M1 Pro vs. M1 Max Buyer's Guide

[Fftzyy]

The margins on these are insane. It’s like all profit for Apple. They will pay off all the R&D in like a quarter and just rake in after that.

 

[Someirishguy]

Ya I originally didn't order it, and despite not seeing benchmarks yet, it just seems like it's high value to get something like that from Apple. Gonna cancel and add it I think.

That’s what I did - ordered a 16”, 32Gb, 1Tb, M1 Pro, cancelled, and swapped in a M1 Max (32), added a week to delivery. No regrets - comparatively not much more for peace of mind (I don’t buy computers often)

 

[gugy]

Trying to workout if Max or Pro for music - logic etc.

I think Max is likely the best option.

I think you can get away with the Pro models. I might be wrong but I don't think sound files are as heavy on laptop demand as 3D/Animation files.

 

[davidg4781]

It’s so pro I’m actually thinking the 13’ MBP with M1 is good enough for me.

Yeah, me too. Plus it has the Touch Bar. But the display on the 14” sounds amazing!

 

[deconstruct60]

Question: Will we be able to upgrade the internal SSD drive on these new MBPs, so we don't have to pay the ridiculous Apple price of upgrading an internal drive when we buy?

No. The lone internal SSD is part of the security system of the Mac at this point. The T1 , T2 chips of the post 2016 Mac laptops is even more deeply integrated at this point. The SSD controller for the Apple drive is built into the primary SoC package now. So all soldered down.


[ while Apple does have a "removable" NAND daughter card solution for the Mac Pro and iMac Pro , that takes up lots more volume that Apple will want to spend on a laptop ( or thinner Mini or 24" iMac ). ]

For a large amount of bulk storage an external drive is probably more cost effective. ( and not piling photo collection in to one big humungous pile that grows the "the Blob". ). The internal drive can be big enough for the highly active projects over short term, but can shift completed (and mostly archival ) projects off to another volume.


If plan to keep the machine for longer than Apple's expected service life than it is probably better to offload some writing to an external drive. If the internal drive fails then the system is basically unbootable. (which basically is a whole new board to repair. )

Not thrilled with having to buy the top of the line 16 inch, but I do a lot of still photography and video editing. So I will have to bite the bullet. I've been using a mid 2014 decked out 15 inch MBP and I now think it is time to bite the bullet. I certainly got my money's worth.

If the video projects are very large capacity footprint workloads ( e.g., > 1.5 TB ) then pushing that onto external drive is even more helpful if plan to drive this laptop also for 7+ years .

 

[rukia]

The margins on these are insane. It’s like all profit for Apple. They will pay off all the R&D in like a quarter and just rake in after that.

The gross and net margins will be reasonable but far from "insane." 5nm is extremely expensive and a monolithic die the size of the max is not the money maker. Besides the lower yields caused by the large die the EUV required for 5nm has a very slow throughput which ramps up cost. Not to mention those ASML machines are $150M each, passed to the customer. Then you have to deal with the large interposer which has another layer of cost. The NRE involved is also very high and impacts the net margins. There's a reason Intel only sells monolithic die this large in their server products. The $20K or so ASP (before Epyc) can justify the cost. Apple may get an average of $3K for the Max but that includes a lot of other expensive components in addition to the M1. The only reason Apple can get away with this is because part of the NRE cost can be amortized with the other products and massive volume. This is actually one reason why it's difficult for other companies to replicate what Apple is doing. It's not just the lack of engineering expertise but financial barrier.

 

[Stewart Gooderman]

The only video I do is use Quicktime to copy streaming programs on sites like PBS. Otherwise it is entering data into databases, viewing research papers on the internet, etc. I would definitely opt for the 16" as I don't want to go smaller than the 15" I already have. So the question is: Is it worth the extra $400 to go to the M1Max rather than the M1Pro. It sounds like I don't need the Max *but* it's only $400 more. Of course, I could use that money to pay for AppleCare.

 

[SimonQ]

2

    1. Apple M1 Pro with  8-core CPU, 14-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine  + 16GB
    2. Apple M1 Pro with  8-core CPU, 14-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine  + 32GB
    3. Apple M1 Pro with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine  + 16GB

Which one should I choose?

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

What bothers me most is the 16 to 32 RAM upgrade price. It's the exact same as the 32 to 64 upgrade price, which hurts my brain. I know, unified architecture, not comparable with normal off-the-shelf component costs, yada yada, but still.

The same price structure existed for the 16" Intel, so the "I know, unified architecture, not comparable with normal off-the-shelf component costs, yada yada" has zero to do with it, it is 100% Apple Tax.

 

[sudo-sandwich]

In my experience, the top of the line models I've had over the years usually keep their resale slightly better than the other models. For that reason the Max is probably the better choice.

It's the opposite. As with anything, the high end tends to cost a lot more for a relatively small improvement in performance, which is fine for the few people who need (or want) it and are willing to pay. Once it's old tech, buyers are only thinking about bang for buck, so the high-end model has a higher value but not that much higher. And those willing to spend extra are buying new stuff, not old.

Not just that, but the high-end models will be less reliable if anything. They'll have dedicated graphics, less common CPUs, or higher thermal output. It's like buying a V6 Camry instead of a V4.

 

[mr3830849]

2

Can you elaborate?

 

[Codpeace]

Yep. For many professionals all current computers are underpowered. That may seem odd to say. But if there is any moment in your workflow where the computer stops to "think", then it is underpowered. And if you have to wait for it to compile and that process takes several minutes, then it is way underpowered. That group that has that type of tasks will buy the M1 Max and they definitely won't be buying a used M1 Max in two, three or four years. They are already constrained by the current tech and they won't want to be even more constrained by buying five year old tech.

A huge portion of buyers of used Macs basically want (A) access to the Mac OS in a computer that works and (B) spend as little as possible. So I don't think M1 Max is going to really be significantly future proofed for resale compared to the M1 Pro. Basically the Mac OS is never going to need or even use that many GPU cores to run and running Mac OS is basically the key thing that Macs do on the resale market.

Perfectly analyzed. Mac OS is both the most desirable aspect of a Mac (for those who seek the ecosystem) and the least desirable (for those who seek great gaming or CUDA to leverage those GPUs and many other things for which Mac OS is an impediment to leveraging the power of the M1 Pro and Max). Ecosystem Mac OS requires very little computing power relative to current Apple products on offer.

 

[SimonQ]

Can you elaborate?

Sorry, the poster was asking what option they should go for and I said option number 2!

 

[jeffreyminor]

Question: I am a graphic designer using Adobe Creative Cloud daily (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign). Would the 8 Core CPU/14 Core GPU/32 GB RAM be good enough to run these apps simultaneously and smoothly? Or would bumping up to the 10 Core CPU be of any advantage? Or bumping up the GPU?

 

[sillycyber]

XCode compilation speed increases with core count for projects configured to accommodate build parallelism. Iterating code builds quickly saves time and money. If a budget accommodates a maxed-out M1 Max Macbook Pro, is it worth it to wait for the M1 Max based Mac Mini, or just get the new notebook?

A Mac Mini will obviously have more ports, which would be advantageous to certain kinds of computing environments, but that wouldn't necessarily be an overwhelming advantage for a software developer. Theoretically, if a M1 Max MacBook Pro has the same number of cores and memory as a forthcoming M1 Max based Mac Mini, the notebook and the mini would have the same performance profile. Apple explicitly says the M1 Pro & Max MacBook Pros can sustain peak compute power whether plugged-in or running on battery.

The M1 Max MacBook Pro can drive (3) 6K monitors (or 4 monitors in some mix of resolution), which obviates one of the primary benefits typically associated with a desktop computer. In other words, a docked notebook would be like a true desktop as far as monitors go. So is the deciding factor between the new MacBook Pro vs. forthcoming M1 Max mini primarily how much extra money one wants to plop down for the extra portability of a notebook computer, at least for professional developers who don't need to connect a lot of high throughput external hardware or an eGPU?

Are there any other trade-offs that might influence a decision between the mini and the notebook?

 

[Delorean2006]

Honestly most people would be well served by the M1 MBA. And 99% of people would be fine with the Pro Base Model. That said, many more people will buy the Max who will never come close to needing all of that power.

I went with the M1 Pro Base model but upped the ram to 32 and storage to 1TB which is probably overkill. I keep laptops for at least 5 years and that will be just fine for 5 years and maybe even 10.

I’m in the same boat as you, I keep my laptops for a really long time, I’m still using my 2012 MacBook Pro, I want to upgrade but can‘t decide on which processor to get, I know I don’t need the M1 Max, I just want to make sure I get the right processor that will still be very quick 5-7 years from now. I am thinking of doing the upgraded M1 Pro with a little more overhead and definitely do 1TB of storage and 32GB of ram since I don’t keep a lot on my laptop as it is.

 

[cotasm]

Sorry, the poster was asking what option they should go for and I said option number 2!

Yea, the person asking you to elaborate is the person who posted the original question about which to choose and wants to know why you would choose option 2. ?

 

[agent mac]

Honestly most people would be well served by the M1 MBA. And 99% of people would be fine with the Pro Base Model. That said, many more people will buy the Max who will never come close to needing all of that power.

I went with the M1 Pro Base model but upped the ram to 32 and storage to 1TB which is probably overkill. I keep laptops for at least 5 years and that will be just fine for 5 years and maybe even 10.

Quite right. But then you find yourself at the point where you want the 16” as the bigger screen, you’re teetering on needing the 2TB based on your currently full 1TB drive, and at that point, going max is ‘only’ an extra couple of hundred so ‘you might as well’ based on an average five year life….

 

[deepblue09]

FYI ...

View attachment 1871490

This isn't a very important comparison since memory performance is rarely a bottleneck in most applications.

 

[deepblue09]

I don't do much "pro" work, but I do on occasion cut together a video vlog style or otherwise...(I'm otherwise a content consumer and somewhat traveler, esp since COVID is becoming more manageable more and more lately.) I'm leaning towards the higher spec'd base 14" model (with the M1 Pro, 10 Core CPU, 16 Core GPU and 16 GB RAM). My M1 Mac mini has 16 GB of RAM and I've had very few issues if any at all, so I think I'd be okay with only 16 GB on a 14" M1 Pro? I don't know... What do you guys think?

For occasional vlogging, even a MBAir is enough. Get what you want to get, anything that Apple offers now is enough for those needs.

 

[ShiggyMiyamoto]

While I do thank the people sticking up for me I really don't appreciate the negative "oh he wants attention" kind of comment.

With that said, I have a question. Would there be any big benefit/gain of me getting the 16"'s 140W charger for use with a 14"? I assume it'd charge it faster, but besides that, anything? An obvious sounding question, but I'll ask anyway.

 

[ShiggyMiyamoto]

For occasional vlogging, even a MBAir is enough. Get what you want to get, anything that Apple offers now is enough for those needs.

I don't want an MBA is the thing... I have a 15" 2015 at the moment and I don't mind the slight chonkiness. But yeah you're right.. I'mma get what I get and I'll be happy

 

[ZipZilla]

I am still working on a 2012 Mini with Catalina. The OS is still supported by Apple with security updates and it runs the latest Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Brave, Edge, etc. I use it for e-mail, web surfing and watching YouTube videos.

Obviously, I need a 16" Macbook Pro with the M1 Max and 64GB of RAM.

 

[2adOpin2]

While I do thank the people sticking up for me I really don't appreciate the negative "oh he wants attention" kind of comment.

With that said, I have a question. Would there be any big benefit/gain of me getting the 16"'s 140W charger for use with a 14"? I assume it'd charge it faster, but besides that, anything? An obvious sounding question, but I'll ask anyway.

I'm assuming the reason for the 140W charger for the 16 inch is that a maxed out 16 inch M1 Max working the CPU and GPU hard while driving multiple monitors will be drawing more than 100 watts. Thus the need for the larger charger to also allow adding charge to the battery when working under those conditions. Not needed for possible working draw of the 14 inch so no need for the ordering the larger charger with a 14 inch.

 

[machinesworking]

It’s so pro I’m actually thinking the 13’ MBP with M1 is good enough for me.

That's where I went with all this. I just can't justify the around $4000. I can't see , myself ever taking it out of the house at that point. I went with a 5 month old M1 MacBook Air 16Gb 1TB off craigslist, and so far I feel confident that it will be more than enough, at least until the M1 or 2 Mac Mini Pro comes out.

Mostly I do audio work and only about 25 out of 350 plug ins are M1 native, so I'm going to be slaving an old Intel Mac Pro to the Air for quite some time, whether it's the M1 Air or an M1 Max. The CPU performance for both combined is similar to the scores the M1 Max is getting, so I'm good for now.