Just out of curiosity, which SoC/memory combo did you order? For those who ordered multiple configurations, please choose the "higher" one. 
Last edited:
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Which SoC/Memory combo did you order?
- Thread starter nepalisherpa
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
At first Pro/16, which was due for Tuesday. Sadly, I canceled and switch to Max/32 after a lot of thought. Now I am waiting till 22-29 November. And yes, that sucks.
I did the opposite... I originally went for a Max/24 but cancelled and switched to Pro/16
That’s a sensible thing to do, if you don’t need more than that. But with Parallels, Xcode and Android Studio at the same time, I don’t see it happening. Also, I want a MacBook that lasts at least 3 years for my usage.
So, I didn’t buy an AW7. Fine, then I can put the money into a MacBook Pro. I use my MacBook more than my Mac Mini M1.
Yeah, I'm more in the web design/development space with some light photography and video. I use Docker VM's, VS Code, Photoshop, Sketch, Lightroom, Affinity Photo/Designer/Publisher, FCP and Luminar AI.
I've been on a 16gb/256 M1 mini since I traded in my iMac Pro and honestly it's been fantastic. This Mini was meant to just hold me over until these new MBP's came out, but it's handled my workload surprisingly well! The biggest reasons I'm going with the MBP is to be portable again and I need more RAM and storage. I've been using an external SSD on the Mini, which is fine, but need the storage internally when working remotely which I'd like to do more.
Just ordered a 16. M1 Max, 24 GPU with 32 GB Ram and 2 TB SSD. I am upgrading from a 2018 MBP with 16 GB Ram and 512 SSD. I never max out my current machine so hoping the new one is more than adequate. I do mostly coding and web stuff nothing with editing. The M1 pro would have been more than fine for me but I wanted the 400gb memory bandwidth for some reason I did not need the extra GPU cores but I guess nice to have em
The machines were made to be in two configurations.
14 inch 10/16 32gb
16 inch 10/32 64gb
That is what each chassis were designed for AND IMO the 14 inch 10/16/32 is the most bang for your buck even though the seconds max is a mere $200 more.
We now all know the 14 inch max is throttled so the $200 difference + tax is a waste.
32gb of ram in a max is a waste. If you need 32 cores of gpu you need 64gb of ram.
Also, y’all know the other configurations are seconds right?
14 inch 10/16 32gb
16 inch 10/32 64gb
That is what each chassis were designed for AND IMO the 14 inch 10/16/32 is the most bang for your buck even though the seconds max is a mere $200 more.
We now all know the 14 inch max is throttled so the $200 difference + tax is a waste.
32gb of ram in a max is a waste. If you need 32 cores of gpu you need 64gb of ram.
Also, y’all know the other configurations are seconds right?
Who's to say 10/16 isn't seconds either? 10/16, 10/24, 10/32, all 8 gpu cores apart... more likely, the wafers target 10/32 and when that fails it falls into one of the lower specs depending on what is functioning.
Having said that, I went with 14" 8/14. It's more than sufficient for my needs and coming a base 2013 13" the cpu is depressingly slow. Realistically I'd be fine with a 16/512 M1 MBA but I'm happy to pay the modest amount more for +2 perf cores, miniLED, notch,... The insane single thread performance on the M1 is enough for this to be "future proofed" for me when it doesn't have the world's worst 2 core intel cpu in it.
I think it’s more like 4 banks of 8 cores in the max and 2 in the pro. If you look at the pro it only has space for 16 cores and they are arranged in banks of 8.
Just canceled my order and got the same config 24 GPU max with 64 GB Ram instead of 32. I did it for a few reasons as I really think 32 is perfect for me and I know I do not keep these machines long term as in 3 years when apple has a 100 core M3 max im going to get it no matter how much ram I have. What I did was look really close at my 16 GB Ram MBP and realized I have that maxed out with docker containers running and 100 tabs open 6 windows of VS Code. 32 would have been fine but it would only give me about 20% extra overhead. For well over 3k I figured lets get enough overhead I never need to care to even look. My new order date went dem 12/1 to 12/16 but I think its the right call.
As for why only 24 GPU's? I never do any graphic stuff on my mac its all coding. I build PC gaming machines for fun to game on so I really just need to have lots of stuff open and so getting the max with the lower GPU is 0 issue for me.
10 CPU + 16 GPU cores with 16GB of RAM and 1TB. I'll be testing it out to see if it makes sense for me to send back and get the 32GB of RAM. It's 500€ for the 32GB upgrade so I want make sure I do really need it after all
Pro/16 for myself (RDS, Citrix, VDI, Office work and a little photo editing)
Pro/32 for girlfriend (Lightroom, Photoshop, InDesign and enthusiast video editing)
I see lots of people recommend paying the "measly" $200 U.S. (230 euro) increase to get the 32GB M1 Max instead of the 32GB M1 Pro, but I stick with the already crazy powerful Pro. A measly $200 here and there, and before you know u'll end up maxing out your machine instead.
Pro/32 for girlfriend (Lightroom, Photoshop, InDesign and enthusiast video editing)
I see lots of people recommend paying the "measly" $200 U.S. (230 euro) increase to get the 32GB M1 Max instead of the 32GB M1 Pro, but I stick with the already crazy powerful Pro. A measly $200 here and there, and before you know u'll end up maxing out your machine instead.
I cancelled my 10 CPU + 16 GPU cores with 16GB of RAM and 1TB order, and went with the 32GB RAM option despite having to wait an extra month.
Why? Because I'm already tight on 16GB, and year-over-year new MacOS releases (with new features) and new software increase demand on processor, memory, and storage. Not to mention the new shared memory architecture where the video uses RAM too.
I purchased 16GB back in 2013, today I'm going with 32GB as demands have increased significantly despite me not changing my workflows.
Tim
Thanks Tim for the feedback, I'm currently doing my workloads on my MBA Air base model and it runs fine. I came from a i9 with 16GB RAM and I never used more than the 12GB of RAM! So I'm curious to see how different it is now because I'm doing much more IDE and 3 browsers.
But if I hit the 60-65% memory pressure I'll definitely send it back and upgrade
Seems like a good approach, if I were in your shoes I'd probably do the same.
The $400 to upgrade is a huge deterrent for most.
Now if it was a $200 upgrade, or they offered a 24GB option, it would be easier.
Tim
My problem isn't the money per say it's a good investment if you actually use it. I moved half of my workloads to the Citrix VDI so at the end of the day I'm not really sure if I actually need it ahah
My uses are the same.
Pre-ordered the 16” MBP which has a base cpu/gpu config of 10/16. I have actually thought of “downgrading” to a 14” MBP with its base 8/14 configuration. For RDP and Citrix, it’s extreme overkill anyway. ? I just wanted the bigger screen, but it is a lot of money on something I don’t need. Power-wise, even the M1 MBA is overkill, except the screen size isn’t ideal.
I hate external monitors, but ita far, far cheaper solution. ?
Last edited:
Shows how much people know about computers on here with the pro 32gb being the least purchased. It’s the sweet spot. To utilise the max you need a 16 inch and 64gb of ram otherwise it’s literally bottle necked to a pro 16gpu 32gb lmao.
So the point is the 24 core gpu, 32gb ram crowd are being blown out of $200 + tax not to mention concerns about being sold seconds.
So the point is the 24 core gpu, 32gb ram crowd are being blown out of $200 + tax not to mention concerns about being sold seconds.
Not sure any of this makes sense or is accurate but we appreciate you insulting the thread. The max chip has a higher memory bandwidth which can be used even if 0 GPU cores are being used. If I am compiling a ML App that takes 3 hours to compile faster memory and more access to that memory is better. The GPU's seem to scale linearly unlike the CPU cores so graphics is easier to predict.
Base 14 as I use my mac only for some office stuff, web browsing en watching video. All heavy stuff is done on my windows workstation and servers. The base 14 is replacing my 13 pro 2020 i7 16GB/512GB which i sold to a family member
Pro/32 for me. My primary heavy load applications are Lightroom Classic and Photoshop, and in the past I have run into memory limitations significantly more frequently than GPU limitations. Also I've been burned by not paying for memory upgrades in the past (looking at you, surface pro 6) so I just bit that bullet for more peace of mind this time.