Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max vs Microsoft Surface Pro 12
[ VERDICT ]
Winner: Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max (91/100)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max leads overall with a score of 91/100 compared to Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (63/100), offering superior measured performance and technical specifications.
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Normalized Lab Scores| Benchmark | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery Life | 98.0 Excellent | — |
| Display | 98.0 Excellent | — |
| Gaming | 86.0 Very Good WINNER | 28.0 Poor |
| NanoReview Score | 91.0 Excellent WINNER | 63.0 Average |
| Performance | 94.0 Excellent WINNER | 57.0 Below Average |
| Portability | 88.0 Very Good | — |
Detailed Technical Specifications
Battery
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery Life | Up to 22 hours video playback | — |
| Battery Wh | 100 Wh Lithium-Polymer | — |
| Battery type | — | Li-Po |
| Charge power | — | 45 W |
| Charging port position | — | Right |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | — | Yes, 45 W |
| Fast charging | — | Yes |
| Full charging time | — | 2:05 hr |
| Replaceable | — | No |
| Weight of AC adapter | — | 173 grams |
Connectivity
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Ports | 3x Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, SDXC slot, MagSafe 3 | — |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | — | No |
| Bluetooth | — | v5.4 |
| DisplayPort | — | No |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | — | No |
| Fingerprint | — | No |
| HDMI | — | No |
| Infrared sensor | — | Yes |
| Optical drive | — | No |
| Proprietary charging port | — | No |
| SD card reader | — | No |
| Thunderbolt | — | No |
| USB Type-C | — | 2x USB 4.0 |
| USB-A | — | No |
| VGA | — | No |
| Webcam | — | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | — | 1920 x 1080 |
| Wi-Fi standard | — | v7 |
Design
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 2.16 kg (4.8 lbs) | 0.68 kg (1.5 lbs) |
Display
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Refresh Rate | 120 Hz ProMotion, 1600 nits peak HDR | — |
| Screen Size | 16.2 inches Liquid Retina XDR (3456 x 2234) | — |
| Adaptive refresh rate | — | Yes (60-90 Hz) |
| Adobe RGB profile | — | 73% |
| Ambient light sensor | — | Yes |
| Aspect ratio | — | 3:2 |
| Coating | — | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Contrast | — | 1200:1 |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | — | 72.7% |
| HDR support | — | No |
| PPI | — | 220 ppi |
| Refresh rate | — | 90 Hz |
| Resolution | — | 2196 x 1464 pixels |
| Response time | — | 25 ms |
| Size | — | 12 inches |
| Sync technology | — | No |
| Touchscreen | — | Yes |
| Type | — | IPS LCD |
| sRGB color space | — | 98.1% |
Performance
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Cpu | Apple M3 Max (16-core CPU: 12P + 4E) | — |
| Gpu | Apple 40-core Integrated GPU (Hardware Ray Tracing) | — |
| Ram | 36 GB Unified Memory (300 GB/s bandwidth) | — |
| Storage | 1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD (up to 7.4 GB/s) | — |
CPU
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Base frequency | — | 3.2 GHz |
| Cores | — | 8 |
| Fabrication process | — | 4 nm |
| Integrated GPU | — | Qualcomm Adreno X1-45 |
| L3 Cache | — | 6 MB |
| Threads | — | 8 |
| Turbo frequency | — | 3.4 GHz |
Case
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Area | — | 521 cm2(80.7 inches2) |
| Colors | — | Gray, Blue, Purple |
| Cooling system | — | Passive |
| Dimensions | — | 274 x 190 x 7.8 mm10.79 x 7.48 x 0.31 inches |
| Liquid metal | — | No |
| Material | — | Aluminum |
| Opening angle | — | 360° |
| Screen-to-body ratio | — | ~82.4% |
| Side bezels | — | 10.2 mm |
| Transformer | — | Yes |
| Vapor chamber | — | No |
| Weight | 2.16 kg (4.8 lbs) | 0.68 kg (1.5 lbs) |
Graphics Card
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| FLOPS | — | 1.7 TFLOPS |
| GPU base clock | — | 280 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | — | 1107 MHz |
| GPU performance | — | 1.7 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | — | System Shared |
| Memory speed | — | 8.45 Gbps |
| Memory type | — | LPDDR5X |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | — | 24 |
| Shading units (cores) | — | 768 |
| Solar Bay | — | 4592 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | — | 48 |
RAM
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Channels | — | 2x8 GB |
| Clock | — | 8448 MHz |
| Upgradable | — | No |
Sound
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Dolby Atmos | — | Yes |
| Loudness | — | ~82.1 dB |
| Microphones | — | 2 |
| Power | — | 2x2W |
| Speakers | — | 2.0 |
Storage
| Specification | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Microsoft Surface Pro 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Bus | — | Custom |
| NVMe | — | No |
| Storage type | — | SSD (M2) |
Looking for More Comparisons?
Browse all available head-to-head comparisons or select new devices in the comparison hub.