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M1 Pro vs. M1 Max: Real-World Performance Test
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I was about to bite the bullet on replacing my mid-2017 MBP (basically a glorified MacBook Air) with a M1 Air. More storage was my main objective.
Side note - I heard Apple will be releasing a updated MBA by years end. If you’re a veteran, or active duty military - the Exchange will have the 2020 model for $799 on Black Friday.
Anyway, I decided to stretch my budget quite a bit (OK a LOT) and go with the 14 inch M1 Pro. Sold my old one outright instead of trading in was a big factor in my decision.
I take offense just slightly people referring to this as “entry level” or “too heavy”.
Apple fans have been bitching about the removal of ports and addition if the Touch Bar since day 1. Essentially reduce every user to dongle Hell.
I use my MacBooks for the usual stuff, but primarily for DJ use. So I opted for more power - a massive upgrade in my opinion. I would hardly call it “entry level”. That’s what the Air should relegated to. This thing is a BEAST. A 14 inch screen might not seem like a big deal, but put them side-by-side, and the 14” almost bezel-less M1 Pro dwarfs the Air.
And as for weight? You guys are griping about a 1POUND increase and a thicker model?
To be able to accommodate all the ports, the new battery, processor and fans, there’s no way it could be as thin as the Air or the laughable 2017-18 Pro.
How big of a pansy are you that 1lb is even noticeable in your backpack full of all sorts of things? Maybe you need some 2lb dumbbells to help strengthen those computing muscles.
And HDMI is far from dead. I don’t know any HDTV or digital projector that doesn’t have or require one.
Barring any recalls/defects, I suspect this upgrade will last me several years.
Side note - I heard Apple will be releasing a updated MBA by years end. If you’re a veteran, or active duty military - the Exchange will have the 2020 model for $799 on Black Friday.
Anyway, I decided to stretch my budget quite a bit (OK a LOT) and go with the 14 inch M1 Pro. Sold my old one outright instead of trading in was a big factor in my decision.
I take offense just slightly people referring to this as “entry level” or “too heavy”.
Apple fans have been bitching about the removal of ports and addition if the Touch Bar since day 1. Essentially reduce every user to dongle Hell.
I use my MacBooks for the usual stuff, but primarily for DJ use. So I opted for more power - a massive upgrade in my opinion. I would hardly call it “entry level”. That’s what the Air should relegated to. This thing is a BEAST. A 14 inch screen might not seem like a big deal, but put them side-by-side, and the 14” almost bezel-less M1 Pro dwarfs the Air.
And as for weight? You guys are griping about a 1POUND increase and a thicker model?
To be able to accommodate all the ports, the new battery, processor and fans, there’s no way it could be as thin as the Air or the laughable 2017-18 Pro.
How big of a pansy are you that 1lb is even noticeable in your backpack full of all sorts of things? Maybe you need some 2lb dumbbells to help strengthen those computing muscles.
And HDMI is far from dead. I don’t know any HDTV or digital projector that doesn’t have or require one.
Barring any recalls/defects, I suspect this upgrade will last me several years.
Was thinking about exactly that.
That samples setting is one of the setting types where less is actually better in that it generates lower latency but at the cost of CPU load.
The situation sucks, but it's always been the case that most pro-audio software lags the latest releases (OS and hardware) by a year or more - and this is a big transition!
That said, "paying monthly for something we can’t even use" seems to be overstating it. I wouldn't say I've stress tested it, but when I've loaded Izotope-heavy (no pun untended) projects created on my current-gen Intel iMac on my M1 MacBook Air (with only 8GB RAM) I've found they work perfectly well with Rosetta 2. Are you specifically seeing degradation, or just disappointed you can't take full advantage?
Darth Tulhu
macrumors 68020
I find myself also mildly disappointed in the iPad's progress, but I think that the M1 switch is only the beginning.
I honestly think Apple is busy with the transition, and given the brain-detonating performance of these new chips it gives me that much more hope.
Thankfully, all my Mac use was basically home-only, so an iPad Pro is the perfect device for me still. I don't have to output to monitors, or do any kind of consistent file transfer other than what the Photos, Files and iCloud can already handle. And I can live with some of the Safari "jank" that persists. I am excited to come home to my iPad, like I used to be for my Macs.
But man, the old me wishes these Macs where here 5 years ago. I wish I could put them to good use now. I'm really happy for (and jealous of) all of you that will get to enjoy these machines.
Apple has made me a fanboy again.
Yea I am with you there, these new machines really are that great, but for my needs - a dual boot option on an M2 iPad Pro would be all I need. I like to pay around with both.
These are the standard conditions under which this test is performed (i.e. 1024 samples), given that the lowest latency is dependent on a number of other things - most notably the drivers for any particular audio interface. So the test demonstrated is a 'mixing' test. It's just one way of comparing systems. It doesn't even translate particularly well to other DAWs.Was thinking about exactly that.
That samples setting is one of the setting types where less is actually better in that it generates lower latency but at the cost of CPU load.
I obsessed about which machine to get, I wanted 32GB RAM, the 10-core CPU, and 1TB of storage. I told myself that I needed those things because I'm a developer and don't want to be limited.
At the end of the day, I ended up going with the base 14" model. I currently use an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and only very rarely do I experience slowdowns.... and that's usually because I have 100+ tabs open in Chrome and one of them is misbehaving.
So if an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB is good enough for my workflow, a machine that's probably 50-200% better (depending on the metric) would be more than enough now and in 3 years when a new shiny Macbook is out that I want.
I also figured the base would have better battery life given the less CPU and GPU cores.
So if you're buying one of these guys, consider the base model. It's the best value for the money by far.
At the end of the day, I ended up going with the base 14" model. I currently use an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and only very rarely do I experience slowdowns.... and that's usually because I have 100+ tabs open in Chrome and one of them is misbehaving.
So if an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB is good enough for my workflow, a machine that's probably 50-200% better (depending on the metric) would be more than enough now and in 3 years when a new shiny Macbook is out that I want.
I also figured the base would have better battery life given the less CPU and GPU cores.
So if you're buying one of these guys, consider the base model. It's the best value for the money by far.
I'm in somewhat the same boat with iPadOS. I had high hopes for iOS 15 and after WWDC, I was very deflated. I love the form factor and I'm not sure I want macOS on an iPad, but iPadOS is holding back a whole lot of horsepower for specious reasons. I don't want a retread of every macOS feature, but I do want better audio handling, better integration between macOS and iOS for the Pro Apps (Logic Remote is pretty much it). I agree there are workflows that are simply too difficult on the iPad, or simply require too many steps.
Also, once Apple moved to Apple Silicon, my excitement for the Mac was rekindled in a big way. Even though I still get the feeling that Tim Cook and Company don't give it quite the respect it deserves. Of course when your Services income is more than the entire Mac division and iPad division income combined, it's hard to blame them. Of course, to build Services, you need devices more than just the iPhone.
Apple's profit margin on iPad Pro / Macbooks are generally the same. And nowadays the pricing is the same as well. In fact, And iPad Pro 12.9" is more expensive than a Macbook Pro 13" when you add the keyboard. So Apple doesn't care what you buy, as long as it has an Apple logo on it
I'm surprised these can already outperform an ambitious machine that was announced 4 years ago. Now I wonder if the new Mac Pro will outperform a NASA supercomputer.
"...the MacBook Pro with base M1 Pro chip earned a single-core [Geekbench] score of 1666..."
Is this a typo? Shouldn't it be more like 1766?
Is this a typo? Shouldn't it be more like 1766?
This is nice and all, but pitting two brand new machines against each other without any real world comparisons to stuff that's already existing...? This doesn't do many people much good. Show me how it compares to the models that it replaces, or how this stuff performs on a PC with Intel hardware... comparison is the key here!
(FWIW, I did *not* watch the whole video because:working, so just be gentle on me if this was covered)
(FWIW, I did *not* watch the whole video because:working, so just be gentle on me if this was covered)
I also purchased an M1 Air a few days ago. It was an Apple Refurb model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD for $1399. A great little machine and I will wait to update my Pro machine when then M2 Pro/Max comes out.
I think the more important difference between 14" and 16" is the screen size. That extra 500 pixels (1000 in retina) is a major difference in the usability of the machine. Working on the small Air screen coming from 27" iMac is something to get used to.
This is exactly why I got the 16”. I haven’t had a MacBook screen the size of the 14” since 2009 with the Black MacBook I had before I upgraded to the Pro, and I’m not sure I want to lose the screen real estate. I have my phone for ultra portability- I love my 16” space.
It is indeed good to know that the high end is great for certain tasks but not necessarily faster for others. I do a lot Final Cut work, but not huge, long projects with heavy rendering demands, and I'm usually billing clients T&M so, shaving a minute or so here-and-there is not super critical. But money toward a larger SSD … that makes my life easier. I might just go base model 16", add some storage, and enjoy the ride!
