A two-month test for a fast, light laptop

The top-drawer M3 Max MacBook Pro has the power to let you hook up high-refresh rate displays and external keyboards when tethered at home, and go flexible when out

- Shouvik Das

The first thought that is likely to strike you when it comes to most of Apple's top-drawer products is: Exactly how much really is too much? This particular epiphany is perfectly apt when it comes to the most expensive laptop that Apple sells right now-the MacBook Pro (2023).

Before we get into epiphanies, the new MacBook Pro costs up to ₹7.2 lakh for its maxed-out configuration of a 16-inch display, the 40-core M3 Max chip, 128GB of "unified" memory, and an 8TB SSD for storage. The version that I have used for the past two months has all the performance chops mentioned above, only with a 14-inch display. Let's take a closer look at how the laptop performed during this testing period.

You could buy a base-spec SUV from Renault or a sedan from Hyundai for the same amount of money. Chances are that you wouldn't be considering this laptop if your priority was the car. But, are such comparison metrics fair when it comes to the value of a laptop that's meant to run massive data models, edit multi-billion dollar blockbuster movies, and design the next all-conquering video game? That, as I found out, is an epiphany in itself.

A RELIABLE WORKHORSE 

There are a few things in the modern world as enduring as the nursery rhyme Old MacDonald Had A Farm.

It would be safe to say that for the most part, the MacBook shares some of this age-old rhyme's endurance when it comes to reliability.

In the past two months, this durability and reliability showed up in the 2023 MacBook Pro's ability to do the simplest of things.