Costco currently has a pretty good deal on the Max chip for $3,000 whereas the spec I want with the 36gb and 1TB at Apple is about $2,900, so I am wondering if I should just pay the extra $100 for the Max? I know it's more powerful but I will not be needing anywhere near that power. Frankly, I am concerned the hit to battery life and thermals will actually be a negative in my use case? I know it gets hotter but I am not sure unless you really are pushing, does it actually run warmer? And battery life for normal day to day tasks, would it be impacted appreciably? I don't want to pay an extra $100 for something somehow actually worse for my needs. I tend to keep my laptops for a while (using a 2015 MBP) and the idea of having the Max is reassuring.
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M3 Pro or Max
- Thread starter nmeed
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Looking here, M3 Pro indeed uses significantly less energy (4.05Wh vs 4.65Wh) than M3 Max, so, if you don't need the extra computing power, just go with M3 Pro.
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When I click on the link, it just takes me to this thread? But fair point, that's kind of what I was afraid of. I was hoping that's the case only when it's being pushed.
It may be helpful to know what you'll use the MBP for, but the M3 Pro is already a huge upgrade coming from a 2015 MBP.
I was pretty much in the same predicament as you a couple months ago for the same reasons...didn't need the power of the Max and liked the battery life of the Pro. I ended up going with the 16" M3 Pro / 36 GB RAM / 1TB SSD and have no regrets.
I don't do heavy work too often, so figured I'd benefit from the 2 additional efficiency cores on the M3 Pro for even more battery savings. (The Pro has 6 and Max has 4.) Out of curiosity, I tried out Windows 11 in Parallels and the thing just flew and was blazing fast. I may end up getting Parallels and dumping my Windows PC. I haven't gotten around to doing any video editing yet, but I don't anticipate having any issues there, especially compared to my old 2017 MBP.
I was pretty much in the same predicament as you a couple months ago for the same reasons...didn't need the power of the Max and liked the battery life of the Pro. I ended up going with the 16" M3 Pro / 36 GB RAM / 1TB SSD and have no regrets.
I don't do heavy work too often, so figured I'd benefit from the 2 additional efficiency cores on the M3 Pro for even more battery savings. (The Pro has 6 and Max has 4.) Out of curiosity, I tried out Windows 11 in Parallels and the thing just flew and was blazing fast. I may end up getting Parallels and dumping my Windows PC. I haven't gotten around to doing any video editing yet, but I don't anticipate having any issues there, especially compared to my old 2017 MBP.
Sorry fixed the link - it was the 2nd result when googling “M3 Pro vs M3 Max energy usage”
I'd go for the most you can afford. Get the max. The savings amount between the 2 on electricity isn't huge. Honestly if you want you can leave it in low power mode and it will just sip electricity and still blow the doors off your 2015 and most other machines. I have a M3 Max 16/40 core and I can use it for a couple of days before I need to actually charge it. There are some really good comparison's online that you can find by searching. I looked at a ton of them before making my purchase.
I'd just go with it because I feel you'll be future-proof yourself a bit more. You'll squeeze more time out of it before actually needing an upgrade.
I'd just go with it because I feel you'll be future-proof yourself a bit more. You'll squeeze more time out of it before actually needing an upgrade.
I'm not really concerned about the electricity at all. I am more worried about battery life + fan noise + heat.
I have an M1 Max 14" MBP and the battery is still fantastic, fan noise is basically 0 unless I'm really pushing it, and same for the heat. It only really gets warm while being charged or pushed hard. Otherwise, it's often too cold to be used comfortably on my lap without long pants! I vote for the Max, it's a beast and will just last you that much longer before it falls behind newer chips.
The Max chip is much stronger, well worth extra $$. Like Timpetus said, the stronger Max chip can help extend the life cycle. Just do not skimp on RAM to get a stronger chip.
Don't worry about battery/thermals at all. The M2/M3 Macbook Pros do not overheat, and battery life is superb. Mine is an M2 MBP with 96 GB RAM.
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I believe Alex Ziskind has covered fan noise with the MBP with various M3 models. IIRC the M3 Max does kick up the fan. Not sure which of his videos he discusses this, but here is his channel, recommend looking at his M3 Max videos: https://www.youtube.com/@AZisk/videos
Many of us do not watch clickbait videos since (except for instructional videos) they are sensationalized to maximize clicks, and hence misleading. Misleading = waste of time.
Fans (which IMO on my M2 Max MBP are pretty quiet) only come on when substantive heat presents. Substantive heat only presents if one is doing heavy work, which for most of us is seldom. Attempting similar work on a lesser MBP will kick fans in sooner; attempting similar work on the far lower end MBA would cause the MBA to throttle. Get the Max box with plenty of RAM.
My M1 Pro feels as fast as any M2 or M3 Pro I've laid my hands on ... for 95% of tasks. Of course you're going to squeeze more out of audio/video projects with the better CPU. I'd go for the best "Pro" personally, just to extend battery life too.
I don't think fans are ever an issue on these M based MacBooks if I'm honest...
I don't think fans are ever an issue on these M based MacBooks if I'm honest...
The Max can use more power, but if you are just editing text files it will be using only a few efficiency cores and the rest of the chip will be in "sleep" mode. Over-specing the computer does not really waste power, it only wastes money.
However, many of Alex's videos are instructive.
I went ahead and got the Max. With such a small price difference after specing the Pro to what I wanted, I figured it would be nuts not to. Especially when I realized there is actually a big difference in performance cores, 10 to 6 I believe. Initially I thought there was only a 2 core difference (12v10) but then I learned there's a difference in performance/efficiency cores. As such, having 10 performance cores far into the future should be able to buy me a few extra years (hopefully more!) over the 6 of the Pro. As far as my fear of the battery life, seems to be about only a 15% difference, and frankly, this isn't exactly an iPad, so I think whatever number it hits is far more than enough. Not to mention, I saw a post or a video about how putting it in low power mode is something of a game changer? Regardless, the battery life concern went out the window. All that was left was heat/fan noise and I stumbled upon the post about someone complaining about heat and fan noise on the Max. What I had initially failed to realize was he was referring to the Max version with a lot more cores, which put me at ease. Not to mention as others have said in this thread, with my usage, really won't be pushing it for it to get hot or anything. At the end of the day with such a small price delta ($100) on a ~$3,000 purchase, it really made a lot of sense to go with the Max, if for no other reason than for the future. I got almost 9 years out of my current MacBook Pro, hopefully I can do better on this one. Thank you to all once again. Your input made things a lot easier and clearer for me!
You made a great choice. Something that I am sure will last you a long time!
I hope you enjoy it. Please write a small review of what you like and if there is anything you don't. It is always nice to get honest opinions from actual owners. I am very interested in how the M3 Max performs and if it does draw more battery and if it does, has Apple compensated in some ways? The chips should be more efficient? Thank you in advance and either way enjoy your new Mac!!
I hope you enjoy it. Please write a small review of what you like and if there is anything you don't. It is always nice to get honest opinions from actual owners. I am very interested in how the M3 Max performs and if it does draw more battery and if it does, has Apple compensated in some ways? The chips should be more efficient? Thank you in advance and either way enjoy your new Mac!!
man I was freaking out as I read that at KWH and was thinking no wonder my electric bill Is so high! thank god its watts
Yesterday I traded in my 14" M1 Pro for a 16" M3 Pro (18GB/512GB) and today I saw a pretty decent deal on the Max/1TB/36GB So I am returning the Pro and ordered the Max.