Should I buy a M2 Macbook Pro Max or a M3 Pro Macbook (12/18 with 36GB RAM)?

[brgjoe]

Refurbished M2 Macbook Pro Max Macbooks are coming down in price a bit. And so I keep going back and forth between that one and the M3 Pro (with the 12/18 chip). I am not a gamer per se, but I do want to play the occasional game decently. Like Baldur's Gate 3 natively, for instance.

I know the M2 Max has more GPU cores. But is it actually faster playing that game in the real world? I haven't seen any comparisons between the M2 Max and the M3 Macbook pro yet (or at least I haven't seen any with regard to games like BG3).

The M3 is newer and will have support longer. Though the M2 was released in January of this year. So you'd think they'd get about the same length or support from Apple, right? Anyway, just going back and forth in my mind before I make my final buying decision.

 

[Basic75]

Here are the designations of the two machines as I understand them:

1. MacBook Pro with M2 Max chip (8+4 CPU cores, 30 or 38 GPU cores, 32GB)
2. MacBook Pro with M3 Pro chip (higher bin, 6+6 CPU cores, 18 GPU cores, 36GB RAM)

(Apple isn't making it easy with all the "Pro" and "Max" designations, there's an iPhone Pro Max, but the MacBook Pro with M1/2/3 Max chip is not called the MacBook Pro Max!)

As for performance, it probably doesn't make much difference.

• CPU is slightly better in number 2 as single-threaded performance still matters.
• GPU is faster in number 1 though the M3 generation has more features and the potential of getting closer to its theoretical performance.

I'd probably get number 1 for a good price, otherwise number 2.

 

[JustAnExpat]

Refurbished M2 Macbook Pro Max Macbooks are coming down in price a bit. And so I keep going back and forth between that one and the M3 Pro (with the 12/18 chip). I am not a gamer per se, but I do want to play the occasional game decently. Like Baldur's Gate 3 natively, for instance.

I know the M2 Max has more GPU cores. But is it actually faster playing that game in the real world? I haven't seen any comparisons between the M2 Max and the M3 Macbook pro yet (or at least I haven't seen any with regard to games like BG3).

The M3 is newer and will have support longer. Though the M2 was released in January of this year. So you'd think they'd get about the same length or support from Apple, right? Anyway, just going back and forth in my mind before I make my final buying decision.

1. What are you planning on doing with the machine?
2. We don't know what Apple's policy is going to be with the M series of processors and support. I would imagine because the M3 is newer, it'll be supported longer, but it won't matter if you're planning on using this machine "professionally", since it'll be a tax write off.

 

[brgjoe]

Just personal use. I have a Windows PC that is getting a bit long in the tooth. So I thought since the new M3's came out, I would give them a look. So after pondering this for awhile, I was thinking either the M3 Pro (12/18) Macbook or possibly now a refurbished M2 Max Macbook Pro.

It would just be for doing some photo/video editing as well as playing the occasional game (like Baldur's Gate 3 which I really would want to try -- but my old Windows PC isn't quite up to it now).