The M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro is the greatest laptop of all-time.

[i9inkers]

I’m not typically one for hyperbole. I’m not even one to post online, period. My standards are very high. I can be as cynical as the next consumer. And I have been extremely critical of Apple for the last 5-10 years. The loss of ports. The Freakin' TouchBar. The thin-at-all-costs design. Butterfly kisses gumming up our keyboards. Battery issues. The prices. Global supply chains and chip shortages. Lack of innovation. The poor stability of Big Sur. AirPods desyncing or only charging one Pod, leaving me hanging on my runs.

When things are trending down, we have a tendency as a society to focus on the negative and assume they’ll stay that way. We take the good times for granted, only realizing how good we had it when they’re over.

As I browse the forums, I’m seeing comments saying it costs too much, still no old school USB port, hoping the Jony Ive era is finally over, complaints about The Notch, no touchscreen option, too chunky/heavy, battery life questions, not user upgradeable, there’s not enough on Apple TV, Apple relies on add-on services too much, complaints it isn’t innovative, complaints the leather sleeve isn’t out, the FPS for gaming isn’t as high as an Intel machine with an nVidia 3080 RTX. Microsoft has a zany new laptop out. Asus has screens in their TouchPads. Dell has smaller bezels, no notch, and higher resolution for cheaper prices. Samsung and LG are doing great things. Lenovo has great Yoga products. Windows 11 is out, and it’s great.

And you know? All of that might even be true. But we’ve completely buried the lead; I’m here to let you know in case you’re on the fence in an uncertain world full of inflation, drama, and holidays on the horizon still in a pandemic:

Friends, these are the good times. The M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro is the greatest laptop of all-time.

I went all-in for once: ordered a maxed out 16” MacBook Pro M1 Max 32-core GPU 64 GB 8 TB behemoth. I thought for sure I would return it. I had buyer’s remorse as soon as I saw the invoice. Over $6,300 with AppleCare+ even with a Veteran’s discount?! I’ve bought 3 cars that were less than that! Two weeks later, I’m typing this on it, and it ain’t going back. Let me hit some highlights for you:

• It’s the fastest laptop I’ve ever used, and I own a 2021 Asus G15 Ryzen 3080
• It has the best keyboard I’ve ever used. At worst, it’s tied with the 2015 Retina MBP. I couldn’t pick a winner between that lovable marshmallow and this. It’s like a desktop Magic keyboard with more forgiveness and precision. I can’t overstate how quiet it is.
• Monterey is the best OS I’ve ever used. I finally feel like the OS is moving at the speed of my thoughts on this laptop.
• It’s the best laptop screen I’ve ever had. Resolution and refresh rate are both up. They aren’t the highest specs on the market, but you must consider the whole experience, color, transition, motion, video. Sometimes I swipe up and down into Mission Control just to watch the windows move.
• It’s the best battery life I’ve ever had. I don’t even measure how much I’m getting anymore; I just use the laptop as much as I want for two days and sometimes charge it.
• It has the best laptop speakers I’ve ever heard, and it isn’t even close.
• It has all the ports a Professional needs in 2021. Do I wish it had one old school USB 3.1… sure. Is it a dealbreaker? Nope.
• The Notch doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I enjoy moving the cursor behind it for fun.
• TouchID is bigger and faster than ever, remains amazing, and is my preferred login and buying method.
• Zero application compatibility issues with the M1 Max or Monterey for me.
• The ‘feet’ on the bottom fit perfectly in my lap for use as an actual laptop.
• And welcome back MagSafe, HDMI, & SD Cards! You were missed.

Let me address the gaming FPS thing. You have no reason to know this, but I was a professional gamer. I won four championships once upon a time. I’m in a Hall of Fame. Pro gamers … don’t play on laptops lol. For everyone else, this is great: very playable, with solid framerates between 60-180 for nearly any game you can install on Mac OS.

When I think back to the price, I saved $300 or so with the Veteran’s discount. I got about $200 in rewards from AppleCash. I got over $1,100 for my MacBook Pro TouchBar trade-in. I’m covered for any accidents with AppleCare+. Like every Mac, I don’t have to buy OS upgrades or rebuy Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro or the other great apps. I can probably keep this thing for 5-7 years or more. And I got it up and running as my main office laptop in under an hour. I love Windows, but a comparable experience would have cost me $7,000 and 2 business days of installing drivers, app licenses, and transferring files.

TL;DR: You can't go wrong with any spec of the 14.2” or 16.2”. Think about your budget, how long you want to keep it, save up if you have to, and go for it. Haters gonna hate. Nothing is ever finished. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of great. And kudos Apple, you did it. The M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro is the greatest laptop of all-time. Let the good times roll.

Agree with this wholeheartedly, Best Mac since 2015

 

[TriciaMacMillan]

I'm happy to hear Apple is actively hiring to PR it's ****** designs at popular message boards

Guess that’s not necessary in this case. At all.

 

[Pokolasko]

But which ones ? Everyone writes about MacBook 16 and 14 remains in its shadow.

I know I'm going to have the same inside but 16 seems to bring something extra.

 

[yitwail]

So going by the title of the thread, these laptops are GLOAT?

 

[jclardy]

Got my 14" just after launch day and I agree. This is the MacBook Pro I've been waiting for since my first Intel MacBook in 2006. Flat edge design which is much easier to carry around than the annoying tapered wedge shape we had before. Incredible CPU power and GPU power on the 14" size. Edge to edge display (With 120hz and MiniLED which are a huge bonus in my book.) All day battery life (Not nearly as good as my M1 air, but that laptop was ridiculous on battery.) Charging ports on both sides, with the return of MagSafe, so you have the best of both worlds - dock with one cable for power/display/keyboard/camera/etc and MagSafe for travel or if you ever have to charge on the couch or side table. "Emergency" HDMI port availability along with a card reader, both of which I'll rarely use but are nice to have.

This is a computer that solves all of my needs as a software developer, and more. I don't know how they are going to get people to upgrade other than the M2 Pro/Max blowing the M1 out of the water, they could still add a few other quality of life features like FaceID and Center Stage, but otherwise this laptop is perfect.

 

[Rafterman]

So going by the title of the thread, these laptops are GLOAT?

Get rid of the notch, then we'll talk.

 

[jwolf6589]

I’m not typically one for hyperbole. I’m not even one to post online, period. My standards are very high. I can be as cynical as the next consumer. And I have been extremely critical of Apple for the last 5-10 years. The loss of ports. The Freakin' TouchBar. The thin-at-all-costs design. Butterfly kisses gumming up our keyboards. Battery issues. The prices. Global supply chains and chip shortages. Lack of innovation. The poor stability of Big Sur. AirPods desyncing or only charging one Pod, leaving me hanging on my runs.

When things are trending down, we have a tendency as a society to focus on the negative and assume they’ll stay that way. We take the good times for granted, only realizing how good we had it when they’re over.

As I browse the forums, I’m seeing comments saying it costs too much, still no old school USB port, hoping the Jony Ive era is finally over, complaints about The Notch, no touchscreen option, too chunky/heavy, battery life questions, not user upgradeable, there’s not enough on Apple TV, Apple relies on add-on services too much, complaints it isn’t innovative, complaints the leather sleeve isn’t out, the FPS for gaming isn’t as high as an Intel machine with an nVidia 3080 RTX. Microsoft has a zany new laptop out. Asus has screens in their TouchPads. Dell has smaller bezels, no notch, and higher resolution for cheaper prices. Samsung and LG are doing great things. Lenovo has great Yoga products. Windows 11 is out, and it’s great.

And you know? All of that might even be true. But we’ve completely buried the lead; I’m here to let you know in case you’re on the fence in an uncertain world full of inflation, drama, and holidays on the horizon still in a pandemic:

Friends, these are the good times. The M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro is the greatest laptop of all-time.

I went all-in for once: ordered a maxed out 16” MacBook Pro M1 Max 32-core GPU 64 GB 8 TB behemoth. I thought for sure I would return it. I had buyer’s remorse as soon as I saw the invoice. Over $6,300 with AppleCare+ even with a Veteran’s discount?! I’ve bought 3 cars that were less than that! Two weeks later, I’m typing this on it, and it ain’t going back. Let me hit some highlights for you:

• It’s the fastest laptop I’ve ever used, and I own a 2021 Asus G15 Ryzen 3080
• It has the best keyboard I’ve ever used. At worst, it’s tied with the 2015 Retina MBP. I couldn’t pick a winner between that lovable marshmallow and this. It’s like a desktop Magic keyboard with more forgiveness and precision. I can’t overstate how quiet it is.
• Monterey is the best OS I’ve ever used. I finally feel like the OS is moving at the speed of my thoughts on this laptop.
• It’s the best laptop screen I’ve ever had. Resolution and refresh rate are both up. They aren’t the highest specs on the market, but you must consider the whole experience, color, transition, motion, video. Sometimes I swipe up and down into Mission Control just to watch the windows move.
• It’s the best battery life I’ve ever had. I don’t even measure how much I’m getting anymore; I just use the laptop as much as I want for two days and sometimes charge it.
• It has the best laptop speakers I’ve ever heard, and it isn’t even close.
• It has all the ports a Professional needs in 2021. Do I wish it had one old school USB 3.1… sure. Is it a dealbreaker? Nope.
• The Notch doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I enjoy moving the cursor behind it for fun.
• TouchID is bigger and faster than ever, remains amazing, and is my preferred login and buying method.
• Zero application compatibility issues with the M1 Max or Monterey for me.
• The ‘feet’ on the bottom fit perfectly in my lap for use as an actual laptop.
• And welcome back MagSafe, HDMI, & SD Cards! You were missed.

Let me address the gaming FPS thing. You have no reason to know this, but I was a professional gamer. I won four championships once upon a time. I’m in a Hall of Fame. Pro gamers … don’t play on laptops lol. For everyone else, this is great: very playable, with solid framerates between 60-180 for nearly any game you can install on Mac OS.

When I think back to the price, I saved $300 or so with the Veteran’s discount. I got about $200 in rewards from AppleCash. I got over $1,100 for my MacBook Pro TouchBar trade-in. I’m covered for any accidents with AppleCare+. Like every Mac, I don’t have to buy OS upgrades or rebuy Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro or the other great apps. I can probably keep this thing for 5-7 years or more. And I got it up and running as my main office laptop in under an hour. I love Windows, but a comparable experience would have cost me $7,000 and 2 business days of installing drivers, app licenses, and transferring files.

TL;DR: You can't go wrong with any spec of the 14.2” or 16.2”. Think about your budget, how long you want to keep it, save up if you have to, and go for it. Haters gonna hate. Nothing is ever finished. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of great. And kudos Apple, you did it. The M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro is the greatest laptop of all-time. Let the good times roll.

It may be the fastest and most powerful but it lacks a Touch Bar and the ability to boot into windows. I work in business and windows are more suited for such tasks since most business software is windows based.

 

[millerj123]

Get rid of the notch, then we'll talk.

I didn't think it would be a problem, and nope, the notch doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Larabee119]

I'm happy to hear Apple is actively hiring to PR it's ****** designs at popular message boards

The website is called MacRumors... Go else where to read Windows ****** designs 🤣🤣🤣

 

[WilliamG]

It may be the fastest and most powerful but it lacks a Touch Bar and the ability to boot into windows. I work in business and windows are more suited for such tasks since most business software is windows based.

The TouchBar for me was the worst. Required always looking to find the touch buttons, and for me I kept touching it by mistake, lowering my brightness, upping my volume etc. Drove me insane. So glad it’s gone.

 

[tekmoe]

The TouchBar for me was the worst. Required always looking to find the touch buttons, and for me I kept touching it by mistake, lowering my brightness, upping my volume etc. Drove me insane. So glad it’s gone.

After spending 2 years with my 2019 i9, I can totally relate to this. Perhaps that was the hump that broke the camel's back and forced me to purchase this new one. Totally love having the dedicated keys again! I will not miss the Touch Bar at all.

 

[Rafterman]

After spending 2 years with my 2019 i9, I can totally relate to this. Perhaps that was the hump that broke the camel's back and forced me to purchase this new one. Totally love having the dedicated keys again! I will not miss the Touch Bar at all.

To each their own. I had no use for the hard function keys.

 

[Warped9]

Watched a video posted by a diehard Windows user testing out the new MacBrook Pro, the 14 I believe. While he does have some issues with Mac OS he was blown away by the design, the display, the audio, camera, keyboard, and overall performance, all of which he called best ever.

The one real thing he was bugged by was not having data transfer speed readily displayed.

 

[currocj]

There's no doubt these new Pros are the best laptops ever, as they're the complete package. I remember getting my 2019 MacBook Pro 16 inch i9 8-core, and within a week or so I was so frustrated with how hot it ran, and just how slow it was really doing it. This new system is just sensational, with thermals that defy belief.

The intel heaters are the sole reason I'm shifted over from my 2019 16" and 2x 2018 Intel Mac minis all to M1. The M1s barely break a sweat where as the Intel were noisy, hot, and sometimes laggy. The M1 is a quantum leap in the right direction.

 

[vel0city]

1. So far, I haven't been able to stress the system enough to get the fans to come on. At least if they have, I haven't heard them. I think I over bought. But the lack of heat and fans is nice. I've actually moved my laptop cooling pad into storage.

I really thought I'd hear them today. Put the Mac (Mine is an M1 Max 16" 64GB) into high power mode and rendered a sequence of 8k stills out of C4D+Redshift whilst working in Photoshop and all the usual processes going on in the background - Spotify, Dropbox, Mail, etc. The Mac stayed completely silent and didn't even feel slightly sluggish. Previously this would've meant fan noise, beachballs, laggy hell. I just can't seem to hit a limit on the Max.

And how about that instant wake from sleep? Not the usual couple of seconds and delay and then the screen comes to life with a groan, this thing is ready to go as soon as you lift the lid. Thumb print, boom, you're in. Every single aspect of this Mac has been lavished with attention to detail.

 

[richinaus]

To each their own. I had no use for the hard function keys.

I prefer the touch bar also. If feels like regression to me.

 

[PeterFitch]

I bought the 16" Pro but regret not opting for 32GB because someone told me that it gives you double performance. I am not a professional mind you, I bought this laptop because my old one had bit the dust and I just loved the giant screen and beautiful design. I mainly use it for web browsing/email/The odd Apple Arcade game/YouTube/Netflix/AppleTV etc.

If someone told you you get double the performance then you can easily disregard this guy’s opinion because he clearly has no idea how these machines work. In almost every use case you get a slight performance boost when opting for the 32 GB instead of 16 GB but in most cases it is really negligible. People who really NEED 32 GB of memory for their work know who they are. I get the feeling from your writing that you are not one of these people and would be more than satisfied with 16 GB.

 

[shenfrey]

If someone told you you get double the performance then you can easily disregard this guy’s opinion because he clearly has no idea how these machines work. In almost every use case you get a slight performance boost when opting for the 32 GB instead of 16 GB but in most cases it is really negligible. People who really NEED 32 GB of memory for their work know who they are. I get the feeling from your writing that you are not one of these people and would be more than satisfied with 16 GB.

I don't know what I would need the ram for, I just know that this guy made me feel guilty for opting for the 16 instead of 32 due to a huge performance increase and that the 16" with 16GB won't last longer than 1 1/2 - 2 years.

Thankfully you have put my mind at ease knowing that the performance difference I am missing out on isn't that huge. As I said I really only use this as an office computer, word processing, internet browsing, appointments and media consumption such as YouTube, Netflix and other such platforms.

 

[bmustaf]

After 7 years of "Pro" just being a joke in a name with Ive's obsession with "thin" over "function", I also agree that these are the current GLOATs.

 

[Flight Plan]

The Pro Max 64 GB option is no longer available in "buy" on Apple.com. That just happened within the last week or so, I think.

 

[MacBird]

The Pro Max 64 GB option is no longer available in "buy" on Apple.com. That just happened within the last week or so, I think.

I see a 64 GB M1 Max option but the delivery date is January 11.

 

[Flight Plan]

Then don’t?

That's a snippy response, and not very nice.

Get rid of the notch, then we'll talk.

The notch is going to be a non-issue on a 16" screen. It's either that or have a "forehead" or "chin" on the screen.

I see a 64 GB M1 Max option but the delivery date is January 11.

Oh really? That doesn't even show up on my browser! I'm going to do some budgeting here and then I'll probably just call Apple and work it over the phone with them.

The fact is, I can probably get by on the 32GB one. I'm just a glutton. Well, that and if Folding or other distributed computing becomes available/doable, then more would be better. I can afford it.

 

[MacBird]

Oh really? That doesn't even show up on my browser! I'm going to do some budgeting here and then I'll probably just call Apple and work it over the phone with them.

The fact is, I can probably get by on the 32GB one. I'm just a glutton. Well, that and if Folding or other distributed computing becomes available/doable, then more would be better. I can afford it.

Delivery date with 32 GB is December 1, with 64 January 11. I got the 32 GB at a local Apple store, it seems plenty for now.

 

[Pezimak]

Well I went to an Apple store today, and whilst I'm not sure it's the "the greatest laptop of all time", I came away suitably impressed.

I really like it's design, I prefer the 16" model and the notch didn't actually bother me. It's incredibly fast and fluid, the keyboards nice.
I'm sold! So I'll be getting one as my new computer. The screen is very nice too.

 

[1Mark]

Well I went to an Apple store today, and whilst I'm not sure it's the "the greatest laptop of all time", I came away suitably impressed.

I really like it's design, I prefer the 16" model and the notch didn't actually bother me. It's incredibly fast and fluid, the keyboards nice.
I'm sold! So I'll be getting one as my new computer. The screen is very nice too.

Just wait until you also get used to the battery life within a few days.

I use mostly office365 web tools during the day and Apple Music with some good electronic beats during focus time (and some streaming in the evening). I don't need to charge it every day. And when I do, it's charged within a 30mins..