Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) review: M3 Max surpasses the M1 Ultra, nice design, and ProMotion display, but RAM and SSD upgrades are pricey and the notch remains
A solid generational upgrade for a laptop that wouldn't be possible with Intel. — The next year or two will be a turning point …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s 16-inch Pro line had already established a pattern: the M2 Max generation paired high performance, battery life and display quality with limited upgradeability and a premium configuration ladder. The 2023 review says the M3 Max pushes that performance further while retaining the same basic industrial design.
The simultaneous 14-inch review positioned M3 as a capable lower-end Pro option, but also criticized its base memory and reduced port configuration. Across the range, performance gains are arriving alongside continued pressure on memory configuration choices.
First-order effects
- The M3 Max makes the 16-inch MacBook Pro a stronger option for buyers who need very high performance in a portable machine, with the review explicitly benchmarking it beyond the earlier M1 Ultra.
- Buyers still face costly RAM and SSD upgrades, while the notch and established chassis remain compromises rather than new design improvements.
Second-order effects
- Apple can further segment the MacBook Pro range by chip tier and memory/storage configuration: strong base performance does not remove the incentive for demanding users to pay for higher-spec builds.
- The 14-inch and 16-inch models become more differentiated by performance headroom and configuration trade-offs, even as both share the same broader M3-era platform.
Third-order effects
- If successive Apple-silicon generations keep moving desktop-class performance into laptops, the premium notebook category will compete increasingly on sustained performance, efficiency and configuration options rather than annual chassis redesigns.
- The recurring criticism of expensive, non-upgradable memory and storage suggests that component configuration—not just processor speed—will remain a durable purchasing and product-positioning fault line.
The trend: Apple’s MacBook Pro strategy is increasingly using in-house silicon gains to concentrate higher-end computing capability in portable systems while preserving margins through fixed configuration tiers.