M1 Max (2021) vs new M5 Max Mac Studio — feels like a negligible jump after 5 years?

[Kulfon]

Currently on a 14” MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 64GB RAM. Looking at the new Mac Studio with M5 Max, same 64GB memory, 40-core GPU, ~19,000 PLN in Poland

On paper: 18-core CPU vs my 10-core, 40-core GPU vs my 32-core, memory bandwidth up from ~400GB/s to 614GB/s. Honestly doesn’t feel like a massive leap for 5 years and 4 chip generations. Was expecting to be blown away and I’m just… not.

Anyone planning to upgrade from an M1 Max to M5 Max/Ultra and can share real-world impressions? Trying to figure out if the spec sheet is underselling it or if my skepticism is fair. What’s your day-to-day workload like, and did it actually feel like a big jump?

 

[galad]

Take a look at the actual benchmarks (when they will be available). Core numbers don't say much at all. Computers nowadays are fast enough, without knowing what you are using it for, there isn't much that a can be said. For example, if you use it for 3D rendering, raytracing will be 5x or more faster than your M1 Max.

 

[Kulfon]

Still 64GB RAM, 5 years later. I use it for photo and video, so Phoroshop and DaVinci

 

[benholt]

For Photoshop + DaVinci specifically, the M1 Max in a 14" chassis is thermally boxed in more than the spec sheet suggests. Went from a 2019 iMac Pro to the M2 Ultra Studio and the biggest day-to-day change wasn't peak numbers, it was sustained timeline scrub in Resolve during long grading passes without the fans ramping. Neural engine cores also matter now that Resolve leans on them for stuff like Magic Mask and Voice Isolation, and those doubled since M1. If you're running unified 64GB across both apps at once, the extra bandwidth mostly shows up in swap avoidance rather than raw render numbers on paper.

 

[Bearxor]

I don't think anyone would argue that the M1 series was seriously OP. That's pretty cool. It's still an extremely usable system and I have a M1 Max MBP that I use and have no issues with at all and no desire to actually upgrade it.

But you can't deny the performance increases especially when you jump multiple generations. The M5 Max is basically on par with a M2 Ultra in most applications.

No one is going to blame you for sticking with the M1 Max. I have an M2 Max Studio that I'm perfectly happy with, but with only 32GB of RAM so I'm thinking about upgrading to something with more RAM to run some larger models locally.

 

[xraydoc]

The M5 Max is basically on par with a M2 Ultra in most applications.

Heck, the M4 Max is on par with the M2 Ultra for most things, and notably faster for single-threaded stuff like HTML rendering.

The jump from the M1 Max to the M5 Max is huge. Yeah, you wont see much real-world difference if Microsoft Word and Powerpoint are your main applications, but anything having to do with graphics, multithreaded work, or shuttling around large amounts of data, not to mention LLMs, will be multiple times faster. And of course, availability of 128GB of RAM on the M5 Max is pretty crazy.

All that said, the M1 Max is an incredibly solid chip and by no means obsolete in the slightest. I'm pretty convinced that if I had originally purchased an M1 Max with either 48GB or 64GB of RAM when it first came out, I'd still be using it today. Unfortunately, I opted for the M1 Pro and 36GB to be respectfully frugal and eventually ran into limitations in both number of external displays supported (I thought two was going to be enough; it wasn't) and was hitting yellow and red on the RAM pressure monitor in certain situations. But speed-wise, I never had any complaints. I now have an M4 Max Studio with 64GB of RAM and it truly feels bottomless.

 

[BenGieCruz]

I'm in the same Predicament. I currently have a Mac Studio M1 Max 10-Core CPU and 32-Core GPU (Early 2022) 2TB SSD and 64GB of ram. While it is not that bad for daily tasks it struggles when I use PixInsight and Premiere Pro. But now "im deciding between the M5 Max with 128 of ram or the ultra with 96 of ram!

 

[4sallypat]

......
The jump from the M1 Max to the M5 Max is huge. Yeah, you wont see much real-world difference if Microsoft Word and Powerpoint are your main applications, but anything having to do with graphics, multithreaded work, or shuttling around large amounts of data, not to mention LLMs, will be multiple times faster. And of course, availability of 128GB of RAM on the M5 Max is pretty crazy.

All that said, the M1 Max is an incredibly solid chip and by no means obsolete in the slightest. I'm pretty convinced that if I had originally purchased an M1 Max with either 48GB or 64GB of RAM when it first came out, I'd still be using it today. Unfortunately, I opted for the M1 Pro and 36GB to be respectfully frugal and eventually ran into limitations in both number of external displays supported (I thought two was going to be enough; it wasn't) and was hitting yellow and red on the RAM pressure monitor in certain situations. But speed-wise, I never had any complaints. I now have an M4 Max Studio with 64GB of RAM and it truly feels bottomless.

I am looking forward to the M5 Max as my M1 Max which has been great since day 1, is getting a bit slower with the updated apps and multitasking.

I am going from a base M1 Max Studio to base M5 Max Studio and will report back once I get it next month.

Order updated:

 

[StuAff]

Using my M1 Pro MBP as a daily driver ever since I got it. M5 Max Studio (binned chip) on order. Performance jump most definitely not negligible AFAIC....

 

[Basic75]

It depends. If your software is not heavily multi-threaded you will "only" benefit from the cores being faster and not from having more of them. For many day-to-day tasks you'll be hard pressed to notice a difference. For other things it will be a lot faster. As long as your M1 Max still does everything you need it to do well enough I wouldn't consider upgrading.

 

[Kulfon]

yesterday I tried to configure a MacBook Pro with M5 Max, same 64 GB RAM and same SSD capacity. Turned out 35% more expensive va what I paid. This turns me off completely. A very moderate tech progress in 5 years, same RAM and SSD capacity and a 35% more expensive. Personally for me, just a bad deal

 

[dugbug]

Let's talk about M1->M5 max

New things:
You get raytracing and all the other apple silicone goodies such as MIE.

For raw numbers:
CPU: 2.5x
GPU: 5x
I/O: from 80Gbps to 120Gbps

In my opinion I think this is the first worthwhile jump you will notice.

 

[4sallypat]

Let's talk about M1->M5 max

New things:
You get raytracing and all the other apple silicone goodies such as MIE.

For raw numbers:
CPU: 2.5x
GPU: 5x
I/O: from 80Gbps to 120Gbps

In my opinion I think this is the first worthwhile jump you will notice.

Love that!
Thanks for making me feel I jumped at the right time.

M1 Studio Max base has been perfect since day 1 - never an issue love the day to day use so much that I hardly touch my Macbooks....

Can't wait for Sept 22 !

 

[Kulfon]

I usually buy a new Mac every 5-6 years. Till now, RAM was always 2-3X, SSD kind of 2X. Price was same. Now, price is 35% more, SSD and RAM like 6 years ago. I can afford it, but I cannot accept it so will wait another 2-3 years, maybe things will normalize. I would have accepted 35% for 128 GB RAM or more. Bigger SSD, but these remain same

 

[throAU]

Currently on a 14” MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 64GB RAM. Looking at the new Mac Studio with M5 Max, same 64GB memory, 40-core GPU, ~19,000 PLN in Poland

On paper: 18-core CPU vs my 10-core, 40-core GPU vs my 32-core, memory bandwidth up from ~400GB/s to 614GB/s. Honestly doesn’t feel like a massive leap for 5 years and 4 chip generations. Was expecting to be blown away and I’m just… not.

Anyone planning to upgrade from an M1 Max to M5 Max/Ultra and can share real-world impressions? Trying to figure out if the spec sheet is underselling it or if my skepticism is fair. What’s your day-to-day workload like, and did it actually feel like a big jump?

Use one.

M1 - M4 single threaded response (which drives how fast the GUI is) is insanely faster.

M4 to M5 is noticeable improvement in response.

The geekbench scores will give you an idea, M4 is like 2x M1 per core.

 

[Kulfon]

Use one.

M1 - M4 single threaded response (which drives how fast the GUI is) is insanely faster.

M4 to M5 is noticeable improvement in response.

The geekbench scores will give you an idea, M4 is like 2x M1 per core.

That is not my point🙂 I am not saying the new is not better or is inferior🙂

 

[Ifti]

Honestly, if it were me, with todays prices, I'd be sticking to the M1 Max for as long as I could........

 

[throAU]

That is not my point🙂 I am not saying the new is not better or is inferior🙂

An i'm not implying that's what you're saying.

I'm saying that as someone who has used/still owns M1, M4 and M5 generation products, the difference is stark, and the core counts and memory bandwidth numbers are not representative of the performance improvement.

You're talking 80-100% or more performance gain in 4-5 years. Significantly more for things like ray-tracing and AI related performance.

An M5 Pro will destroy your M1 Max at most tasks (assuming it is not RAM capacity bound).

I'm not saying M1 Max is bad. It's not. but to claim that performance gain has been "meh" in the past 4-5 years on M series is just not in line with reality. Its far beyond anything you got anywhere between 2011 and 2020 with intel over a similar time period.

To answer your question as to whether the spec sheet is under-selling it: "Yes".

The specific subset of spec numbers you're referring to do not tell the full story.

There's only a few more cores, but the cores are almost double the throughput PER CORE.

 

[Und Eser]

I usually buy a new Mac every 5-6 years. Till now, RAM was always 2-3X, SSD kind of 2X. Price was same. Now, price is 35% more, SSD and RAM like 6 years ago. I can afford it, but I cannot accept it so will wait another 2-3 years, maybe things will normalize. I would have accepted 35% for 128 GB RAM or more. Bigger SSD, but these remain same

Memory is cheap these days. Apple's failure to upgrade RAM and SSD capacities even on some newer models costing a lot more indicates deliberate price structuring more than anything else.

Gotta keep the shareholders happy...🙄

 

[Kulfon]

Honestly, if it were me, with todays prices, I'd be sticking to the M1 Max for as long as I could........

This is what I will do because I know it is all inflated.

 

[4sallypat]

Honestly, if it were me, with todays prices, I'd be sticking to the M1 Max for as long as I could........

Agree - I love my M1 Studio Max base - it's been a perfect device with zero complaints since day 1.

But with how inflated resale prices have become with Mini and Studio devices lately, I thought why not upgrade to the M5.

Now that I am retired, I use the Studio 95% of the time now compared to when I was working I would use my MBP, MBA, or iPad Pro.

Now I am looking at selling off my laptops because I find the Studio with dual 27" displays, full size keyboard, a real mouse - the best for my aging eyes & body.

The only device that I plan on keeping is the Neo which we have 2 for travels and we are travelling more now that I am retired.

 

[xraydoc]

Turned out 35% more expensive va what I paid.

Yeah, but this isn't unique to Apple. AI data center bullcrap is impacting everything.

 

[SDAVE]

M1 Max is a beast I have an MBP here. However wouldn't be surprised if Apple drops macOS support in 2027 or 2028 it's an old chip by now.

The biggest difference between M1 and newer gen is obviously faster memory transfers, faster SSDs, newer Metal support (ie raytracing doesn't exist on M1) and neural engines.

Just the M5 alone has a 30% uplift from M4 in terms of GPU performance. It's not small potatoes.

 

[throAU]

The biggest difference between M1 and newer gen is obviously faster memory transfers, faster SSDs, newer Metal support (ie raytracing doesn't exist on M1) and neural engines.

Just the M5 alone has a 30% uplift from M4 in terms of GPU performance. It's not small potatoes.

I don't think the memory speed is the big thing - the CPU/GPU cores are much faster internally as well.

Clock speeds have gone up by about 50-60% in the past 5 years, and IPC (instructions per clock) have risen as well.

For most people the memory bandwidth even on M1 Pro/Max was plentiful. M3 was a downgrade in memory bandwidth even, yet still performed better than M1/M2.

 

[GregoryPeckEPA]

Currently on a 14” MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 64GB RAM. Looking at the new Mac Studio with M5 Max, same 64GB memory, 40-core GPU, ~19,000 PLN in Poland

On paper: 18-core CPU vs my 10-core, 40-core GPU vs my 32-core, memory bandwidth up from ~400GB/s to 614GB/s. Honestly doesn’t feel like a massive leap for 5 years and 4 chip generations. Was expecting to be blown away and I’m just… not.

Anyone planning to upgrade from an M1 Max to M5 Max/Ultra and can share real-world impressions? Trying to figure out if the spec sheet is underselling it or if my skepticism is fair. What’s your day-to-day workload like, and did it actually feel like a big jump?

When they first dropped Apple silicon, my first thought was how they were going to scale it without simply adding more cores, ad infinitum. Well here we are some 6 years later and that’s precisely what they did. But that has its limits as we are seeing.

The M1 was too good for the time. Since then, it’s largely been marketing. Sure new iterations have moved some specific tasks onto the processor (h265 and av1 decoding) but largely, the year over year gains aren’t real world usage. Software has also taken a nose dive, cramming in telemetry and LLMs and god knows what behind the canvass rather than UX or performance improvements.

Sort of makes you wonder what your Mac is doing now as opposed to 10 years ago without your knowledge. Just how many daemons are running, beaming info here and there. Collecting. Always collecting. Even Apple’s own apps all suck up oodles of telemetry, and all have unique identifiers. Anonymization means very little when there are 900 data points to fingerprint you with.

Old grey mare ain’t what it used to be.