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16-inch: M3 Max 14/30 96GB or M3 Max 16/40 64GB
- Thread starter Johda
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Already a person who hesitates between 64 and 96gb doesn't really need this because 64gb and 96gb have absolutely nothing to do in practice and normally the person would already have the answer on their own without having asked the question. Still 16gb and 32gb the question arises but 32 vs 64 is really what an advanced user needs.
Honestly, I'm really happy with it. I've just got an M1 pro 10/16 32gb and I've been using it for over a week for photography with Lr+Ps and Dxo, and I'm really impressed with the speed of noise reduction and the fact that it takes less time to apply presets, so it's much more responsive. I'm very happy with the extra RAM, even if my 32gb was just fine on my m1 pro.
I drive mine pretty hard and the fans are definitely noisier than my M1 Max 16. But that's with heavy video editing and exporting. istat notices up to 70-80 watt draws from the CPU which is higher than my M1Max. LR batch AI denoise also gets noticeable noise. Of course still much quieter than windows gaming laptops which require earplugs. Quiet as mouse doing anything else.
I agree with the poster's above. Do you really need that much ram? Even the base 16/40 config with 48gb of ram is plenty unless you know you're going to be using that much ram.
In regards to noise, I don't think the power differential is big enough to affect the fans all that much between the cut down chip vs. the full fat M3 Max.
If you can make a macbook air work, both Ram configurations are probably too high. Probably go for the faster processors.
I had a post about upgrading 48gb to 64gb. In the end I just kept 48gb.
I had a post about upgrading 48gb to 64gb. In the end I just kept 48gb.
you can run in quiet cool low power mode and it still runs faster then a M2 Max in high power mode. Check out the review posted on this forum.
Hmm. This is exactly the same set of configurations that I'm looking at for a new work laptop in a few months.
I do database work, so I could use the RAM, and I don't need the extra GPU cores. So, I will probably go for the slightly weaker CPU and more RAM. But if your workload is not RAM-heavy at all, then there is no reason not to get the faster CPU.
I have M2 Max as my personal system and it is silent. A welcome break from my Windows systems. I only hear the fans if I am doing something really intense (...gaming).
I do database work, so I could use the RAM, and I don't need the extra GPU cores. So, I will probably go for the slightly weaker CPU and more RAM. But if your workload is not RAM-heavy at all, then there is no reason not to get the faster CPU.
I have M2 Max as my personal system and it is silent. A welcome break from my Windows systems. I only hear the fans if I am doing something really intense (...gaming).
I saw that post. I did the same. I could cough up the $200 but wasn't worth the hassle to exchange and re do everything. I had 16 before so 48 is fine.
I have the m3 max 16/40 48gb in intensive use lr+ps with tab safari mail etc no memory pressure it's really perfect.
If you’re coming from an M1 MBA then you probably don’t need 96GB memory lol, not even 64GB unless you are drastically changing how you use it or have money to burn. Doesn’t that thing top out at 16GB? Even 32GB would be double.
If you want something more powerful than what you’ve got and you want it to run cooler get the M3 Pro with 36GB.
Otherwise if you are set on the M3 Max then I’d get the 14/30 with 48GB, which should be slightly more efficient and give you plenty of memory while saving money.
And if I must pick between your two options, I’d get the 16/40 M3 Max with 64GB because it’s cheaper. That’s what I ordered. Also I didn’t realize there was only $100 difference between these two. Apple is being really sneaky with the $300 checkbox on the M3 Max 16/40 adding the $200 checkbox for 48GB memory without telling you. Didn’t even notice that before when I ordered, thought it was $300 cheaper. Wow. Still wouldn’t change my order because I don’t need that much memory.
If you’re used to the M1 Air that means you’ve got 13”. If you want to save $500 you can get the 14” with the same specs. It just runs a little slower under high sustained load compared to the 16”.
IMO the main reason I got the 16/40 was so I could upgrade memory without spending as much, but also because it had a better GPU and I plan to use several displays with it. I’ve noticed that over time Macs tend to run slower with multiple displays causing some lag/lower frame rates when flipping between spaces and whatnot so a better GPU probably helps mitigate that. I also think Apple is going to come out with a cheaper 6K display in the next year, year and an half and I’d like to use that with this for a long time.
If you want something more powerful than what you’ve got and you want it to run cooler get the M3 Pro with 36GB.
Otherwise if you are set on the M3 Max then I’d get the 14/30 with 48GB, which should be slightly more efficient and give you plenty of memory while saving money.
And if I must pick between your two options, I’d get the 16/40 M3 Max with 64GB because it’s cheaper. That’s what I ordered. Also I didn’t realize there was only $100 difference between these two. Apple is being really sneaky with the $300 checkbox on the M3 Max 16/40 adding the $200 checkbox for 48GB memory without telling you. Didn’t even notice that before when I ordered, thought it was $300 cheaper. Wow. Still wouldn’t change my order because I don’t need that much memory.
If you’re used to the M1 Air that means you’ve got 13”. If you want to save $500 you can get the 14” with the same specs. It just runs a little slower under high sustained load compared to the 16”.
IMO the main reason I got the 16/40 was so I could upgrade memory without spending as much, but also because it had a better GPU and I plan to use several displays with it. I’ve noticed that over time Macs tend to run slower with multiple displays causing some lag/lower frame rates when flipping between spaces and whatnot so a better GPU probably helps mitigate that. I also think Apple is going to come out with a cheaper 6K display in the next year, year and an half and I’d like to use that with this for a long time.
