Review: M1 Max MacBook Pro After Three Months

It’s now been a few months since the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models launched in October, and MacRumors video editor Dan Barbera has been using one of the new machines since they debuted. Over on the MacRumors YouTube channel, Dan has shared a three month review of his MacBook Pro to see how it has held up over time and how it’s changed his workflow.

Dan is using the 16-inch MacBook Pro that features an M1 Max chip with 10 compute cores and a 32-core GPU, aka the top of the line chip. The machine features 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD, and it is the high-end pre-configured version that Apple offers.

In usage, the MacBook Pro is close to perfect, but Dan does go over a handful of complaints in his video. The MacBook Pro is subject to crashes and restarts when used in clamshell mode, which could be attributed to third-party Thunderbolt accessories.

The SSD can also malfunction randomly when transferring footage from an external drive. At times, transfer speeds slow to a crawl, an issue fixed with a restart. These are the two major issues that Dan has experienced, and he has otherwise had no problems. Performance overall is excellent, the display is beautiful, and the extra ports are useful.

For those considering a purchase, Dan says that he wishes that he had gone with a 2TB SSD over a 1TB because of his video editing needs, and he’s not sure that he’s happy with the weight and size of the 16-inch MacBook Pro when the same functionality is available with the smaller and more portable 14-inch MacBook Pro.

Make sure to watch Dan’s video for his full review, and let us know in the comments how you’re liking your 2021 M1 Pro/‌M1 Max‌ MacBook Pro if you have one.