Apple M1 Pro vs Max

[nebosphere]

Hi!

Folks where I work are buying new laptops and trying to figure out if it’s worth it to spring for the Max over the Pro chip.

I have a fully tricked out M1 Max MBP and it’s amazing in every respect so I’d love to hear if anyone has experience with the Pro chip specifically.

TIA!


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[GoButtonGuy]

There have been several benchmarks between the two using real world data and applications. It looks like video is where the biggest gains are made. My M1 Pro outperforms our trash cans and while we haven't fully deployed the Intel Mac Pro rack mounts we have provisioning testing for some apps appears to perform respectably. Tough to tell because the MBP is native and the Pros are HDX. The MBP tracks 64 from either MADI, Dante or Soundgrid and it's plenty fast. I'm running UAD and or SGS plug engines but I can still load up plenty with an entry level MBP with a Pro.

One deciding factor would be if you you need big RAM to run in memory data without swapping. We went for Mac Studios with and Ultra for this (hopefully we'll see them before July...) as we have one app where we need a clips/samples loaded into RAM with significant read speeds.

If the cost is minimal (which depends on your needs) we always go with more. If you can afford them get them. If nothing else for future piece of mind.

[huzzam]

The M1 Max brings very little to the table for audio users, when compared to the M1 Pro (if we're talking about the 10-core Pro, not the binned 8-core one on the cheapest 14" macbook pro). The only real advantage is the possibility for 64GB of RAM. The processing power (CPU) will be essentially identical, though.


The M1 Ultra, on the other hand, has double the CPU power of either the Pro or the Max. Whether that's necessary/useful for you, you'll have to decide. By most accounts, the M1 Pro has already excessive power for most audio tasks, even up to ridiculous track & plugin counts.


I'd personally pick up a 10-core Pro if I were in the market right now.

[thin ice]

More is usually a good thing in computer power and RAM. The problem, as GoButtonGuy alluded to, is that a lot of what you pay for is aimed directly at video work.

Huge amounts of GPU power seems to be in the place I would prefer to see CPU or more RAM for £4,000 or more. This is largely wasted on music production, unless you mix with picture too.

[nebosphere]

Thanks folks! Very helpful.

I am also wondering if anyone has experience running large sessions with VIs using the Pro. Let me know!


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[K Roche]

Originally Posted by nebosphere

Thanks folks! Very helpful.

I am also wondering if anyone has experience running large sessions with VIs using the Pro. Let me know!


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Maybe this will help https://youtu.be/9P3Rc2jFYns

[off the wall]

Originally Posted by nebosphere

Hi!

Folks where I work are buying new laptops and trying to figure out if it’s worth it to spring for the Max over the Pro chip.

I have a fully tricked out M1 Max MBP and it’s amazing in every respect so I’d love to hear if anyone has experience with the Pro chip specifically.

TIA!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You know where to find me.

[bradch00]

I picked up a Studio Max because I am upgrading from a 32GB iMac (late 2014… love that machine), which I never topped out. I don’t work in video much and felt 64GB seemed to fit my needs for the next few years. I have had it for a month and am pretty pleased the performance so far. It will be more telling when everything is running in native mode. Currently I boot from an external drive for my “Rosetta” environment.