Believe it or not the Max was less than $3K on a good sale, but that was before the price hike. You’re right though, the X9 only cost me $2100ish, and I love the damn thing. Wish I could get on the mobile GPU bandwagon but every time I try one (I bought and returned the 2025 G16 you mentioned) they’re loud as hell and cheap out on the trackpad. The 2026 G16 still doesn’t have a haptic one and they’re selling the 16GB model for over $3K!
What you’re saying is true, but if your workflow involves graphics at all, Apple’s Max chips are subpar compared to getting a laptop with an Nvidia discrete GPU (e.g., 2026 ASUS Zephyrus G16).