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M5 Pro 48GB or M5 Max 36GB?

JaZzMaN251

JaZzMaN251

macrumors regular
Original poster
Hi all, I'm inbetween two choices:

  • 14" M5 Pro 18‑core CPU, 20‑core GPU with 48GB of RAM, 2TB storage
  • 14" M5 Max 18‑core CPU, 32‑core GPU with 36GB of RAM, 2TB storage
I did 11 years with my previous MBP (2015) and would like to be as future proof as my budget will allow. (this is tops what I want to spend)

I have two questions:

  1. I'm just wondering if the extra GPU cores and extra memory bandwidth of the M5 Max is worth sacrificing the 8GB of RAM less than the M5 Pro config?
  2. I've read about Max processors thermal throttling behaviour in the past, but I don't know if that is still an issue to consider?
Thanks in advance!
 
I’m doing all sorts of things:
kitKAC said:
@JaZzMaN251 What are you planning on doing with the machine?
Click to expand...
I'm doing all sorts of things:
  • Fusion360
  • Final Cut Pro X
  • Logic Pro X
  • Photoshop, Lightroom
All non-professional work, but I would like a machine that is most "future-proof". And I do know that sounds a bit wrong, but I'm just a bit lost when comparing my current MBP specs to the new ones (SSD speeds: 1GB/s to 14GB/s... Memory bandwidth: 15GB/s to 307GB/s or even 614GB/s on the Max...)

I mean, I do know that every single config is going to fly in comparison to the 2015 MBP I have now, but just want to make the right choice on a new one for longterm use. Would I benefit from more RAM or less, but faster RAM with extra GPU cores? 🙂
 
Either one will be solidly future-proof; in your case I think it’s best to go with the M5 Pro with more memory — a good rule of thumb I’ve seen suggested when folks consider purchasing a new Mac seems to be “go with as much memory as you can afford.”
Based on what you said, I don’t think you really need the Max unless you’re doing 8K video editing, a bunch of 3D modeling/rendering etc. with your workflow. Since you said “non-professional” I can only assume that’s the case 😅 apologies if I’m wrong!

Remember that there are folks out there still on the M1 series and still running strong! These machines are gonna be great for the foreseeable future, and probably beyond that.
 
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I am choosing the M5 Pro with 48GB and 1 TB.

This is coming from an M1 Pro with 16/512.

For me, I never really run out of storage because I am a digital photographer and I move my photos to external storage anyway. So my internal storage use doesn’t take up the 512GB.

For memory I have never hit a hard limit but because of an AI project I work on, having a lot of memory will help. If you want to run docker or VMs with Windows or Linux, memory can get used up very fast. But that is cause you are loading two full operating systems at once.

The faster CPU, as I understand, is not any faster unless your software splits tasks up. Of course, splitting tasks up takes more memory. So I think the balanced long life approach is Pro cpu with more memory.

You could also give up 1TB of storage and buy the Pro cpu with more cores. But I will not. I will order the Pro with 48/1TB.
 
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Always go for the one with more memory if you can. Tbh even as a Unbinned M4 Max user that binned version of M5 Max makes no sense to me. But this would pave the way for me for a future mac studio and set those expectations.

I run 2x 4TB T9's on my current MBP which is fine for performance [haven't ran into any bottlenecking yet so that's a thing]
 
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Either one and it will rock. I would lean towards the Max for the 'standard' work you are doing (but I like the Max and can feel the difference in performance for the work I do). 36GB should keep you happy for 3 years, then trade it in and get a new one. MacBooks keep their price very well, and year three seems to be the sweet spot for return on investment.
 
Coming from M1 Base my main issue is being ram constrained. Its still „fast“ for heavy dev work (in my case).
You even get M5 Pro 64gb 2tb for less than M5 Max 36gb. Unless you know you need the max for some reason i would opt for m5pro 64gb.
I did and i think its a very sweet spot in this lineup.
 
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The next upgrade is always a couple hundreds away. 😅 But I found 4K to be a hard limit 😬
I think the M5 Pro is “right” for my use so I went with that.
 
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JaZzMaN251 said:
I went for the M5 Pro with 64GB 😅
Thanks for all your feedback!
Click to expand...
Fantastic! That will keep you happy for quite some time!

Two M5 Max (40GPU) with 128GB, one with Nano, one without on the way.
Pretty jazzed to see how it handles ML processing and training.
 
choose as much RAM as possible is better for Adobe/video/LLM, especially for Adobe products
save your money on choosing 1TB instead to upgrade the RAM to max
 
I've currently got the M3 Pro, 18GB MacBook (12-Core CPU/18-Core GPU).

Upgrading to M5 Max, 48GB (18-Core CPU/40-Core GPU). Arrives next week.

Laptop is on top of my work machine - Mac Studio M4 Max, 48GB (16‑Core CPU / 40‑Core GPU).

Thinking I should have gone with M5 Pro, 68GB now.
 
JaZzMaN251 said:
I’m doing all sorts of things:

I'm doing all sorts of things:
  • Fusion360
  • Final Cut Pro X
  • Logic Pro X
  • Photoshop, Lightroom
All non-professional work, but I would like a machine that is most "future-proof". And I do know that sounds a bit wrong, but I'm just a bit lost when comparing my current MBP specs to the new ones (SSD speeds: 1GB/s to 14GB/s... Memory bandwidth: 15GB/s to 307GB/s or even 614GB/s on the Max...)

I mean, I do know that every single config is going to fly in comparison to the 2015 MBP I have now, but just want to make the right choice on a new one for longterm use. Would I benefit from more RAM or less, but faster RAM with extra GPU cores? 🙂
Click to expand...
I wanted 'future proof'. I do LrC, Photoshop mainly but want to be able to run local LLMs (AI models) on it.

I got the M5 Pro 14 inch with 64 GB of RAM and 2 TB of disk. It's a travel laptop mostly so I needed portability over screen size.
 
I went with a 16-inch MackBook Pro with the 18/20 core M5 Pro chip, 48GB of RAM and 1TB SSD. I had considered 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. But I would have had to wait more than a month of that build and the machine I bought was in stock. Also, I have an M2 Max Mac Studio with 64GB/1TB and, thanks to external storage (Samsung T9) my SSD doesn’t even have 256GB used up yet.
 
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