Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra and Apple MacBook Pro: which is the best high-end model?

Apple’s success with its MacBook Pros is the envy of many laptop manufacturers.

And that’s probably why Samsung just launched its Galaxy Book3 Ultra on the market. Not only does it attempt to surpass the power and versatility of the MacBook Pro, but it also offers the benefits of a closed ecosystem, similar to Apple’s.

So that you can decide which is the best model between the Galaxy Book3 Ultra and the MacBook Pro, here is a comparison of the two models.

Specifications

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra (16 inch) // Apple MacBook Pro M2 (16 inch)

• Screen : AMOLED 2X, 16in, 2880 x 1800, 120Hz // Liquid Retina XDR, 16in, 3456 x 2234, 120Hz
• Dimensions and weight: 355 x 250 x 17mm // 356 x 248 x 16mm
• Weight : 1.77kg // 2.13-2.17kg
• Processor : Intel Core i7 or Core i9, 13^e generation // Apple M2 Pro or M2 Max
• RAM/Storage: 16 GB or 32 GB, with 512 GB or 1 TB // 16 GB to 96 GB (depending on processor) with 512 GB to 8 TB
• Battery : 76Wh // 100Wh
• Ports: 2 Thunderbolt 4, 1 USB-A, 1 HDMI 2.0, microSD, headphone and microphone jack // 3 Thunderbolt 4, 1 HDMI, SDXC, headphone jack
• Connectivity: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1 // WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.31
• Graphic card : Nvidia RTX GeForce 4050 or RTX GeForce 4070 GPU // M2 Pro or M2 Max integrated graphics card
• webcam: 1080 pixels // 1080 pixels
• Price : from €3,300 // from €3,000

You should buy the Galaxy Book3 Ultra if…

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra – Best prices:

…you are already in the Samsung ecosystem

It’s much easier when your devices not only work well together right out of the box, but also offer exclusive features.

Samsung understands this and has included perks like the ability to use its Galaxy Tab tablet as a wireless second display. Use your Galaxy smartphone as a wireless webcam. And to control the three devices, at the same time, from the keyboard and touchpad of the laptop itself.

…you want to be able to play video games

Macs have never matched Windows laptops when it comes to gaming. Despite the massive increase in power delivered by Apple’s M2 Pro and Max chips, that’s still true. Only a handful of game titles are available for macOS, and almost none are new or AAA.

Another problem is the limited choice of GPU on MacBooks. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra, on the other hand, has options for an Nvidia RTX 4050 or 4070 GPU, which should be fast enough to play almost any title.

…you want maximum software compatibility

Two factors make Samsung’s Galaxy Book3 Ultra more widely suitable for more uses: its operating system and its processor. First, the device runs on Windows, which remains the operating system with the most compatible software in most categories. macOS has come a long way, but there is still plenty of software available only on Windows.

The other factor is Apple’s choice to manufacture its own processors. When Apple used chips from Intel, it was a child’s exercise for developers to port their software to macOS due to the similarity of processors. But since Apple developed its ARM chips, the process of porting programs is much more difficult. Even companies like Adobe, makers of major Photoshop and Premiere software, took months before all of their major titles were fully compatible with Apple’s new chips. Smaller developers and software makers with fewer resources may not be able to offer macOS-compatible solutions for some time.

You should buy the MacBook Pro if…

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) M2 Pro – Best prices:

…you are committed to the Apple ecosystem

It is very specific to this company. Apple was among the first manufacturers, and perhaps still the most effective, to provide reasons to remain committed to its ecosystem. For example, it is possible to share screens or streams between multiple devices. Especially with the functionality Continuity Camera, which lets you use your iPhone as an advanced webcam. There’s also the excellent distributed messaging between various Apple devices.

However, this last point raises the question of friends and family, and the ecosystem to which they relate. Apple’s siled approach to messaging means its platform forces the use of a branded device.

While Samsung devices can use open protocols like RCS, Apple refuses to adopt it. So, to communicate between smartphones, tablets and PCs, Apple device owners are limited to messaging with other Apple device owners if they want to enjoy all the features.

It may be irritating, but it’s an issue that has led many people, myself included, to opt for Apple devices to more easily stay connected with friends and family.

…you are a content creator looking for a powerful mobile desktop

Apple’s M1 generation of chips was already more than enough for most photo editors, and even a large portion of video editors, including those working in 4K+ formats.

With the arrival of the M2 Pro and M2 Max options, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is like a production studio all to itself, especially when paired with the wide variety of RAM and storage configurations now available, with, among others, an HDMI port and three DisplayPort compatible Thunderbolt ports.

…you need a ton of RAM or storage

The maximum amounts of memory and storage you can configure a Galaxy Book3 Ultra with are 32GB and 1TB, respectively. While these capacities are enough for an average user, a content creator might quickly fill that storage with 8K videos. . Limited RAM, on the other hand, is likely to be time-consuming for processing in its workflow.

The MacBook Pro, on the other hand, can be configured with 96GB of RAM and 8TB of storage. That’s three times more memory and eight times more storage than its competitor Samsung. Of course, such a beast of a race is expensive, but this option is available for the most demanding users who really need all that memory and all that space.

Source: ZDNet.com