MacBook Pro Diary: M1 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro first impressions

9to5Mac By Ben Lovejoy November 2, 2021

[{"selector":"#anim-58c53c27-5948-4e8d-9ac1-6111d87a2228","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] My shiny new Mac arrived on Friday, so after a couple of days of fairly extensive use, it’s time to give my M1 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro first impressions.

[{"selector":"#anim-a0c36ac2-e05c-4fb8-9f9b-c0d9dca0c363","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] I haven’t used it for anything too taxing as yet, so this piece covers what I think of the design, the screen – including that infamous notch – the heat management, and an early look at real-world battery life…

[{"selector":"#anim-1ce53a50-adf0-486c-98e0-7b0ea99c0d72","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The design of the MacBook Pro has also been completely redesigned, now featuring thinner bezels albeit with a notch housing the webcam. The mini-LED display has more pixels, supports high contrast and 1600 nits of peak brightness, and also runs at 120Hz with ProMotion technology. The MacBook Pro now also features a HDMI port, SD card reader, and MagSafe for magnetic charging.

[{"selector":"#anim-27fa53f8-d9d9-4c60-8323-3643d6ffc222","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] When it came to buying it, I did hesitate a little on the spec, before opting for an almost maxed-out model.

[{"selector":"#anim-4bd681e7-21fc-4bfb-a88e-33e97d499db7","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] I’ve historically maxed-out my Macs on the basis of maximizing the useful life of the machine, before reliability concerns led me to re-second-guess that approach .

[{"selector":"#anim-d1794b6f-a6ce-4daa-8844-61ffa5aa1935","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] If I were going to replace Macs every three years, that would make it tougher to justify the premium for a top-spec model, as you never recover the price difference on resale.

[{"selector":"#anim-8ead0245-433c-45d7-9889-ac79587eb588","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] However, when it turned out that the M1 Max offered literally twice the performance of the M1 Pro, then I found it impossible to resist. The reasoning for the rest you can read in my previous piece .

[{"selector":"#anim-20606743-3c1c-4224-85a6-12b72d557f9c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] With just a few days of macOS Monterey before my new machine arrived, I didn’t bother to update my old one (I never do Mac betas!), so that may be the reason why the M1 Mac didn’t recognise the Intel one when connected via a Thunderbolt cable.

[{"selector":"#anim-a78dd7e1-4cb3-4c4f-96f8-cef118eddc01","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] But even with almost 3TB of data, the migration from a Time Machine backup wasn’t too bad: around seven hours from a 7200rpm spinning metal drive over USB3.

[{"selector":"#anim-9a10d59e-d4ed-4416-a91b-b4be64ffcfde","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Does the new MacBook Pro right enough wrongs to warrant an upgrade? Read more of Ben’s first impressions at 9to5Mac.com to find out.