Upgrade to M2 Max or M4 Max?

[giovannicris]

To keep it short..

I'm currently using a MacBook Pro M1 Pro from 2020, and would like to upgrade to a Studio.

Architect here so use a lot of graphics work and also use Parallels a lot to run windows applications like Revit.

My current machine is starting to lag a little bit during that workflow, so I'm considering switching to a Studio.

I'm looking at some used M2 Max (12-Core CPU / 30-Core GPU), 32GB RAM.. Would that be a considerable upgrade or should I invest some more and get a new M4 Max?

 

[throAU]

Go M4, but you don't need to go max to get a huge boost.

An M4 Pro will be about same speed as M1 max on heavy multi-threaded work and GPU.

But where the M4 generation (including M4 base, Pro, Max and the phone chips it is based on) will kill the M2 generation is responsiveness for general desktop stuff.

M5 will be even snappier for that.


Just pick how much ram you want and then go for the latest generation chip you can with the amount of RAM required. Assuming the RAM and SSD is sufficient - Pro vs. Max is less important unless you're gaming, running high end 3D workload or need the dual encoders for video work the max chips have.

Each successive generation of M chip has been a reasonable jump in responsiveness and jumping 3 generations instead of one will be very noticeable.

I currently own M1, M4 and M5 generation products.


M4 Max is much faster than M2 Max

ref: https://medium.com/@kellyshephard/m1-max-vs-m2-max-vs-m3-max-battle-of-the-maxes-dfc9b9928456

 

[benholt]

Revit through Parallels is memory-heavy in a way that hits hard once you open a big federated model — Parallels' RAM allocation to the VM is coming out of your total 32GB and macOS still needs its share. On a used M2 Max 32GB you'd be handing Parallels 16-20GB and hoping the rest is enough, which starts swapping the moment models get real. Between a used M2 Max at 32GB and a new M4 Max with more RAM I'd take the RAM every time. If budget matters, an M4 Pro at 48GB probably serves that workload better than an M4 Max stuck at 32. Also worth asking whether you actually want to give up the laptop for site visits, or pair a Studio at the office with a cheaper MBP for travel.

 

[giovannicris]

@benholt that's great to know about the RAM for parallels. I'll consider that too.
A Mac mini m4 Pro with 48GB of RAM is almost the same price of a new Mac Studio M4 Max with 36GB.. That's where it gets pretty tricky to make a choice.
Another option is to go for a used Studio Ultra (probably M1) with lots of RAM (seen some with 64GB), which would end up costing roughly the same.
And workflow-wise, that's the idea. Keep the MacBook Pro for site visits or remote work. But most days I'm in the studio plugged in to an external screen anyway.