New Colour and Chip in Apple’s Latest Laptop

All right, there are two noteworthy changes about this new laptop from Apple. The first is the change in colour and the second addition is the new chip. Everything already great about the exterior design of Apple’s laptops stays just as amazing. It still has a variety of ports, including full-size HDMI. The mag safe remains, and the high-quality build, boxy design, and super-bright display are still intact. However, all the previous awkward aspects remain awkward. It still keeps the large notch at the top with just a webcam and no face unlock feature.

The New Colour — Not Quite Black

What’s different with this launch, however, is colour. Sort of. Apple’s new colour has been named ‘space black’ and it did look incredibly dark in Apple’s announcement video However, the reality it’s a shade darker than the previous space gray. This tone is the darkest Apple could venture without the surface showing too many fingerprints. But, it’s not completely immune and does reveal some smudges. Camera angles and lighting can make it appear really dark and it does come with matching black Apple stickers and a mag safe charging cable. The cable is also a darker shade, though the charging brick remains white.

The New Chip — The M3 Family

Moving on to the next big change in this laptop is its chip. The new M3 family of chips is an upgrade from the former M2 series. In testing the top-end M3 Max, the chip shifted from a 38 core GPU to a 40 core, and from 96 gigs of shared memory to 128 gigs. Apple’s claims about improved CPU performance appear to be roughly accurate, with around a 20–30% increase over last year. This is pretty impressive, with a significant spike seen in single-core performance, enhancing regular computing activities. While the GPU performance did get a nice upgrade, it didn’t outstrip the significant discrete GPUs. However, it did elevate the M3 Max’s GPU to the level of M1 Ultra, aligning it around the performance of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 on benchmarks or an RTX 3070.

Extra Graphics Power for Ultimate Performance

The new GPU performance is interesting, particularly when considering its uses. With this new graphics power, it could handle high-powered graphics-related applications. On a laptop like this, that generally implies games. This is the first Mac to offer hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading. However, as with all Macs, the gaming capabilities remain somewhat limited.

Gaming on a Macbook: Expectations versus Reality

As any gaming enthusiast knows, Macs aren’t traditionally the go-to platform for gaming. That’s not because they lack power. In fact, they may not be quite as potent as the most high-end, discrete GPUs, but they’re by no means substandard. The primary issue is game availability. Macs often fall short in their offering of mainstream games that gamers are keen to play like The Witcher, new Fallout, Skyrim crisis, and Apex Legends, to name but a few.

Interestingly though, the Mac gaming scenario is in an intriguing place right now. In spite of the fact that a plethora of popular games aren’t compatible with Mac, the most powerful Mac ever constructed has recently been released. As part of its promotional strategy, Apple often features some of the games available on its app store, all of which are compatible with the Mac. One such game is ‘Lies of P’, showcased at Apple’s keynote event.

The game utilizes the hardware-accelerated ray tracing, evident in the game’s reflection details and superb frame rates even at a 4K resolution. Moreover, the macOS Sonoma sports a gaming mode that optimizes the gameplay experience by allotting maximum power to the game. It also supports high-speed Bluetooth controllers with decreased latency, resulting in an impressive gaming experience.

However, if you’re considering investing such a large sum of cash into gaming, a Mac wouldn’t typically be your first choice. This boils down to the limited games that take advantage of these high-tech features. Despite this marked disparity, the Macbook Pro’s high-performance GPU also lavishly caters to non-gaming applications like Cinema 4D, which leverage this advanced GPU power, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and mesh shading.

This entire revelation sparked the decision to upgrade to the M1 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro. Nevertheless, after thorough testing and review, it became apparent that the limited scope of improved gaming experience and insignificant enhancements in one’s workflow don’t justify the investment in the new hardware for some users. As a result, despite the initial excitement and anticipation, the decision was made to stick with the old, reliable M1 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro.

At the end of the day, owning an M1 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro is a matter of personal preference and largely dependent on individual workflows. If you’re already an M1 Max user, the ‘need’ to upgrade may not be justified.

Understanding MacBook Upgrades

When it comes to selecting a MacBook from the tier that suits your needs best, whether it’s an M2 Pro, M1 Pro, or M3 Pro, it’s important to note that the difference won’t be substantial if you already have a machine from the same tier. This is a common scenario with spec upgrades — they’re most beneficial for those with older machines.

Users of older machines or Intel-run machines, or users hoping to unlock new functionalities in their workflows, stand to gain the most from these upgrades. That’s the beauty of this updated range; it offers better machine quality than ever before.

Personally, I find the M1 Max so efficient that I continue to use it, perhaps underlining just how good it is. Maybe there will be a review a few years down the line, but for now, the availability of a darker colour doesn’t tempt me to upgrade, although I appreciate the option.

Perhaps, when a commitment to matte black is made, or there’s another eye-catching upgrade, I might entertain the idea. But for now, M1 Max serves my needs, proving that these laptops — with their great displays, high-quality build, amazing speakers, and impressive battery life — are exceptional machines already.

Busting the Myth of ‘Free Phones’

Now, on to a slightly different topic — the notion of a ‘free phone’. Whenever a new phone is released and you start seeing a flood of adverts for ‘free phones’, it’s important to think critically. The harsh truth is, there is no such thing as a ‘free phone’. One way or another, you will end up footing the bill.

Usually, these ‘free phones’ are bound to expensive plans or come with certain caveats, such asthree or two-year contracts with hefty exit fees. So, remember — these phones are never truly free, it’s just a case of smoke and mirrors.

There are, however, some companies that opt for transparency over gimmicks, like Visible Wireless. They charge a flat rate without any hidden fees and don’t lock you into a long-term contract. So for just 25 bucks a month, you can enjoy their service, paid monthly.

If you’re tired of the bait-and-switch tactics typically associated with ‘free phone’ offers, consider going with a provider that values transparency and customer satisfaction over clever marketing ploys.