The MacBook Pro stuttered when I added some rotation, adjusted sliders, and made minor changes to color, but it still powered through a multitude of layers and effects without the fans kicking in. Editing photos on Pixelmator and Adobe Photoshop, on the other hand, felt a lot smoother. I experienced some stuttering while editing a stream of 4K Pro Res files on Final Cut Pro-it particularly struggled with slight color adjustments and built-in effects. On busier work days, when I had about 20 tabs open on Google Chrome and a few apps running simultaneously in the background, it felt sluggish there was some lag when switching between windows and tabs, and the rainbow wheel appeared a few times. We suggest you stay away from the 14-inch model with an M2 Max chip-the smaller battery coupled with the power-hungry processor won't result in the best battery life. For intermediate content creators, the M2 Pro coupled with either size will suffice-the 14-inch MacBook Pro is similar in size to the 13-inch MacBook Pro, making it easier to travel with, but the 16-inch MacBook Pro might feel ginormous. If you're stuck on the exact combination to go with, we recommend the 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Pro chip for those who want a big display and more battery life. With web browsing, we experienced about 12 hours on the bigger MacBook while the smaller model only hit about half that.

During intensive workloads, the 14-inch MacBook Pro lasted two hours on battery while the 16-inch reached three to four hours. Its larger chassis lends itself to better airflow and cooling, and it also trumps the 14-inch model in battery life. The 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Max does have exclusive access to a High Power Mode, which enhances performance for more graphics-intensive projects like editing 8K footage. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Pro processor also delivered smooth performance when put through a slightly similar stress test (such as editing RED raw footage via Final Cut) with zero stuttering or hiccups. The result? Smooth playback (without the need to reduce the quality of the footage to avoid stutters) and a speedy export time-proving that it's an excellent device for handling intensive, graphically-demanding production work. He put the device through its paces by adding 4K footage, 3D effects, and image files to a project in Adobe Premiere Pro. WIRED reviewer Adam Speight tested the 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Max chip. Editing 4K videos? Rendering 3D models in CAD? Producing music? That’s what these machines are intended for.

If you’re mostly working through a web browser and typing up documents, these machines are overkill, and you should stick with a MacBook Air with M2 or M1. The two processor choice options are significantly more powerful than most people need.

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