Phono stages are as important as the turntable / cartridge. Over a period of ten years with a VPI Aries / Van den Hull Frog and originally a A rated (Stereophile) $200 Phonostage (which sounded simply terrible), then the 1980s Audio Research PH2, 2SE, 3…etc until I got to the ARC PH8, each increment brought very important improvements in sound. It was not until the PH8 did I feel as if the phono stage was not significantly holding back my turntable sound quality. At that point the PH8 was about the same cost as the turntable / cartridge.
I have upgraded my vinyl end now to nearly the maxed out Linn LP12 with an Audio Research Reference 3SE. The turntable/cartrige value roughly equals the phonostage. Outstanding phonostage are made by Audio Research, Presto and a couple other companies.
while I have probably heard the Mac phono, I don’t remember it well enough to comment. But typically a separate high quality phonostage makes a big improvement. Someone with more intimate knowledge will have to comment on this particular one.