Space Black M3 Max MacBook Pro Review - Real World Tests! How Much Better Is It?
It's my in-depth review of the Space Black M3 Max MacBook Pro with benchmarks and real-world video export tests as far back as the original M1. How much of a difference does the M3 Max really make? You might be surprised with the results because I sure was.
0:00 Intro
1:08 M3 Max MacBook Pro Specs
1:42 Does Space Black Really Make a Difference?
2:24 Fingerprint Resistant?
3:10 Same Ports, Features & Improved Display
5:13 M3 Max Chip
6:28 Geekbench 6 Benchmarks
7:13 CPU Performance
8:46 GPU Performance
9:24 Adobe Premiere 13 Min Video Export Results
10:36 Adober Premiere 45 Min Video Export Results
11:21 Final Cut Pro X 15 Min Video Export Results
13:00 Who Is This M3 Max MacBook Pro For?
15:59 Is It Ready For Top Tier Gaming?
17:37 Pricing & Color Options
18:24 Final Conclusion
Thanks for watching! You can support my independent content at / briantong THANK YOU!
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#apple #macbookpro #spaceblack
I need that M3 Max for emails!
Lmfao me too
LMAO ME TOO!
Thanks for sharing. I appreciate your detailed video. Blessings on your day!
Brian you a real 1 ! I love your honest reviews, defiantly saving ppl money. I had to get a desktop since I’m content creating, and only had a 1st gen iPad Pro. So Time to get m3 iMac and because of you I know I’m future proof for a long time.
That looks sleek!!! And i do want that machine. Excellent screen size 👍🏽
Let's wait for the m3 ultra on the macstudio 😁😁😁 I do have the M2pro max on the 16inch and the M2 pro on the 14inch one, no reason to upgrade! Thanks for the detailed vid Brian 😎
This is the first time I've went with smaller size display, and I don't regret it. I picked up the 14' and its perfect for daily tasks. The 16' is the big boy, but its hard to lug around.
Thank you for the review. I thought this was great. You have a new subscriber
Thanks for watching and subbing! I'll keep bringing it the best I can!
This video has the Best practical advice to help me decide between saving money and buying an M1 Max v M3 Max. Thanks Brian!
Love that you made this vid for professionals who use Premiere and not only Final Cut. Much appreciated. Seems like upgrades benefit Adobe users rather than Final Cut users. For me, using Premiere, Audition and After Effects, this M3 is exciting. THANK YOU for not calling the laptop your “daily driver!” Ughhh lmfao
Could we see performance with Resolve ?
“Daily driver” winds me up sooooo much! Nice to know it annoys others too. :)
My eyes relax when I look at Space Black mac, and I have eye strain when I look at Silver model (too bright, glare). I would definitely buy Space Black, best color
That space black actually looks preety good. The keyboard looks flush (colorwise) in alot of your angles. I can't wait for 1nm apple silicon, with M2 MBA size chassis. At this pace should be at least 5 years from now.
I have this machine... you can definitely see the contrast in hand in most lighting environments. It looks great but it's more of a gunmetal. Much darker than space gray in person.
for over. a decade you've been one of the GOAT's brian - this video was a1
Thanks for watching and rocking with me!
What about thermals and fan noise? Are they similar to M1 Max ?
I wonder what the resale value of these M3 max chips will be in the future. The M1 Max right now are still going for a pretty coin, little over $2000 and that’s for the base configuration max.
Hello Brian, great review. I hear you about wifi 7, Yes it would be good. The think is I know they have an SD card reader but it would of been so must nicer to CF Express type B reader. Then again i will be getting a Studio M3 MAX. But all my Apple kit is Intel apart from my iPad which is M2.
Brian, do you think this color will come to the new Mac Studio. I am holding out till Spring/Summer to see what the do with the new Mac Studio. Talking about the new FaceTime camera, also makes me think that they will update the Display as well. At least that is my hope. What are you thoughts on bring this color to the Studio and the Display?
4:16 faceID? I don’t think so 😂
If only you know how little sleep and cross-country travel multiple times in the month for less than 24-hour trips I have been doing...FIXED!
@@briantong All love Brian 😅 Keep the fire videos coming!
Nice video, any chance that you could do the video export for DaVinci Resolve?
People have short memories. After the M1 came out, it took months for the software programs to adapt to the new processor. Well, this update is about games. The first game specifically written for the new M3 is coming out on December 20th. So, until then, reviews about speed are pretty pointless.
Dude all the apps are already optimised for m3 since x86 to arm needed new binaries
You know the M3 has a GPU with new hardware features right? So perhaps you can explain how the apps are already optimized for M3, because it certainly isn’t obvious to me.
Psychological coping mechanisms of blind apple fangirls ... 😂
@@anantmalik Are you 12 and using mommy’s computer? It’s way past your bedtime.
@@314159265mangler I am an electrical engineer you butthurt apple apologist. Go try to appear cool somewhere else ... 😂
how does the speakers of the 16" compare to the m1 pro ? do the sound the same ? we had people complaining how the M2 has less bass
@Brian Tong : Awesome review, friend. Great advice. As an Adobe user of Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator and one who is getting into After Effects and more Premiere work as well as Blender, would a M3 Max with 36GB unified memory work well? I’m still on Intel 2017 i7 iMac, and feel it’s a good time to upgrade as I notice the beachball spinning.
I think the best way to look at anything is budget, what xan your budget handle. The M3 Max is already a BEAST, and you can always think that 48 gigs is a nicer "number'. I don't know the complexity of video you're editing, but if its not 8K video, and not knowing exactly what you're trying to edit. I'd say you'd be fine, but as always, work within your budget and you'll have an unreal machine compared to your 2017 Intel. You're about to be blown away.
@@briantongSolid advice. I am doing some basic stuff and no 8k anytime soon. Think training videos where I share my screen with perhaps an occasional short documentary style film shot with my iPhone. Nothing fancy. I do use After Effects and Blender but nothing complex. Mainly for making mock-ups of print work and exhibit displays. My budget is about $3k and am wondering if even a base M3 Max or even 2023 M2 Max would work fine. It’s memory for having multiple apps open at once that I am probably most concerned with.
that's a good apple !! best review, I guess I'm gonna do like you, unless I find a killer deal for Black Friday, I'll stick to my M1 Pro MacBook Pro for another year.
I'm going all in with Max m3 with 128 gb just so that i can start growing with AE and Blender. My FCPX is right now stuttering with some lengthy tracking and other plugins and I'm getting 1055 for my M1 pro from Apple. I figure it's only downhill from now. May as well bite the bullet and get to the next level at this trade in offer. Any thoughts guys.
Currently have a 2021 M1 Pro 10 core 16 core 16gm ram. It chokes with any fusion effects. Would the m3 max be a worthwhile upgrade for me or overkill?
I’m like you, Bryan I got a M1 pro in my MacBook Pro but the dish out that kind of money right now I’m going out to wait probably to the next generation.
The key addition to WiFi 7 is multi-link operation but that is a long ways away from becoming ubiquitous let alone being implemented to an extent where the advantage might be noticeable over WiFi 6e. As someone who works on WiFi SOC development, I will be happy with WiFi 6e for the next ten years.
MLO support is coming next year with firmware updates to certain routers (Asus has announced), as well as updates to the Windows Kernel...to enable support for Intel's Wifi 7 chips. Another way Wifi7 out performs Wifi6e is with the 320 Mhz channels, but there's not yet kernel support (linux, mac, windows) for that either, I don't believe.
Hey Brian, this is most definitely way of topic lol, but between my job & law school to include my health & fitness program demands, Im trying to simplify my wardrobe - that being said - what type of sweats are you wearing? Greatly appreciated if you see this ✌🏽
Great review! I have a question, I am upgrading from a MBP 2014, it still works but I think soon it is time. I like to keep a lot of photos in my photos library along with some random videos I take. I also watch movies sometime on my laptop and I really appreciate a good picture screen. Which MBP should I get, the M3max, M3pro, or refurbished M2? If a refurb, where is the safest place to buy one? Also I tend to keep my computers for a long time (as you can see, 2014) so want to future proof it. Is 2 TB good? I appreciate any input, thank you!
You haven’t given enough information. Unless you regularly edit video there’s zero reason to get a Max.
No I don't edit any videos, I'm not that tech savvy, just need a lot of storage for photos on my photos and for some videos as well. Sounds like a Pro may be what I need. @@mavfan1
@@annatomacari9349Gonna be honest. The M2 Air would absolutely destroy your expectations for what you’re probably doing now much less a pro. The M2 is that good. Perhaps see how high you can spec the storage on that.
How many ram did you have on this computers?
i’ve got the space black if you keep your place moderately lit it’s black when there bright light in it on a straight on angle it’s grey but still black at an angle
Great. My 2 months old M2 Ultra Studio, still waiting on a monitor that makes sense from them, is now outdated! 😂
for photography a pro will do me, I dont need high end power, but im not overly tech savvy can I add a monitor to use the pro, im coming from a 2012 iMac
Has anyone noticed the dark squares (1 each side) near the bottom of the speaker area, as well as the three dark dots (looks like - : ) on the left-hand side near the "~" and "Tab" keys on the Space Black 16-inch MBP?
You said notch for FacID ! How much was RAM?
Great summary. Coming from the Intel 5600m 16", I'm really loving the 14" version of M3 Max. It's plenty powerful and I have an Apple Studio Display to hook it up when doing work which requires a bigger screen anyway.
Killer setup!
My 2017 imac dual core i5 died a week before the this latest release....a little sus. Fortunately I used my M1 MBAir with a monitor as a replacement desktop. No reason, for my use case, to upgrade for a while.
all this makes me wonder How powerful the M3 Ultra would be as well as a M3 Ultra in the Mac pro (maybe redesigned?)
that will be a beast!
Nice. I have ordered the Space Blk Max 16. Your videos have definitely been inviting. Getting the fastest performance is just too hard to pass up.
I've been waiting for your opinions on this 💻❤
Is 36gb or 48gb or 64gb enough for gaming?
Will this laptop run Think or Swim trading platform well? I’ve heard it is the best I’ve also heard the complete opposite. Looking for a laptop that will be good to trade on for when I’m on the go, and can plug to external monitor when home. I’m sick of my older iMac and iPad Pro M1 little set up. Thanks so much anyone with any advice. Stay safe.
yes it will. they recently update TOS for Apple Silicon and it runs much better
Is ultra chip faster when applying effects during video editing
Compared to...?
How about Lightroom denoise times?
The M3 Ultra is going to be crazy!
I am happy with my 14 MacBook Pro in Space black with the Base M3 Pro.
Do you use Ray-tracing ? That is the whole update here
Did they really add Face ID to the notch?
You said 16bg of unified memory which i know isnt a thing with that model lol
I’m still on intel 16” 2019 MacBook Pro. M3 Pro or Max next ? 🤔
Either one is gonna be a game changer for you. Go with what makes sense for your budget.
I’m staying on M2 Max silicone. The entire system flies no matter how much my workflow pushes it. Like someone wrote, I’ll wait for 1nm fabrication process.
The M2 Max was and is impressive.
1:20 16 gig M3 max?
8:42 close is an understatement
Finding a good deal on an M2 Max is the move.
Great review... though I guess it escaped your notice. If anyone else heard it... The Notch is not Face ID Capable. Maybe next year... maybe
Fixed it...it's been a relentless few weeks with cross-country trips. Thanks for watching...and understanding!
How about fan noise? how is it compared to M1? How ofent does it kick in?
It comes on RARELY, just like the M1 Max and M2 Max. Only on long export projects did I ever hear it, or gaming with Baulder's Gate 3. It went on instantly with that game.
wait, isn't this based on the older 3nm N3B tech? Yes, the M4 will be based on the newer 3nm N3E node.
Everyone is giving us the export times.. I want to know if it handles playback in Premiere. 4K, no proxies, full quality, with effects.
Didn't I show playback of my projects, with no issues playing those 20 layers of 4K video. It's always going to be specific to your work flow and how you use these things.
From hearing and reading the reviews I think the M3 line of MBPs are geared towards the Intel-Based users to finally make the switch. If you have a M-Series Chip it's probably not worth it to upgrade unless you're moving up to a Pro or Max Chip.
100% agree. I have M1 Pro and based on what i'm seeing it's not a big enough improvement to upgrade unless i move up to the Max chip. My M1 Pro i got with 16 GB RAM cause i needed a system immediately at the time and the 16 GB model shipped sooner, but if all options were quickly available at the time, i would have got more RAM (32 for sure, maybe even 64). So bumping up to M3 Max and upping the RAM would be the only reason for me to upgrade now. But doing M3 Pro with more RAM wouldn't be worth it.
@@VMYeahVN I agree about Pro -> Pro, but going from a base 14" Pro (binned) to the unbinned 16" Max is wild. The geek bench is about double and as a programmer it really seems that way in person, it just rips through compilations and test suites. Also can play BG3 with everything turned up @ 60 fps, but man does it get hot (est. battery life is only 1.5 hours!). Fantastic machine.
@@brandall101 It's not really that wild if your needs change between when you buy one machine and are buying the next.
@@VMYeahVN I certainly didn't *need* it by any stretch. But I also had a 16" M1 Pro provided by my prior employer that just seemed to rip through everything a bit quicker, + the screen made it that much more of a pleasure to use for extended stretches. When I first got that 14" I was super pleased with it, having come from the 16" i9. In the past I usually upgrade whenever there's at least 50%+ improvement in compute, which back in the Intel days would be a good 3-4 generations.
I am seriously considering buy the MacBook M3 Max (I am 2019 Intel Users), needs at least 32 GB of RAM to fulfill my needs for at least 3-4 years from now (2024). What holds me back is the price. In my country, the 48/1TB cost more than $4000.
Did people forget how good the M1 pros and max’s were..? I still got my M1 Max with 32gbs and it’s blazing fast.. am i missing something here and not having the constant itch to upgrade even as a strong content editor?
That's exactly why I showed what I showed. To give some reference to the past.
Yep, thanks Brian, really appreciate you doing that. You do such a fantastic job for the general consumer!@@briantong
I have the M1 pro with 16 gb and my plan is to update to m3 Max 128 gb and keep that for like a decade!
Wouldn’t it be great if these set-ups were put into all the various lines Apple produces?
I cannot believe we’re already in with M3s. I remember when M1 where dominating.
So I can see you when Apple lent you this laptop, they made you agree, not to put the M2 Max information up there. NA? Are you serious? The information is just as available to fill in that column as it is for everything else.
I had the M2 Max back when it came out and tested it with GeekBench 5, the results and scoring completely changed with 6. So those scores were unusable and over time I have been able to get benchmarks from other machines. I don't own everything and I don't buy everything.
He is just another KZhead celebrity who is an Apple slave. He did not use the M2 data on purpose. Because the M3 is only symbolically ahead of M2. Therefore, if he would have used M2 data then it would have proved how pointless M3 is. This would have made his Apple daddy angry. Learn to see through the propaganda of KZhead celebrities. They do not give a fuck about you. They only pretend to care about consumers. In reality, the KZhead celebrities are slaves of apple ... 😂
The notch is not for Face ID like you said Brian... 😅
it looks just like my space grey MacBook Air 15 with skin on .
I have a 10 year old 13" MacBook pro. I believe I got my moneys worth. lol This will be my next MacBook. I hope it lasts just as long
I got a fully loaded air 15. Should I upgrade?
No
I have a 2012 mbp that hasn’t been supported for YEARS. People like me should upgrade 😉
I might do it hehe
@@XxMissingDataxX 😏
@@mitchmcturtle6890I’ll sell you mine😊
Wait. You said Face ID ? The 16” m3 max MBP has Face ID?
He made a mistake, no it doesn’t have it
@@seiimii123 Would be awesome if it did 🥹
Gaming will never be too big on the Mac. Always secondary because of the price of entry. Why pay $2600 to play Spider-Man when you could play it for less on the original game system or a $500 PC
Exactly. For the amount of money apple is asking, I can get two Gaming grade Windows laptops each separately beating MacBooks to shit in gaming performance ... 😂😂😂😂😂
m2 air is close to M1 Max, that's just wonderful, and I believe it's more than enough to play some games in the future. yeah
No, you’re looking at cpu scores where each gen improves a bit. Games really need GPU and the base M2 air gets no where close to any max chip, not to mention there’s no fan. Still, it will play some games fine. Just temper your expectations.
@@haysoos123 just search on youtube, there are some people using crossover to play pc games on the m2 air, and it’s just nearly indifferent to pc laptop~ but obviously, some demanding games could run better on m3
Did you say it has a notch on the top for Face ID???!
Obviously a mistake. Sometimes when you feee flow things come out that aren't correct but it's fixed!
@@briantong all good man! Thought I missed that feature! Keep up the good work!
Fireeeee
I have a 2015 mbp 😅 Im still holding out. 😂
You can get vivid, and the brightness will be better no matter if its M1, M2, or M3
1:20 16 gigs ram? What?
You could call it John Wick black lol
The notch on top is just a webcam, it doesn't have Face ID, only Touch ID in the power button
Yes, it was a mistake and sometimes your brain goes on cruise control...fixed!
i bought a fully speced out m3 max in space black coming from a retina display 2014 MBP. I dont see any reason for me to upgrade at is time as just a average user. I found that i use my ipad 11 inch more for reading and watching videos. I returned the m3 max and will be waiting for the new ipads to come out with the m3 chip w/ OLED. Also the space black color smudged a lot for me.
Sounds like you didn’t do enough research prior to buying, and not sure why you dove in head first into a max chip given you consider yourself an average user
@@jpdrummer86 sorry daddy I won’t splurge like that again
Your times are off. My M3 Max Geekbench Metal was actually 155,668, more than a 1,000 more. My suggestion is that you are Thermal Throttling for some reason. I do have a cooling pad because regardless of what Apple says I do believe a Laptop needs good cooling if you are going to power use it.
Good point, but here's the other point. GeekBench benchmarks are a point of reference but whatever the score is. Real world results and using the processor with apps in real world flows and getting results are more meaningful than any geekbench benchmark.
@@briantong My real life results shows between 2.5x and 3.0x from the latest maxed out Intel I9 MacBook Pro with the Radeon Pro 5600M. It doesn't show 11x but definitely 3x plus 20 degrees celsius less in temperature for the same task finishing 3x earlier. One curiosity is the tremendous difference installing and executing Xcode and Android Studio with real projects. That's off the charts.
Qualcomm oryon cpu is coming for these laptops
But, they don't run anything because Windows for ARM is terrible.
@@tonyburzio4107 that is true for now...windows 12 next could give us arm version on windows written from ground up for arm...not what has come before
My millionaire doppleganger is gonna love this.
Please add timestamps
An email / web surfing user is fine on Intel Macs.
Bro you said 16gb and Face ID which I know aren’t possible on the M3 Max MacBook pros. I generally love your channel but I hate to think that you’re not getting the basic facts correct
To put 3nm into perspective. Your finger nails grow at about 1nm per second !
That M2 Ultra is churning out 24s of video a second. 720f/s. Also Apple needs to just drop 8GB of memory. Its not enough anymore. Its starting to make some of their models look bad.
I love how KZheadrs live in a bubble and focus and review tech on myopia. Hyper-focused almost solely on video editing. lol. I would like to see them reviewed by people who do mostly word processing. "Nope, this machine can type and spell-check words the same as my 1998 Pentium machine, don't waste your money" As someone who is frustrated by how slow laptops are with Blender I think I can finally use a laptop for basic work on the go This is a giant leap in the right direction if you need a machine for more than video editing.
Did you hear how I said, you don't need this if you are just doing word processing, but there will always be people who do it.
The M3 series computers are overkill for word processing, spreadsheets, and other office productivity tasks.
If Apple had games I would buy the max chip with the most cores. Instead I bought the base pro chip because that does what I need.
The first game for the M3 releases December 20th. After that, there are a lot, as the second wave of better M3 chips start cranking out of the factory at TSMC.
@@tonyburzio4107 Psychological coping mechanisms of blind apple fangirls ... 😂
For this normal this clip may not be your intended audience. For me still have more than enough power ( iGPU FLOPS Apple M1 2.6 TFLOPS ) with my MacBook Air M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 7‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine, 16GB unified memory, 2TB SSD storage. Reason for the larger memory is "Fight the Swap!". Reason 2TB SSD storage is that is what I had on my 2014 5K 27-inch iMac, and since I will have the M1 MacBook Air for at least five years it will help when it comes to SSD ware leveling. So for me will be looking to purchase new Mac in 2027 or later. After all my 2014 5K 27-inch iMac was still doing the job I needed it to do after nine years before I replaced it. Now, if you are in the high end, professional production world. in the scientific community. In the financial community. Time is money, so always get the best tool to do the job at this time. Now for KZhead content creators, I feel what you were saying probably hold more water. You may not have the need to update every year as a performance gains are not that great year over year.
"Fifty Shades Of Grey"....
It’s Dark Garfield
we need cyberpunk, but years of neglect of gaming community is creating this lack of any video games on mac ecosystems
Once you go space black, you never go back.
All M3 Pro Max reviews are the same. Can you please make a review like hooking your M3 Max HDMI2.1 onto an AVR receiver if it now supports passthrough of 192khz uncompressed dolby atmos dolbytrue hd dts x. Apple currently only supports 8 channel 48khz audio PCM that makes apple so weak in the audio crap. $4000 but cant output dolby atmos in hdmi? L0L apple supports fake atmos using spatial audio With windows even an old laptop with hdm1.4 passthrough works.
No Face ID I think you misspoke
Needs more games. They just lost CS so it’s going in the wrong direction if anything.
The first game specifically written for the Mac M3 releases December 20th, with the rest following.
@@tonyburzio4107 Psychological coping mechanisms of blind apple fangirls ... 😂
I would buy one IF the Space Black was also available in M3 It's ridiculous that they made Space Black available with M3 Pro and M3 Max
It’s ridiculous that the machine with the more expensive and time-consuming manufacturing process is also limited to the one that costs more?
you are just comparing the media engines there.. not really a good comparison for most people as just videomakers would take advantage of it
We already know web surfing, email and word processing are fine. Are you trying to game on a Mac that starts at $2499?
@@briantong In my opinion this videos should also be about heavy workloads which the media engines can't process. Like compiling code which is pretty heavy for the cpu. Of course the topics you cover in your videos are the most fun to watch. So from your audiences perspective this video is great! 👍 I personally use my mac for more technical stuff related to computer science and also emulation.
@@aloispetutschnig8342 Same.
Um space Gray
Why do these KZheadrs only ever talk about export times like it's the end all be all and never actually showing real life video editing such as scrubbing, playback, adjustment layers, grading, etc? The new laptop can export a video 20 seconds faster than it's predecessor woopdie doo. Like you can literally export a video, take a dump and comeback and it literally makes no difference to your actual workflow. Meanwhile, sometimes the smoothness of the editing PROCESS and WORKFLOW DOES make a big a difference. No one wants to edit with lag or stutters and drop frames. This is the type of stuff "reviewers" should be focusing on..... Just all the same BS each KZheadr is testing the product the same exact way following the same script.
These machines are so fast that you won't feel it with basic use and there aren't many ways to show HOW much faster it actually is. Things one of the few ways that show how an actual workflow is affected.
@@briantongpoint is, reviews are way more helpful when you show real life use. Show us what the battery is like from a full charge with nonstop use from mild, to medium, to intensive use. Show us where the struggles are in an intensive workflow and where the laptop excels more than it's predecessors. Surely you had to use the laptop to edit this video right? What was that experience even like? If you're saying that the experience is marginal then what's the point of even comparing the two items? Everyone's making the same reviews using the same methods to jot down benchmarks, the same tests, etc etc it really doesn't help people make an informed purchasing decision. Just sounds like these KZheadrs are fulfilling their obligations to make a new video over the latest product versus actually helping people learn about the item. "The new M3 with the updated max chip is crazy fast, exports videos 20 seconds faster than the M2! Check out the stats I got and read this chart and look at these numbers!!" The dude next to you said the same exact thing. Oh the laptop on a full charge is spec'd for 22 hours of use. Okay but is anyone actually even testing to see how true that is and in what level of intensive use are we talking about? No one's talking about that 🤔 sounds like the scripts been made and everyone's just following it
MKBHD said pretty much the same thing, he is hanging onto his M1. Apple's biggest problem is itself and they know it. Thats why the throttled the M3 Pro, so users have more reason to upgrade in the future. I bought an M1 MacBook Pro 13 inch in November 2020 and I can't find a single reason to upgrade. It just works, great battery life and super fast.