It's been two weeks since we replaced our daily drivers with the new 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max, and the verdict is simple: this is the best laptop Apple has ever made, but it's finally overkill for almost everyone.
Design and Build
The chassis remains identical to the M1/M2/M3 generation—robust, industrial, and utilitarian. The new "Space Black" coating is slightly more fingerprint-resistant this year, though not immune. The port selection remains excellent with three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI 2.1, and the SD card reader.
Display: Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED)
The biggest upgrade (literaly) is the screen. Apple has refined the Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED) technology, and it now includes a Nano-texture display option for those working in high-glare environments.
- Brightness: 2000 nits peak / 1000 nits sustained.
- Contrast: 1,000,000:1.
- Motion: 120Hz ProMotion feels ghosting-free with excellent response times.
Performance
We tested the M4 Max (16-core CPU, 40-core GPU).
- Cinebench 2024: 24,000 pts (Multi-core) - pushing into Threadripper territory.
- Blender Render: 30% faster than M3 Max.
- Compilation: Compiling the Linux kernel took 42 seconds.
Battery Life
Despite the high-brightness mini-LED screen and power-hungry chip, we consistently got 14-16 hours of real-world dev work. It's an engineering marvel.
Verdict: 9.5/10
If you need portable power, there is no substitute. The price is eye-watering ($3,999 as tested), but the performance justification is there for the 1% of users who need it.