MacBook Pro (14-inch, M2 Pro, 2023) vs Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Pro M2 Pro1 | Mac Studio M1 Max2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,1493launch price | £1,9994launch price |
| Chip | M2 Prochip | M1 Maxchip |
| CPU | 10-coreCPU | 10-coreCPU |
| GPU | 16-coreGPU | 24-coreGPU |
| Memory | 16GBunified memory, base | 32GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 512GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Not available5No battery |
| Released | 24 January 20233ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 17 January 2023. | 18 March 20224ReleasedIn select Apple Stores; orderable online from 8 March 2022. |
| Security updates | Not available6Security updates | Not available6Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Pro M2 Pro is £2,149 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the Mac Studio M1 Max is £1,999 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
- Kind of Mac
- The MacBook Pro M2 Pro is a laptop; the Mac Studio M1 Max is a desktop. The MacBook Pro M2 Pro has a built-in 14.2-inch display, a camera and a battery, whereas the Mac Studio M1 Max has none of them.
True to scale
A laptop and a desktop are different shapes, so they stand side by side rather than superposed: the footprint of one and the front face of the other, from Apple’s published dimensions, at one scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.
Body
| Specification | MacBook Pro M2 Pro1 | Mac Studio M1 Max2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 15.5 x 312.6 x 221.2 mm | 95 x 197 x 197 mm |
| Weight | 1.6 kg | 2.7 kg |
| Colours | Silver, Space Grey | Silver |
| Ports | Three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 port, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack | Four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports (up to 5Gb/s), HDMI port, 10Gb Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone jack; on front (M1 Max): two USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s), SDXC card slot (UHS-II) |
| Thunderbolt ports | 3 | 4 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.7 | 2 |
| HDMI | HDMI port | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | Yes | Yes |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Yes | Not available8 |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID | Not available9 |
| Touch ID | Yes | Not available10 |
| Touch Bar | No Touch Bar.11 | Not available12 |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Pro M2 Pro1 | Mac Studio M1 Max2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 14.2 in | Not available13 |
| Resolution | 3024 x 1964 | Not available13 |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | Not available13 |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display | Not available13 |
| Brightness | 500 nits | Not available13 |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | 1,600 nits | Not available13 |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | Not available13 |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Not available13 |
| Nano-texture option | No nano-texture display option.11 | Not available13 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Pro M2 Pro1 | Mac Studio M1 Max2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M2 Pro chip | Apple M1 Max chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 10 | 10 |
| Performance cores | 6 | 8 |
| Efficiency cores | 4 | 2 |
| GPU cores | 16 | 24 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M2 Pro with 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU, or M2 Pro with 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU14 | M1 Max with 10-core CPU and 24-core GPU, or M1 Max with 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU15 |
| Memory (base) | 16GB | 32GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 32GB14 | 64GB15 |
| Memory options | 16GB or 32GB14 | 32GB or 64GB15 |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents16 | Not available17 |
| Memory bandwidth | 200 GB/s | 400 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 512GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 8TB14 | 8TB15 |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB14 | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB15 |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginetwo video encode enginestwo ProRes encode and decode engines |
Battery and power
| Specification | MacBook Pro M2 Pro1 | Mac Studio M1 Max2 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 70 Wh | Not available5 |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles18 | Not available5 |
| Video playback (claimed) | 18 h | Not available5 |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 12 h | Not available5 |
| Included power adapter | 67 W | Not available19 |
| Fast charging | Yes | Not available5 |
| Maximum continuous power | Not available20 | 370 W |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Pro M2 Pro1 | Mac Studio M1 Max2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) | 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.0 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.11 | 10Gb Ethernet (Nbase-T Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb and 10Gb Ethernet using RJ-45 connector) |
| External displays (base) | 2 | 5 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Pro M2 Pro1 | Mac Studio M1 Max2 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera | Not available21 |
| Speakers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers | Built-in speaker22 |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming | Not available17 |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2022) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils all-new Mac Studio and Studio Display ·
↩Doesn’t apply: no battery
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M2 Pro, 2023): No USB-A ports.
↩Doesn’t apply: MagSafe is a notebook charging port
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard, and Touch ID is a keyboard feature
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M2 Pro, 2023): No Touch Bar. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: the Touch Bar was only fitted to MacBook Pro
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in display
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2022) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Doesn’t apply: internal power supply, no power adapter in the box
↩Doesn’t apply: a notebook lists its power adapter, not a maximum continuous power
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in camera
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2022) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Pro M2 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2023) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model, read 9 Oct 2026.
Mac Studio M1 Max. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Geekbench 7 Metal: the Mac chart row for this Mac does not state its GPU core count, so no Metal score is shown (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2022) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils all-new Mac Studio and Studio Display; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model, read 9 Oct 2026.
If you own one of them
Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my MacBook Pro M2 Pro (14-inch, 2023)? · Should I upgrade my Mac Studio M1 Max (2022)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.