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The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra has strong parts that live up to its “Ultra” name. With the latest Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU options and a large 16-inch AMOLED screen, Samsung’s new laptop seems to be a direct competitor to the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023).
We haven’t looked at Samsung’s machine or the 16-inch MacBook Pro yet. But now that we’ve posted our reviews of the MacBook Pro 14-inch (2023) and Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, we feel like we have enough information to compare the two devices.
Galaxy Book 3 Ultra vs MacBook Pro 16-inch Comparison Table
Galaxy Book 3 Ultra | MacBook Pro 16-inch | |
---|---|---|
Display size | 16.0 | 16.2 |
Display | 16.0-inch 16:10 OLED 2X 3K (2,880 x 1,800) at 120Hz | 16.2-inch 16:10 Liquid Retina XDR (3456 x 2234) at 120Hz |
RAM | 16GB – 32GB | 16GB – 96GB |
Storage | 512GB SSD 1TB SSD | 512GB SSD 1TB SSD 2TB SSD 4TB SSD 8TB SSD |
Weight | 3.9 pounds | 4.7 pounds (M2 Pro) – 4.8 pounds (M2 Max) |
GPU | Nvidia RTX 4050/4070 GPU | Apple M2 Pro/M2 Max 19-38 Core GPU |
Battery | 76 watt-hour | 100 watt-hour |
Price | Starting at $2,199 | Starting at $2,499 |
Galaxy Book 3 Ultra vs MacBook Pro 16-inch: Design
Samsung’s Galaxy Book 3 Ultra might be as good as some of the best gaming laptops, but it doesn’t look like it. Most gaming laptops are matte black monsters with edgy lighting and stickers, but the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is just a plain piece of aluminium. It comes in any colour you want as long as it’s grey, or “Graphite” as Samsung calls the metallic paint job that is the only option for the Ultra.
The new MacBook Pros come with either the Apple M2 Pro or Apple M2 Max chips, but their overall designs are almost the same. It has a mini-LED screen that is 16 inches wide, a lot of ports, and MagSafe charging. The new laptops from Samsung and Apple are both beautiful machines that will look good wherever you use them. Each has a big screen and an equally big keyboard. You can buy this laptop from its official website.
Galaxy Book 3 Ultra vs MacBook Pro 16-inch: Display
The diagonal size of the Galaxy Book3 Ultra’s screen is 16 inches, which is pretty big for a laptop. More importantly, it has a 3K resolution (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) and a 120Hz refresh rate on its 16-inch AMOLED screen. That’s a great screen for a laptop, since OLED screens usually have brighter whites, darker blacks, and more contrast than LCD screens.
Like the screen on its predecessor, the 16-inch mini-LED display on the MacBook Pro is one of the best you can find in a laptop. It’s bright, colourful, and has a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate for a smooth picture. It has the dreaded notch in its screen, but you could argue that it’s not as noticeable on the 16-inch model compared to the 14-inch model.
Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra vs MacBook Pro 16-inch: Processor
The MacBook Pro’s M2 Pro chip is very powerful. It has a CPU with 12 cores and a GPU with 19 cores. It also has a memory bandwidth of 200GB/s for all of its memory. Users can upgrade to an M2 Max chip with a CPU that has up to 12 cores and a GPU that has up to 38 cores. It can also handle up to 96GB of unified memory and has a unified memory bandwidth of 400GB/s.
On the Intel side, both the Core i7 and Core i9 chips have two multi-format codec engines that can encode and decode data in hardware. Users can add either an Intel Core i7 processor from the 13th generation or an Intel Core i9 processor. Both the Core i7-13700H and the Core i9-13900H have up to 64GB of memory and eight cores for efficiency and six cores for speed. You can buy this MacBook from its official website.
Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra vs MacBook Pro 16-inch: Pricing
The cheapest Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, with an Intel Core i7, 16GB of memory, 512GB of storage, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, costs $2,199. The price goes up if you choose 1TB of storage, but Samsung is offering that amount of storage at a lower price for a limited time. Normally, it would cost an extra $200.
Starting at $2,499, the 16-inch MacBook Pro has a 12-core M2 Pro chip with a 19-core GPU, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage. You can also choose a 12-core M2 Max chip with a 30-core GPU for $200 or a 38-core GPU for an extra $400. If you choose the M2 Pro, you can pay an extra $400 to get 32GB of memory, while the 30-core M2 Max comes with 32GB of memory and can be upgraded for $400 to 64GB of memory.
Which one should you buy?
The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is a good machine for both regular users and power users who need to run Windows. Most everyday tasks, like browsing the web and getting work done, can be done with the processors and GPU. Windows has always been a more popular gaming platform than macOS.
Even though the MacBook Pro’s graphics are built into the system-on-a-chip, they are still very good. In terms of raw numbers, the M2 Max is just ahead of the discrete GPU chips from NVIDIA. However, the two devices might end up running at the same level of graphics in real life.
MacBook Pro 16-inch PROS AND CONS
Pros:
- Outstanding battery life
- Great speakers
- Finally, more than USB-C ports
Cons:
- Display not 4K
- Expensive, especially with M1 Max
Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra PROS AND CONS
Pros:
- Lightweight design
- Roomy keyboard
Cons:
- Could be too expensive for some folks
FAQs
Which Samsung laptop is strongest?
With 13th-generation Intel Core H-series processors and Nvidia RTX graphics, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is the most powerful device in the Galaxy Book line.
Is MacBook Pro 16 inch good for students?
When it comes to power and efficiency, the 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro or M1 Max processor is the best in its class. Even though this laptop is expensive, any student who buys it will be able to use it for years to come because of its high-quality design and the fact that it will get software updates for years to come.
Why should I buy MacBook pro 16-inch?
After big changes were made to the screen and design in 2021, the latest model upgrades the processor to the faster M2 Pro and M2 Max, improves the battery life a little, and adds some nice little changes like HDMI 2.1 and Wi-Fi 6E.