Building A 16-Inch MacBook Pro M4 Max / Looking At Components

[Dutton P Body]

I'm building a 16-inch MacBook Pro, M4 Max Chip with 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 2TB SSD, 64GB RAM.

I'm leaving my Mac Pro, 5,1 [Mid-2010] Desktop, which still produces Geek Bench scores comparable to the M4 Max MB Pro I'm building.

Fortunately, I have a brand new 4TB HGST [Hitachi] Enterprise grade SATA, a CCTV outlet sold years ago. I backed up my primary SSD drive to the 4TB HGST, using Carbon Copy Cloner. So I have a 4TB HD I can use to start my Mac Pro 5,1 in "Target Mode," which my M4 Max MBP will see as a hard drive. Migration Assistant will transfer my Mac Pro's data and settings to the M4 Max MBP. An ethernet cable and an Apple dongle will facilitate that transfer.

This 4TB Enterprise Grade hard drive was produced by Hitachi. If this hard drive had run 24/7 since before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, it would still have 200 thousand hours left until its: "Best Used By Date."

That leaves three types of peripheral components I need to integrate into the M4 Max MBP system, which are:

1] Two 32-inch 4K computer monitors. Who manufactures high end computer monitors, and which model would you buy? I don't play games, but my guess is game monitors must possess high resolution. I don't like Apple displays. I want to purchase two high resolution 4k monitors with 120Hz outputs, using the Apple tax. If high resolution on large monitors distorts images, and a 27-inch monitor doesn't, then the smaller monitors win.

2] External audio speakers, and the best cables for interfacing them with the M4 Max MBP. I'd like to think that for $500-750 one can buy the smallest, lightest, most powerful speakers produced. I'm looking for USB-C, Blue Tooth, 3.5mm analog, optical, fiber optics, Wi-Fi router, speaker wire, serial cable connectivity. I want to avoid RCA jacks if possible. I limit Wi-Fi use

3] The M4 Max MBP will have three Thunderbolt 5 ports, a USB-C port, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, and MagSafe 3 port. I would want a USB-C hub, and they make a multitude of them. Who manufactures the most versatile, high end hubs / docks, designed for taking advantage of the M4 Max MBP ports, listed above?

Any advice you can provide about how to configure peripheral components for the M4 Max MBP would be greatly appreciated. MacRumors forum members helped me migrate from a G4 Power Mac, to a Mac Pro 5,1 that has operated for 15 years. So I know MacRumor's forum members wield some expertise and technical prowess.

 

[benwiggy]

When you say "building an MBP", you mean "buying one, configured to order"? You're not actually making your own.. 😀

The most important thing to know is what will you be using this for? Video work? Audio? What peripherals are you going to add to the hub that you want?

I'm looking for USB-C, Blue Tooth, 3.5mm analog, optical, fiber optics, Wi-Fi router, speaker wire, serial cable connectivity.

That's literally every sort of audio connection! But then you say you don't want Wifi or RCA.

If high resolution on large monitors distorts images, and a 27-inch monitor doesn't, then the smaller monitors win.

The important thing with displays is not the physical dimensions, but the pixel density.
A 32-inch 4K display has a resolution of 138 pixels per inch. So everything is going to be tiny, but not small enough to scale. I'd strongly recommend getting a 5K 27-inch display. There are several others, apart from Apple's.

This 4TB Enterprise Grade hard drive was produced by Hitachi. If this hard drive had run 24/7 since before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, it would still have 200 thousand hours left until its: "Best Used By Date."

The important thing is 'redundancy'. Make sure that if any drive fails tomorrow, you don't lose data, because you've got at least one other copy.

I'm leaving my Mac Pro, 5,1 [Mid-2010] Desktop, which still produces Geek Bench scores comparable to the M4 Max MB Pro

Eh? A 2010 Mac Pro with 6 cores has a Geekbench score of 577 / 2621. The M4 Max scores 3881 / 25,552..!!! A base M1 is over 4 times faster!

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

You have a 2006 Mac Pro?

Get an m4 Mini (or m4pro Mini).
Properly equipped with at least 32gb of RAM and a 1tb SSD (or larger).
It will run circles around the old Mac Pro, and you can use your existing peripherals with it.

Things have changed a lot in 20 years.
Try the m4 Mini and you will see for yourself.

 

[thepyrate]

You will find that the M4 Max will absolutely run rings around that model of Mac Pro. My M1 Max matched or beat my iMac Pro 14 core, which was miles and miles ahead of my Mac Pro 5,1, and I used all of these machines in a professional setting and pushed them pretty hard. You would probably even find the Mac mini with the entry level M4 would be incredibly fast compared to that Mac Pro.

Displays are such a person/specific thing it's hard to recommend, and I'm guessing most people buy a display and then stick with it for years so they will have limited experience with ones outside their day to day monitor. I have a Samsung Odyssey 49" Ultrawide which does 120Hz, as well as a 17:9 DCI 4K display and an external video interface running into an OLED client display, but I'm honestly tempted to swap out the ultrawide for an LG C5 OLED TV and use that as a monitor. I know a few people doing with (with the 42" models) and they seem a fairly solid choice, and they will do up to 144Hz at UHD.

The one thing I would recommend is a Thunderbolt dock. I have three(!) and they're great. I have two OWC ones and a Belkin one. Honestly the Belkin one gives me a bit of grief. But really, they're very handy. You get a display output, a ton of USB ports, card slots etc and it'll power your computer. If you like to have a tidy desk it means you can have a single elegant cable connected to the computer itself.