M1 Pro vs M1 Max: Which Should You Buy?

When choosing your MacBook Pro configuration, should you choose the ‌M1‌ Pro or ‌M1‌ Max? Despite both being powerful Apple silicon chips with some overlap, they do have different capabilities. Our video/guide should help answer the question of how to decide which of these two chipsets for the high-end MacBook Pro is best for you.

read more -

[U]

Promise I'm not trolling, I watched and still wondering which one is appropriate. This was just a copy paste of the press kit materials for the event, not an analysis given the presented specs - objectively where do you draw the line in the most common applications of which is more appropriate?

[marcusoutdoors]

I’m most interested in the machine that won’t overheat and will run for a real world 8 hours using Photoshop, I.e. the complete opposite of the 2019 model i9 16inch MacBook. So my only concern is the real world heat and power usage of the M1max

[sublimetulii]

The one you should get is the one you can afford. These are far beyond what any average user needs & even most professional work. If you’re getting the Max, you already know that the M1 couldn’t handle your work flow. Everyone else upgrading from an Intel chip MBP should buy the low tier options because it’s got a lot of overhead if you need it for the future still & will crush your previous MBP in every way.

[streamiumlive]

I watched this after receiving an M1 Pro 16" base unit, as I am in the "have I made a mistake" phase of post-purchase reflection. From what you've said, and my gut instinct, I am really comfortable with my decision. I, too, will be using it for video and photo editing, but it sounds more than adequate. A maxed out 'Max' would have cost almost double. I'll save that difference for a future upgrade. But from what I'm gathering the base 16" will suffice for many years (it is replacing a 2014 13" MacBook pro, so I really do hang onto them). Cheers for the great and succinct review

[mykyproano]

I bought the base m1 pro, even though I don't really need all that power. I just like the 120 hz, and not having to use dongles. I'll be using it for the next 5-6 years so should last me till then.

[AnonymousFreakYT]

While I'm not upgrading soon (have a fully loaded 16" Intel MacBook Pro that will last me many years) I am *VERY* grateful they are offering 100% the same configuration options regardless of screen size. That was always an annoying thing to me. "Oh, you want the quad core and the discrete GPU? Sorry, you have to get the bigger screen."

[zildog]

Everything about these new MBP's screams upgrade. Get what you can afford AND need.

I think that even the baseline minimum will be a fantastic upgrade for 90% of people who opt in.

[outdevo]

Basically 99.9% of humanity needs neither lol… The year old M1 itself is a beast, this is just bonkers…

[Ormonix]

I'm planning on getting the M1 Pro I'm a developer who codes a lot and compiles a lot of big projects and use photoshop frequently but with small projects, I made a mistake by getting the MacBook Pro 16 inch with i9 and highest GPU option, Over heats like crazy, battery dies in 3-4 hours like a windows machine and I'm not planning to do the same mistake with M1 Max, yes its for sure more energy efficient than the i9 but I'm pretty sure not as efficient as the M1 Pro and the M1 Pro is too Powerful enough for me,

Getting the 16 inch with M1 Pro and 32 RAM and 1TB

[javiercaselli]

I'm sticking with the high-end M1 Pro with 32G RAM, I'm not a video editor and will use it for software development and other stuff not so power hungry in the GPU department, I will connect it to an external 4K display and I don't envision myself ever wanting to plug it to more than two external displays at once. Even if I run the occasional video game, I reckon the M1 Pro is (presently and for at least several years) a beast.

[TechWithSean]

My heart wants the 16" Pro Max, but my brain can't justify paying that much and giving up Bootcamp. My 16" i9/5500m still blazes through everything, and can run a ton of games in Windows.

[karelmirin]

Apple has a few marketing geniuses who always makes you think you'll need the best of the best. That's why I'm curious if the base model M1 Pro 16" (10CPU 16GPU/RAM) would be enough to edit 422 10bit 4K 60 FPS with color correction and effects SMOOTHLY?

[dannilsenphotography]

I went with the M1 Max & 64gb ram w/ 1tb ssd on a 16". Upgrading from a mid 2015 pro

[espro]

32gb ram is probably more than enough if i take in consideration that my current m1 air 8gb plenty fast even for 4k editing. But you know.. 64 is better :). I would personally go with 64gb ram just for futureprufing. Macbooks are those workhorses who live long enough to need 64 eventually.

[Julie-jlkk]

"Future-proof" that is the perfect term to use when buying tech

[zildog]

I ordered a 14 inch MBP with 32GB of memory with the top spec M1P and 1TB of storage. Absolutely stoked as this is going to last me years and will be a mind fuck in performance when it comes to replacing my 2017 Dual core MBP with 8GB of memory and a measly 120GB of storage.

[jmpersic]

I got the MAX because I need to run more than two external monitors. Otherwise the Pro would have been fine.

[Zerael]

I’m gonna get the old M1 air. The new ones are too expensive for regular use. I don’t do any pro stuff 😅.

[DamienDae]

I bought a Mac mini M1 with 16Gb of RAM and it's more than enough for DTP work – I run the Adobe suite and Office + 3 browsers + a few other apps without any issue or hearing the fan kick off ever.

[stevedowler]

I ordered the 14inch M1Pro upgraded to 32GB and it is listed as having the 16-Core GPU not the 14-Core GPU Dan mentioned. I don't know how that came about, maybe because of the SSD upgrade? But I'm stoked about this new machine, finally replacing my 2015 MacBook!