MacBook M2 Max 30c vs 38c

[mr.sam]

Hey folks,

I’m looking at getting my first MacBook and have been eyeing up an M2 Max 30c 14”. I’m a programmer by day, but also do a lot of multimedia (video/photo editing). A lot of time is also spent on CAD (Fusion). I tend to gobble RAM so 32GB is probably the minimum tolerable. I’d like to do some gaming but that’s not really a deciding factor, plus I feel like we’re about a year or so away from the GPTk impact being felt in real terms.

I’ve read some great information around here from around the release time comparing the two chips. From what I am tell, the only material impact is in synthetic benchmarks.

Has anyone managed to show a real world application where the 38c is beneficial over the 30c?

I’m in New Zealand, so buying/returning a MBP is a pain so I’d like to get it right first time. Thanks!

 

[TechnoMonk]

What’s your budget? How long are you planning to keep the laptop? Will you be getting paid for the work you do on the laptop?

 

[mr.sam]

Hi,

My budget is around $3000 USD. I plan on keeping the laptop as long as it can keep up with my workflow. I’m not buying the laptop for profit.

Sorry to be kind of vague. At this stage of computing I can’t really see my needs increasing over time, so it’s probably more tied to device longevity.

 

[uller6]

Get the 30 core and save your money. By the time that 30 core feels slow the 38 core won’t feel any faster, and both machines will lose OS support at the same time. The 38 core allows you to run ~20% more concurrent threads than the 30 core, so it will only be ~20% faster in heavily multithreaded workloads. Both machines will feel just as snappy - determined by single core speed which is the same for both machines. The M1 to M2 transition increased single core speed by ~20%, and I expect similar increases with the next few iterations of the M series. By the time your M2 feels old the new M9 will be waaaay faster, and you’ll have saved a bunch of money too.

 

[TechnoMonk]

What’s your budget? How long are you planning to keep the laptop? Will you be getting paid for the work you do on the laptop?

I would personally save money on the processor if it’s not for work. May be bump the RAM to 64 GB or 96GB if you want to future proof AI related tools.

 

[dmccloud]

Hi,

My budget is around $3000 USD. I plan on keeping the laptop as long as it can keep up with my workflow. I’m not buying the laptop for profit.

Sorry to be kind of vague. At this stage of computing I can’t really see my needs increasing over time, so it’s probably more tied to device longevity.

I'm using my 14" MBP (30 core GPU) for photo/video editing, coding, web development, graphic design, and testing some Windows games via the GPTK. Even under those loads the 30 core is more than enough machine to handle everything I throw at it. With that being said, I did pick this configuration with an eye towards my future hardware needs increasing.

 

[mr.sam]

Thanks everyone. I challenged myself to accept a lower specification device (i.e. Pro instead of Max), but the 32GB RAM requirement keeps bringing me back to the Max. A Pro with 32GB of RAM is so close to the Max in price (and is a standard model) that it seems silly not to make the jump.

However, I concede based on your feedback that the 38 core GPU is probably not worth getting so I’ll step down to the M2 Max 30c.

Thanks!

 

[Sydde]

A Pro with 32GB of RAM is so close to the Max in price

$300US difference, when I look. If you want a Max with 64GB, it will be $3500. My personal inclination would be a Pro, and up it to 2TB storage ($3300), because I am not really interested in those games (or would probably be ok with lower res) but more storage seems like what I would really want.