't even spin up. I'm writing here that the same video running on MacBooku Air The M1 practically disabled it due to brutal jams, so it's probably unnecessary.
The last CPU test consisted of gpt4all, which is an option to run chatgpt locally. In a very simplified way, the functionality of this "thing" can be described as using a dataset that you choose based on the focus of what you want to do, from which all calculations for generating chatu performs locally. The speed I encountered here really took my breath away. While MacBook AIr M1 can handle about 12 to 13 tokens per second, MacBook Pro M3 Max was reaching 55 to 60 tokens. So we are talking about five times faster speed, which you will soon notice.
I also quickly performed a disk test, specifically via the Black app.magic Disk Speed Test. You can view the test results in screenshotbelow. It probably won't come as a surprise that they are indeed impressive.
As I have written several times above, I am fully aware that I am not the target group of this machine and it is therefore clear to me that I very likely only failed in the test. miniHowever, even from the little that the machine showed me, I understand how much it is "shot" in terms of performance. There is simply enough of it that it will provide you with certainty in the form of smoothness, reliability of software and at the same time perfect speed of everything you can think of. It is the best thing that Apple introduced in laptops so far, and it's damn good to know. There is simply no more.
Nothing else has changed (on paper) and in fact there was no need!
Autumn generation MacBookThe Pro is undoubtedly primarily about performance thanks to the M3 chips, M3 Pro and M3 Max, with the second upgrade being a monitor and the third being a new color varianta, if we put it on the same level as the first two things mentioned. When I am at the very end shortly after 1 am, when Apple introducing these machines, sitting in the dark in his office in front of a glowing Mac, trying to write an article about the introduction for our magazine, my head was racing, wondering if there was any Applu It is only possible to imagine this way minicomputer. This thought then remained in my head for a few days after the show and actually stuck with me until this MacBook arrived for testing. And I dare say that then I understood it all. Apple you are so seemingly slightly updated MacBook Pro can allow himself to introduce it for a very simple reason – he only refined what made sense to improve at that moment. The rest of the machine is at such a high level that there is simply not much to invent here.
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I'm definitely not one of those people Apple praises it for everything, which is also confirmed by many critical articles in our magazine from my "pen". But there is simply nothing to criticize here, or more precisely, with my configuration. For example, the speaker system consisting of six speakers with woofers in an anti-resonance arrangement and supporting wide stereo sound sounds like no other you can find in a laptop, in my opinion. The sound of the machine is, in a word, immersive and will literally force you to throw away your headphones and consume it without shame, quite loudly, ideally somewhere in a quiet environment that will let its portability, density and naturalness stand out. And I write this as a person whose jaw dropped from the speakers 16" a few years ago MacBookú Pro with Intel, which were also absolutely unreal for their time and when I played, for example, Nothing Else on them Matters by Metallica, I had goosebumps. When I play the same song now on MacBookfor Pro M3 (Max), the experience is literally electrifying. Simply fantastic!
And in the same spirit, although of course with much less enthusiasm, I could actually go on. For example, this kind of port equipment is also absolutely ideal for me, and I don't think that it would be necessary to expand or shorten it in any way. Just for fun, when Apple MacBooky Pro with old-new ports showed in 2021, I didn't really understand why they didn't also use USB-A. However, when I think back to what I've actually gotten my hands on with USB-A since then and it would make sense to connect it to a Mac, I honestly don't know. All the external drives that I had the opportunity to test for reviews always had this because maxspeed simulation with the USB-C interface, as well as NAS stations, hubs, and so on. And even USB-A flash drives haven't been coming to me for a long time, as they have been replaced by USB-C ones, but much more so internet storage and cloude-services that have largely eradicated physical media.
I'm not offended by the battery life either. Apple On its website, it specifically mentions 12 hours of wireless web browsing, which is, just for fun, 3 hours less than it should be able to handle. MacBook Air M2 and M1. But the result is that when I MacBook Air I swapped it for the Pro in the last few days and worked on it as I'm used to, which largely involves browsing the internet, and I got the same, if not better, values than I'm used to. So you can easily do a full day's work on this machine and no one expects much more from it.
However, I still can't forgive myself for a little bit of criticism, even though it doesn't directly concern my configuration, but rather the basic MacBookfor the Pro M3. I still can't understand why it only came with 8GB of RAM when you paid for it. Apple charges a good 50 CZK. I understand that this is an entry-level device into the world MacBookú For and so to him and Apple it's coming, but damn, for 50 CZK I would miniAt least 16GB of RAM was expected. After all, for the price of one MacBookYou can easily get two for the Pro M3 MacBooky Air M1 or with a bit of luck even two M2. So we are talking about a really high amount, which for me should correspond to the specifications – and that is not exactly happening here. And the words AppI heard that 8GB of RAM on a Mac is equivalent to 16GB of RAM on a Windows I don't want to take it too seriously, because I myself am proof that even whenanc8GB of RAM can handle the heavy lifting Airfor those with limitations, I would easily tolerate 16GB of RAM. This will simply freeze.
Summary: The best for the discerning
A step forward, as it should be. That's exactly how I would briefly assess what happened. Applu at this year's MacBookWell done and actually I think that such an assessment is quite enough. This is because we are talking about a machine where its owner knows why he is buying it, or rather for what reason. Any assessment from my position is therefore quite unnecessary and will rather than convince the target group of these machines will bring them closer to purchase for those users for whom their specifications are almost like from another planet. And that I know what I'm talking about. After all, as I've written several times above, I myself belong to the second group and nestI'm sorry for that. Nevertheless, I can definitely say that I enjoyed testing this beast immensely and I'm glad that even a person who is not its target group can be impressed by some of its elements, and so significantly that they have to Applem smack So dear Apple, I am deeply impressed by your computer skills and I am really looking forward to what you will please me with. MacBooků Air next year!
That's self-explanatory :) bravo Jirka, thanks for explaining something that I'll never buy, but I'm even more interested in the view of someone like me
It's in the article.
I can confirm, it's great :-) Great satisfaction