Apple MacBook Pro 14.2" M4 Max Space Black 2024

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Max is a productivity beast for creators and coders, with a stunning mini-LED display and marathon battery. Gaming performance is a serious letdown, and prices are all over the map, but for pro workloads it's top of the charts.

The M4 Max 14-core CPU sits at the 92nd percentile in our benchmarks, which means it smokes nearly every other laptop we've tested. Exporting a 10-minute 4K project in Final Cut takes seconds, not minutes. Xcode compile times are laughably short. Even with a dozen Safari tabs and Photoshop running, the system doesn't break a sweat. The integrated 32-core GPU is the kryptonite here. It lands at the 18th percentile for raw gaming grunt, so while it chews through video rendering and 3D modeling, it can't hold a candle to a dedicated RTX 4070 in a Windows laptop. If you need serious graphics horsepower for gaming or CUDA-based apps, this isn't your chip. The 36GB of RAM is solid (77th percentile) and the 1TB SSD is average for the class (68th percentile), but both are soldered, so what you order is what you live with forever.

The closest Windows competitor is probably the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 with a discrete GPU. It'll game circles around the MacBook and costs less, but its screen and battery life are a big step down. The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 is a mobile workstation that can be configured with 128GB of RAM and a pro GPU, making it a better fit for AI researchers or engineers who need CUDA, though it's heavier and the display can't match Apple's mini-LED. Samsung's Galaxy Book5 Pro has a sublime OLED panel and an equally thin chassis, but its Intel chip trails the M4 Max in sustained multi-core workloads. The MSI Prestige and HP ZBook Ultra G1a are also solid picks for Windows users, but they lack the seamless iPhone integration and fanless-like silence the MacBook enjoys under light loads.

The value equation is tricky because the price can vary by nearly $2000 from store to store. The low end of $2500 is a lot for a laptop, but you're getting one of the fastest CPUs on the planet and a display that professional colorists would envy. The high end of $4463 feels steep, especially when competitors like the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 or ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 offer expandable RAM and dedicated GPUs for similar or less money. If your work pays the bills and you live in Final Cut or Xcode, the base model is a solid investment. Just shop around and don't pay full freight if you can avoid it.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Max chip is Apple flexing its silicon muscles. If you're a developer, video editor, or anyone who pushes a laptop to its limits, this machine will feel like a cheat code. Our database places its CPU in the 92nd percentile, and the Mini-LED display is the best on a laptop right now. It's expensive, with prices bouncing between $2500 and $4463 depending on configuration and vendor, but a 4.8-star rating from 847 buyers tells you it delivers for the right crowd. That crowd just isn't gamers. The integrated 32-core GPU scores a weak 42.1 out of 100 in our gaming tests, so no, this isn't the Mac you buy for Starfield at 120 fps. But for compiling code, crunching 8K video, or running Logic Pro, it's an absolute monster. The 36GB of unified memory isn't class-leading, but it's more than enough for most pro workflows, and the keyboard and trackpad are the usual Apple gold standard.

Gamers and anyone needing a beefy dedicated GPU should look elsewhere; an ASUS ROG Zephyrus or Lenovo Legion with an RTX 4070 delivers far better frame rates for less money. If you need more than 1TB of storage or 36GB of RAM, know that you can't upgrade later, so you'd be better served by a workstation like the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3. And if your software only runs on Windows, you'll save cash and frustration by picking up an HP ZBook or similar machine.

If you're a creative pro who wants a portable, nearly silent machine with a jaw-dropping screen and all-day battery, the M4 Max MacBook Pro is a home run. It's the best laptop for video editors and developers on the market right now. But if you need a laptop that can also game at high settings, you'll be disappointed. And if your workflow lives entirely in Windows, you're paying a premium for hardware you'll never fully exploit. In that case, a Lenovo ThinkPad or HP workstation makes more sense.