Apple MacBook Pro 14.2" M4 Max Silver 2024 Review

The M4 Max MacBook Pro stuffs a stunning 14-inch mini-LED display, a top-tier 16-core CPU, and an 8TB SSD into a 1.6kg body, making it a mobile editing suite for creative pros. Its GPU is competent but can't match the dedicated graphics in high-end Windows workstations, so 3D artists and gamers should look elsewhere. With prices starting at $6,099, it's a serious investment, but that all-in-one storage and macOS integration can justify the cost for the right user. For video editors and music producers in the Apple camp, it's basically a no-brainer.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Max chip is Apple planting a flag firmly in desktop-class territory, only you can slip it into a backpack. We're talking about a config that pairs a 16-core CPU with 64GB of unified memory and a frankly ridiculous 8TB SSD, all driving a 120Hz Liquid Retina XDR display. If you're a data scientist crunching massive datasets, a composer juggling hundreds of orchestral tracks, or a 3D artist who lives in Cinema 4D, this machine was built specifically for you. It's not subtle about who it's for, and the price tag, which starts around $6,099 and climbs from there, makes that crystal clear. Still, the promise of taking a workstation that would've filled a tower case five years ago to a coffee shop is pretty compelling.

There's no getting around that 8TB SSD. Our database puts it at the absolute top of the charts, and it means you can keep entire project libraries, raw 6K footage, and multiple virtual machines onboard without ever reaching for an external drive. Pair that with the best-in-class screen, a mini-LED panel that hits 1600 nits and covers the full DCI-P3 color space, and you've got a portable editing bay that's incredibly self-contained. The M4 Max's 40-core GPU even brings hardware-accelerated ray tracing to the table, a big deal for pro apps that are leveraging it for faster previews and final renders.

But there's a twist. Despite all that silicon, the GPU's raw horsepower doesn't stack up against laptops with a discrete RTX 4080 or 4090, and our testing bears that out. For creative workflows that lean on the CPU, like code compilation or audio production, this MacBook is an absolute monster. For gamers or anyone whose day job revolves around CUDA cores, it's more of a mixed bag. That doesn't make it a bad machine, it's arguably the finest MacBook Pro ever, but it does mean you need to know exactly which kind of professional you are before swiping that credit card.

In CPU-bound tasks, the M4 Max just chews through everything. Rendering complex 3D scenes using the CPU cores, compiling massive Xcode projects, or churning through 8K RED footage in Final Cut feels borderline instant. The 16-core chip lands among the leading performers we've tracked, and it stays there even when you're running multiple heavy apps simultaneously, thanks to that 64GB of unified memory. Real-world users consistently report quiet, cool operation even under sustained load, with the two-fan design keeping the chassis comfortable while barely spinning up. This thing is a walking example of Apple's silicon efficiency advantage.

The GPU story is where you need to pump the brakes. While the 40-core integrated chip is no slouch for what it is, its position in the 18th percentile of all laptops in our database tells you everything you need to know. For most macOS creative apps like Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve, or Lightroom, the acceleration is more than enough. But if you're a Blender artist trying to push Cycles renders or a gamer who wants to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 120 frames per second, you're going to hit a ceiling hard. The hardware-accelerated ray tracing helps in certain pro apps, but without the brute force of an NVIDIA GPU, you'll be waiting longer on final outputs. It's a CPU champion with a competent, but not class-leading, graphics sidekick.

Let's talk money. Apple's pricing for this config isn't exactly transparent, and across different vendors we've seen numbers bounce from $6,099 all the way up to $8,288. The best deal we've spotted is at $6,099, which is still a monumental amount of cash for a laptop. If you spec a 14-inch M4 Pro model with similar RAM and a smaller SSD, you'll save thousands and still get that same incredible display and chassis. The value proposition really hangs on that 8TB SSD. Buying an external Thunderbolt drive of equivalent speed and capacity would run you well over a grand, and you'd lose the convenience of having it all built in. So if local storage is non-negotiable for your workflow, this configuration suddenly feels less like a splurge and more like a unique package.

For everyone else, it's a tougher sell. A Windows workstation like the Lenovo P16 Gen 3 with a blazing NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada costs about the same but gives you dramatically more GPU muscle and user-upgradeable components, at the cost of bulk and battery life. The M4 Max MacBook Pro asks you to pay a premium for the Apple ecosystem, the best-in-class portable display, and that colossal SSD. If you're already deep in Final Cut and Logic Pro, it's probably worth it. If you're platform-agnostic and just need raw compute per dollar, you'll find better numbers elsewhere.

Stack this MacBook Pro against the Lenovo P16 Gen 3, and you can see the philosophical fork in the road. Lenovo's workstation can be had with up to an NVIDIA RTX 4090, a GPU that leaves the M4 Max in the dust for 3D simulations, CAD, and, of course, gaming. It also throws in a ton of ports, including USB-A and Ethernet, which the MacBook skips. But the Lenovo is a chunky, desk-bound machine that weighs nearly twice as much and has a lesser screen. If your day involves Visial Studio and CUDA-accelerated renderers, the Lenovo is the smarter buy. If you need a feather-light editing bay with a screen that's accurate enough for color grading, the MacBook is the clear winner.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition represents the other end of the spectrum. It's slimmer, cheaper, and runs a Snapdragon chip that sips power for all-day battery life. For Office work, streaming, and casual photo editing, it's more than enough. But try to feed it 6K video or a Logic Pro session with 100 tracks, and it'll wave a white flag. The MacBook Pro M4 Max is in a different league of raw compute, and you pay for every bit of it. If you're a student or a business user who doesn't push creative apps to the wall, the Surface or a MacBook Air would actually be a wiser use of your money.

Gamers should absolutely skip this machine. The GPU just isn't built for pushing high-refresh-rate AAA titles, and the macOS game library remains thin compared to Windows. You'd be far happier with an ASUS ROG Flow GZ302EA or an MSI Stealth A16 AI+, both of which pack dedicated NVIDIA GPUs and high-refresh screens for similar money. 3D artists whose workflow depends on CUDA cores or OptiX in Blender and Redshift should also look the other way; a Lenovo P16 Gen 3 with an RTX 4090 will render circles around the M4 Max in those scenarios.

Budget-conscious buyers should know that the M4 Pro version of this same laptop offers 90% of the experience for about half the price. Unless you critically need the 8TB SSD or the extra GPU cores are a daily must, the Pro will handle most creative tasks with ease while leaving thousands in your pocket. If you frequently work outdoors or in brightly lit studios, the lack of a Nano-Texture option on this specific config could be a dealbreaker too. In that case, check out the M4 Pro model which does offer that matte finish, or look at matte screen options on Windows workstations.

For video editors, music producers, and software developers who have fully bought into the Apple ecosystem, this 14-inch MacBook Pro is a dream. The M4 Max CPU and 64GB of unified memory will chew through your heaviest projects, the 8TB drive means you never have to offload footage, and the screen is simply the best you can get on a laptop right now. It's the kind of machine that makes you forget you're not sitting at a desktop, which is exactly the point. If you can afford the entry fee and your apps are optimized for Apple Silicon, there's no better portable workstation.

If your work leans heavily on GPU compute, especially 3D rendering in Blender or real-time sims in Unreal Engine, pump the brakes. The integrated 40-core GPU, while no joke, can't hang with a discrete RTX 4080 or 4090 that you'd find in a comparably priced Windows mobile workstation. You'll also want to skip this if you need a laptop for serious gaming; that 45.7 gaming score and lack of many AAA titles on macOS make it a poor fit. In those cases, look at the Lenovo P16 Gen 3 or an ASUS ROG Flow instead. But for the creative pro who knows they're getting a CPU beast with a supernova of a display and ungodly storage, the M4 Max MacBook Pro is a staggering piece of engineering.