Apple's early 2023 16-inch MacBook Pro combines M2 Pro or M2 Max with a 120 Hz mini-LED display, HDMI, an SD card slot and MagSafe charging for creative and development work.
Both reviews praise the performance gains, long battery life, mini-LED screen and improved HDMI output. Both consider the upgrade more useful for Intel Mac owners than users of the 2021 model. Macworld criticises the camera; Tom's Guide likes it and the speakers but finds the machine large and expensive.
Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting
Pixel density
254 ppi
Colour range
Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Display features
1,000,000:1 contrast; 1,000 nits sustained full-screen HDR brightness; ProMotion adaptive refresh up to 120 Hz; fixed 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60 Hz rates; True Tone
Performance
Processor
Apple M2 Pro or Apple M2 Max
CPU cores
12
Graphics
19-core GPU, 30-core GPU or 38-core GPU
Memory
16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB or 96 GB
Storage
512 GB to 8 TB
CPU
M2 Pro or M2 Max with 12-core CPU, comprising 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
GPU
M2 Pro with 19-core GPU; M2 Max with 30-core or 38-core GPU; hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; video decode, video encode and ProRes engines; M2 Max has two video encode and two ProRes engines
AI engine
16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Unified memory; 16 GB or 32 GB with M2 Pro, 32 GB or 64 GB with M2 Max; 96 GB with the 38-core GPU version
Memory bandwidth
200 GB/s (M2 Pro); 400 GB/s (M2 Max)
Storage type
SSD; M2 Pro starts at 512 GB, M2 Max at 1 TB; configurable to 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Up to 22 hours
Battery capacity
99.6 Wh
Weight
2.15 kg
Thickness
16.8 mm
Width × depth
355.7 × 248.1 mm
Battery life detail
Up to 22 hours Apple TV app movie playback or 15 hours wireless web; marketed as 100 Wh, with actual rating 99.6 Wh in Apple's footnote
Charger
140 W USB-C power adapter included
Fast charging
With the included 140 W USB-C power adapter and MagSafe 3 cable
Three Thunderbolt 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s; HDMI; SDXC slot; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support
External displays
M2 Pro supports two at 6K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt or one at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 144 Hz over HDMI; M2 Max supports three at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 4K 144 Hz, or two at 6K 60 Hz plus one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz; HDMI alone supports 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz
Keyboard
Backlit Magic Keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 full-height function keys
Trackpad
Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo; spatial audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming
Biometrics
Touch ID
In the box
16-inch MacBook Pro, 140 W USB-C power adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable (2 m)
Configurations
Processor
Memory
Storage
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
512 GB
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Pro
16 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
512 GB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Pro
32 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
32 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
32 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
32 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
32 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
64 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
64 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
64 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max, 30-core GPU
64 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max
32 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max
32 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max
32 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max
32 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max
64 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max
64 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max
64 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max
64 GB
8 TB
Apple M2 Max
96 GB
1 TB
Apple M2 Max
96 GB
2 TB
Apple M2 Max
96 GB
4 TB
Apple M2 Max
96 GB
8 TB
Pros and cons
Pros
+Mini-LED display with adaptive refresh up to 120 Hz
+HDMI and SDXC ports alongside three Thunderbolt 4 ports
+Up to 96 GB of unified memory with M2 Max
Cons
−Memory and storage cannot be upgraded after purchase
−No USB-A ports
−Weighs 2.15 kg with M2 Pro or 2.16 kg with M2 Max
