MacBook Pro M4 Vs Mac Studio M2 v M1. Tested and compared by Creative PRO

Photoshop tested on the new Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max. Compared to M1 Max and Mac Studio M2 Ultra. Colin Smith from PhotoshopCAFE put the new Apple silicon to the test with Photoshop 2025 and Premiere Pro. Taken to the extreme with huge files in this review. Spoiler, it is unlike anything I've seen before.

00:00 Intro
00:19 Specs of M4 Max, M1 Max, M2 Ultra
00:44 Question to answer
01:13 The Tests
01:38 Opening Large Files
02:03 Speed of complex filter
02:52 Upscaling image to huge size
03:33 Filtering massive images
04:07 Compare Saving large file, write test
04:48 Photoshop speed improvements across the board
05:53 Premiere Pro tests and comparisons from M1 vs M2 vs M4
06:04 Encoding 4k from Premiere Pro
07:02 Rendering 4K in Premiere Pro
07:36 Advice on buying and upgrading
08:16 Mac Studio vs MacBook Pro
09:03 If you are on a tight budget

#Photoshop #m4 #macbookpro #test #review

[ashrafamad-dser]

For the st time, I see a real comparison, practical, straight to the point with real use case, also direct without too much talking and informative, information are organized and easy to follow, thanks

[stevehoward_nz]

Thanks Colin. I am using a Mac Studio M1 Max middle spec for photography and a bit of drone stuff using Lightroom and Photoshop. I transitioned in 2022 from an intel iMac. Totally agree with the crossover comment, that an M1 Max is still in 2024 in the heavy weight class. Good to see a Kiwi doing well in your part of the World. Your Youtube stuff is great, easy to understand and top quality. Cheers

[jimengab]

OMFG someone testing Macs that isn't doing the Lr export that has been taking seconds for years? THANK YOU. Subscribed.

[sekaf]

really like the way you compared. I currently own a maxed out M1 14

[TherealPaulMounts]

I like all of your videos, but this was an exceptionally GREAT video - thanks for all your hard work!

[ilpoheikkila]

Great video! All 3 are amazing machines.

[sebahoppe]

The video I was looking for! Great work

[SteveBaldwin-vt]

What about the Mac Mini with the M4 or M4 Pro chip?

[SunSin]

Nobody is talking about the 2tb M1 Max with 6gb r/w speed. Most reviews are doing 1.5gb /3gb sec configuration.
I got the M1 Max with 6gb sec configuration and 32gb memory. It is still kicking and great battery. I can 4 years later use mine M1 Max for a whole day of developing on battery only.

[davemengle]

Nice comparison Colin! Simple, concise and real world. 👍 And like you I'll be picking up an M4 by the end of the year. Not so much to future proof... but to "tariff proof". 😨

[christinasiu]

Thanks for this video, Colin. It's really helpful to see since I will need to upgrade from my i7 Intel iMac and I was trying to figure out all the chips and whether a mini or studio would make sense aside from the MacBook Pro. I finally upgraded the iOS to what I could (it's still a really old version) and I'm already unable to upgrade some of the Adobe apps because it's too old. I would love to see a video similar to this while you have several intensive programs open like PS, LR, Pr, Ai, InD, Topaz, PTGui, etc. and whether you could work in another program or two while something is rendering.

[Kinetica_tm]

This was the best video so far. I was looking for the same m4 max specs but no one did this runs on it. PS im changing from windows for the 1st time 🎉

[djepik]

Thanks for making a great video and making it so simple and easy to understand I subscribed please keep making content like this

[ReR]

I’m trying to find a video on M1Max vs M4 pro 14”
I wonder if there’s a lot difference between the two.

[StephenCarlockVO]

The M1 Max is such a beast. Been running an audio-focused business on mine for the last few years and it’s held up to everything I’ve thrown at it. Nice for the occasional game as well. The only thing pushing me to consider upgrading is RAM - I picked one up with 32GB and these days it’s inadequate. Won’t make that mistake with the next machine.

[the-pixel-whisperer]

Excellent video, Colin! Benchmarks have their place, but this tells the story I wanted to see and hear: how a machine does while running my software. I also loved the part about how Adobe has sped up the machines' performance on their end.

As the owner of a maxed out MacBook Pro M1 Max, the Photoshop comparisons gave me speed anxiety at first. But if you watch the video to the end, you'll see that well-spec'd M1 Macs are still quite useful and speedy (no 20GB files for me!) for the right use cases.

[--AnonymousUser--]

24GB or 48GB M4 Pro for professional photography workflow with Lightroom Classic and Photoshop?

[nklba]

hi colin would you suggest thr m4 max in 14 inch or 16 inch ?

[rogerlove]

Good advice regarding tariffs. I’m going to update my 2017 iMac to a M4 Mini in the next couple weeks. Don’t need another laptop. Another monitor, yes. I’m thinking used. Which one is the question. Any thoughts?

[pieterdhaeze]

Hi Colin, great review. Can you do one with the new Mac Mini M4 with different specs. I use Mac as my secondary platform and want to replace an old MacBook pro 13" from 2016.