14' Base model M1 Pro vs 13' M1 MacBook: worth $700 more?

The new base model 14 inch MacBook Pro with 8 core M1 Pro and 14 core GPU has drawn criticism for being a double-binned M1 Pro at 2 thousand dollars. But being the cheapest M1 Pro MacBook Pro, I thought it was worthy of performance test and benchmark evaluation. So today we'll find out if the 14 inch MacBook Pro is worth the extra, and if the base model M1 Pro is good enough!

Time stamps
0:00 Intro
2:06 Display comparison
4:07 Performance
4:22 Final Cut Pro
5:51 DaVinci Resolve
7:09 Disk Speed Test
8:01 Shadow of the Tomb Raider
9:35 Blender
10:54 Rapid-fire benchmarks
11:39 Cinebench & Geekbench
13:26 Final Cut Export
14:11 GFXBench
15:14 3DMark Wildlife Extreme
15:33 Basemark GPU
15:48 Novabench and V-Ray

Gear:
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[jonas]

Feels like yesterday where we talked about how speedy the M1 is.

[RiteshKudalkar]

Thanks for doing the display test. As of yet, not a single tech YouTuber compare it like you did. It's a great panel, can't wait to get it next year.

[lukemiani]

Are you surprised by the results? Do you think the base model 14” is a good value?

[zaaajac]

And keep in mind that the 13 M1 is already a beast in it’s class - so the 14 is absolutely NUTS

[TheVelomobileChannel]

Yes! This is the video I’ve been waiting for. Keep these coming, I’m going to watch every one of them until I get my own 14” base model sometime next month.

[wixtech]

Just want to commend you Luke for banging out all of this M1 Pro/Max content. Please keep it up - you are doing great work here.

[thoughtsauce]

Crazy how much you grown, Luke. I am one of your original 10k subs. You have definitely grown into the YouTuber I knew you could always be. Proud of you, and hella inspiring. Early congrats on 350k. 1/3 of the way to 1 milli.

[sakhawatrahman]

The base model 14 is worth it for anyone who needs 16GB 512GB as with the M1 MacBooks you have to pay $400 extra for both of them.

[Photomeike]

Boy oh boy. If I wasn’t trying to by the new Nikon Z9. I’d be in line for new 14inch M1 Max with 32GB and 2TB SSD.

[FEARisCOLD]

I bought the base model yesterday morning. I didn’t go to bed til 6am this morning and woke up around 12pm. I’ve been working on it for hours with just video editing and this thing is just amazing. The fans didn’t start up once and there’s no heat at all coming from it. I can’t imagine what the $6000 machine would do.

[BootStrapTurnerVideography]

The original M1 series is a real beast! I do a large amount of ProRes 4K video editing, so the unique ProRes hardware acceleration is certainly worth it and not really shown in these types of benchmarks. I'd argue for those use cases, the upgrade is worth it. For casual and some professional work, the 13" M1 MacBook series (Air and Pro) are well worth the purchase.

[DanielFokker]

Well done, love your set-up and comparison choices! Your benchmark charts are finally colored, and added a "lower OR higher = better" subtitle! Would be nice if you can add the benchmark as an overlay in the video.

[SonniiTea]

Thank you for making me feel secure for my decision to go with the base model over an upgraded model. On paper for my workflow I felt that it was enough but with a lot of the review videos catering to the higher end models, I was starting to rethink my decision.

[ryanhaddad]

As a Youtuber said before (Luke / another one I forgot), either go with the MB Air or skip to the 14'.

[AnkerInsider]

I think the M1 MacBook Air vs 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro is a more interesting comparison. Most agree that the Air is a better value than the M1 13" Pro.

[Milo]

The best comparision video i have seen! I hate how so many tech channels are more busy with taking 9 billion shots and weird angles to the point you cant even compare it for yourself. Your style is perfect. Nice shot that are not all over the place and just straight to the point.

[mtoadmin]

Another great improvement with M1 Pro is for music. Delay went from 5 or 3ms in best conditions on a MBP i9 16 to an incredible 0.7ms on my M1 Pro 16 inches (base CPU). Settings are at 96khz with 64 bytes buffer... no drops, nothing at all, just mind blowing

[fraydendsofsanity]

Thanks for repping the base 14 inch so much. I feel like so many people are maxing out the specs on these videos, with insane unaffordable upgrades for most people. A 32-core M1Max with 64GB of RAM is simply absurd for anybody doing normal things so I’m glad we can see how excellent the 14 inch base model is. Makes me realize it’s all I need honestly. Upgrading from a 2017 base MBP so it’s already a ridiculous upgrade for me personally

[appotter]

This is the review that I am waiting for the long decade. 😂

[cornspring]

I like your review style. Calm, moderate pace, not too exaggerated and flattering like other reviewers. +1 sub.