Maximum power

Apple's flagship laptop is now even flagshippier, with a powerful new chip and a goth-friendly colour option that would look right at home in the Batcave

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Apple unveiled its new MacBook Pros and M3 chips at an event it called Scary Fast. Well, that must make the model it sent us for this review the scary fastest: an M3 Max specced to the point that would send the average bank account flying into the red at astonishing speed.

It slots in at the top of a range that includes the M3-powered MacBook Pro (ideal for students and people who’d mostly be fine with a MacBook Air but need a cooling system that allows for sustained power); and the one with the M3 Pro (for creatives craving extra clout). That leaves the M3 Max catering for the most extreme workflows, in a largely familiar form factor – one you can set to work pretty much anywhere, whether or not there’s a plug socket available.

But does it genuinely have the performance muscle to frighten other laptops? And is that new Space Black finish a case of “Ooh, ahh!” or “Oh, ARGH!”?

Black arts

This Mac feels expensive. Which is just as well, because it is. It’s chunkier than a MacBook Air, but curved corners and chamfered edges mean it’s not boxy (1). The hinge is stable; there’s a satisfying snap when the cover shuts, and it’s easy to open the lid with a finger.

Black beauty

The new Space Black colour (only available on the M3 Pro and M3 Max models) is really a very, very dark grey (2). Apple’s done fancy things with the anodisation seal to foil fingerprints, but don’t expect magic: smudges and smears are less noticeable than on an Air, but they’re still there.

Black watch