So it’s been 3 weeks since I’ve used the new as my main machine, using it 100% of the time to do all the things I do: from developing software, writing articles to share on Tinhte to making videos to let me know. up YouTube, TikTok. Here’s everything you need to know about 16″ 2021 M1 Max.
My new MacBook is a 16″ version, I chose this version because I like to use the largest screen possible. Before, except for my first VAIO, it was 14″, and every machine after that was 15″ or 16″. . The machine will be bigger and heavier, but I accept that, but small screen laptops are not used to it.
About the reason why I chose the M1 Max version, because I find that it is optimized for tasks related to images and videos, but that’s what I do and how I make money, so as long as it helps me, I invest. The base 16″ MacBook Pro with M1 Max already has 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, the genuine price in Vietnam is 92 million VND. It’s a bit rare, now it will be a bit difficult for you to find.
Design and appearance
This year is the first year has refreshed the design of the MacBook Pro since 2016, and this is a huge change. The new Pro 14″ and Pro 16″ look more square and lumpy than the old one, it’s also thicker and heavier (emphasis on the word a lot). In return, you get better heat dissipation space.With this design, when I first looked at the picture from the Apple website, I found it not beautiful, not dark, but not attractive. But when I was able to see it in real life, the device was more beautiful than on the picture. It’s beautiful in a rugged style, in the style of 2006 MacBooks, not in the sexy slim style of the MacBook Pro from 2012. Maybe many of you will disagree with the word “beautiful” here, completely. Fair enough, I think it’s beautiful.
I also like how the keyboard is made entirely of black inside. At first, I thought it was ugly when I saw the picture, but again when I hold it in reality, it is beautiful and looks cooler.
Obviously, the new 16″ MacBook Pro is much heavier than the old machine, 200g. This number sounds small, but holding it in your hand is completely different. Pro 16″ 2021 has a weight of 2.2kg, a not small number in this moment. If you like thin and light machines, the Pro 16″ 2021 is definitely not for you.Note that when you buy the M1 Max chip, the device will be 2.2kg, while the M1 Pro is 2.1kg.
Excellent mini LED display
The depth of the new 16″ MacBook Pro is excellent, thanks to the new mini-LED backlight. The contrast is also darker, when you put the old 16″ MacBook Pro next to it, you can see the difference in areas. blacks and transitions between colors.
The important thing that I like about the MacBook Pro 16″ 2021 is brightness. Display XDR that I use often. However, you should note that 1000 nits or more is only used for HDR content, and normally about 500 nits. But 500 nit is already very bright.
When used, it is much brighter than the old 16″ Pro, and especially when using the battery, the machine does not have a slight decrease in brightness like all previous MacBook Pros. balcony like where I sit and I like to turn on all the lights in the room, this brightness is too good. Now using low brightness I am not used to. The resolution
of the new MacBook Pro screen has also been increased compared to before ( to 3456 x 2234), a slight increase, and Apple has kept the same 254ppi to ensure the best possible screen experience. Low-resolution images are an immediate pain in the eye, an immediate annoyance.
The notch is not a problem, after 1 day of use, I forgot about it, didn’t even remember that the notch appeared on the 16″ MacBook Pro until I wrote this review . I don’t care if you use it, only outsiders can see it, ignore them, but unfortunately there is no Face ID, only a 1080p webcam.
The new screen is thicker than the old one, which is the price to pay for the mini LED.
In addition, the screen of the new 16″ MacBook Pro also has a 120Hz refresh rate, I mostly find it smoother in dragging and dropping windows, scrolling the web… I don’t play games much, so I don’t notice the difference. , in addition, the operating system itself will also adjust the refresh rate lower or higher depending on what is displayed on the screen, so you may not be impressed. it’s okay, I’m not too impressed with it after using it for a while, or is it because I’m used to the 120Hz screen of the iPad Pro, so I find it often?
Power
I’ve been writing articles for a while now and I’m still hungover, looking forward to this part to tell you about how the new 16″ MacBook Pro has far surpassed my old Pro. The power of the Apple M1 Max chip is too especially in tasks where it is optimized like editing movies with Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro is also an Apple video editing tool and it is optimized to exploit the full GPU of the M1 Max, and this happens to be When
editing movies with Final Cut Pro, even when outputting to a 6K screen or when using a laptop directly, the operation is extremely smooth, without errors, without stuttering. jerky, rarely dropped frames.These things my old MacBook Pro 16″ appear often so it affects what I do, I have to wait longer.
And yet, the movie output is a pain for my old 16″ MacBook Pro running Core i9, 32GB of RAM.Every time a 4K video is output, especially a video with many layers overlapping and with more text and effects, the machine will It takes a long time even for a TikTok video of about 2p to take about 4-5 minutes to finish exporting, and a YouTube video of 10p or 20p to take even longer, especially when exporting a video, the device will I put all my energy into this and everything else, it slowed down. be continued.
On the new 16″ MacBook Pro, everything runs smoothly, all of the above problems no longer appear, and when I export the video, I can still edit photos with Photoshop, Lightroom comfortably. especially the video output time is only 1/2 or 1/3 compared to before, saving a lot of time, especially when I need to do it urgently.This is also the reason why I choose M1 Max, I also spent tens of millions more, but it helps me work faster, earn more money is too good.
With other things that I do, mainly work related to software development, making apps, it is heavy on the CPU, not using much of the GPU. On the M1 Max as well as the M1 Pro I’ve tested, all of this runs smoothly. The software doesn’t really need high configuration, so doing it on the M1 Max is not much different from the old Core i9. There is a point of much improvement is that when I make an app, when I run 2 Android and iOS virtual machines in parallel, the machine runs smoothly, in the past with my 16″ MacBook Pro, it would slow down from time to time.
Another good thing about the MacBook Pro 16″ 2021 is that the fan spins extremely quietly, different from what the MacBook Pro 16″ Core i9 shows. Even when the machine is running very hard, specifically 4K video output, the fan almost does not make any sound that can be heard clearly. During the 3 weeks of using the device, I have never heard the fan spinning so loud, I had to put my ear close to it to hear it. Apple is somehow able to maintain high performance with low heat, which is probably the best part of the new MacBook Pro.
The M1 Max also has a High Power mode, which you can enable in System Preferences > Battery. You can adjust High Power only when plugged in, or even when using batteries. If this mode is enabled, Apple explains, “Your Mac will be optimized for performance for resource-intensive tasks. This can result in the fan spinning noisier.” But when I turned it on, I found the difference in the performance of what I did was not significant, the fan did not see a larger rotation.
Right now I’m extremely satisfied with the performance of the MacBook Pro 16″ M1 Max. Of course, you’ll have to do things or use software optimized for Apple Silicon chips, then you’ll get the most out of it. Currently, the items that I use are optimized for Apple Silicon are Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom, and Microsoft Office suite , even better than using it on a Windows laptop, is it surprising 😁
For those of you who are working on software development or data-related work, now all All the tools that I usually do are already compatible with Apple Silicon. Right now I don’t have any problems with all the projects I’m working on.
Battery life
The MacBook Pro 16″ 2021 using the M1 Max chip has the same battery life as the old 16″ MacBook Pro, if using the battery, it only takes about 6 hours to run out (in the condition of turning on 100% brightness, turning on all connections, use external speakers, Wi-Fi continuous connection). If you save more, reduce the screen brightness, you can achieve about 10 hours or something. I like to turn on the maximum brightness for it.
But this is only the version using the M1 Max chip. If you use the M1 Pro chip, the battery will have a longer use time. When I experienced the MacBook Pro 14″ version using the M1 Pro chip, the battery was much better.
Remember, if you want a long battery life, choose the M1 Pro only, the M1 Max will consume more power even if you don’t. What do you use for graphics?
Keyboard and speakers
The key travel of the MacBook Pro 16″ 2021 is a bit deeper than that of the Pro 16″ 2019, when typing feels much better, much happier. Of course, it’s still impossible compared to mechanical keyboards, the keyboard is separate, but in a laptop, I find it too great. Of all the laptops I’ve experienced in this 2021, the 16 “Pro is the best typing, equivalent to the happy experience when I use the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9. On the keyboard there is also a fingerprint sensor
. Using it is the same as before, still sensitive, touch it and login to use it.
The speakers of the 16″ MacBook Pro are always good, especially for someone who likes to use external speakers like me, it makes more sense. The new 16″ MacBook Pro’s speakers are a bit warmer than the old one and the bass is also clearer. And like the keyboard, I also find the 16″ MacBook Pro speakers to be the best-sounding speakers of any laptop I’ve used this year, it’s on a different level than most laptops. MacBook Pro 14″.
Connector
This year, the MagSafe port is back, but honestly, I’ve been sitting at home a lot lately, so I always plug in the monitor using the USB-C port, rarely using the MagSafe port. But I still like this port very much, like the feeling of bringing the jack closer to it, the magnet sucks in. I like the way that if I pass by the power cord, the cord will come off, not pull the laptop to the ground. Love the red LED that appears when the device is charging.
Regarding the HDMI port, I no longer use this port, even the projectors on the company have switched to using USB-C – HDMI, so I have not used this new HDMI port since I bought it.
But my favorite is the SD card slot. No more need to use a removable memory card reader. For those who record a lot of video, need to import videos continuously from the camera’s memory card to the laptop, this is what I need.
Not very related to the connection port, but in the end, the useless Touch Bar has disappeared, giving me back a row of hard buttons to use very confidently, click yes, know for sure which button is located.
Webcam is sharper, brighter than before, 1080p. This part, you guys watch in the video for clarity, otherwise it won’t describe it all. However, for me, the webcam is not very important, because video calls are reduced to 720p anyway. In addition, when I livestream, I often plug in a camera, so I don’t pay attention to the laptop webcam.
Conclusion
If you need maximum power to be able to serve your work, this is the machine you should buy. End. It’s pricey, but if it makes you work better that’s fine, no problem, just an investment. Impressive performance, excellent screen are the things you will love about the 16″ MacBook Pro with M1 Max chip. Don’t worry about the notch, it’s not a problem, Strengths
