HELP! Annoyingly specific M4 decision

[npdale]

Hello hive mind

i know m4 vs others has been picked over many times but I have specific question im hoping for opinions/answers.

Historically I have always bought specced out 16” systems. i do a lot of photo work in medium format and composites and some video work. Recently I’ve started ramping up my 3D vis and modelling work too. Currently on a fully loaded M1max system and is working great mostly except it struggles a little now with some modelling tasks.

here’s the rub. I have health issues with my hands and am finding I can no longer carry the 16 about really. I still do a fair amount of work on site so need a capable laptop in the mix.

hence ideally a 14” would be the way to go but I keep reading its no good with the max chip.

however the pro is limited to 48gb of ram and im fairly sure most of my issues are in this area - so 2 queations..

m4 pro with 48gb - would the ram downgrade from 64gb with the max system mean my overall performance gains would be negligible?

and m4 max… definately no good in the 14? I confess even when I really work my Max I’ve seldom heard the fans so if I don’t tend to do high pressure tasks over a long period would the max in the 14 be limited that much?

sorry for the speeclfix question- can’t find any real answers

thanks

 

[Rastafabi]

Hello @npdale!

While the M4 Max chips still performs slightly worse on 14'' MacBook Pros, it is not as pronounced as it used to be. As the smaller models have less thermal mass they are physically less capable of dissipating the excess heat. That said the M4 generation is a great step in power efficiency. According to geekerwan (YouTube) almost twice as efficient as the M1 series. That said they are allowed about the same total wattage as the previous models, so they will throttle as well. Partly this can be overcome with the high power mode which allows the fans to run faster (and louder) however. However that amount of power is only required for rendering and I do not think that there will be any noticeable slow downs in daily use. I even don’t have any with my M1 Pro machine, although having several GB large CAD assemblies (mostly ind Rhino 3D).

It might be reassuring that Apple allows the M4 series displays to get twice as bright (in SDR) while still claiming the same battery life. All this with basically the same display technology.

Also to my knowledge there haven’t been that much complaints with the binned Max chips on the 14'' models. With this generation I do not expect there will be many complaints with the unbinned versions either.

That said purely due to physics (thermal mass) the smaller models will always perform worse when being pushed to the limits (for extended amounts of time). Is this a issue in daily use? I don’t think so.

 

[dmccloud]

While I haven't used the M4 Max yet, I have been running a 14" M2 Max MBP for the last two years, without any major issues. I still only charge the device ever 2-3 days (depending on usage), and I only bring the charger with me if I'm leaving for a few days or more. Unlike the M4 generation, High Power mode was only available on 16" models with M2 Max (not the 14"), so that is a new addition I haven't had an opportunity to test out.

I use this machine for everything from photo and video editing to web design, app development, and coding - it has handled all of it like a champ. In fact, it took running Cyberpunk 2077 via the GPTK to even trigger actual throttling of my system.

From what I've read and seen, the M4 Max does not perform on the same level in the 14" MBP as it does in the 16" MBP with default settings. However, there are ways to counter that, including using apps such as TG Pro to manually override the default fan profiles in order to increase active cooling and reduce throttling.

 

[npdale]

Thank you very much guys! Really appreciate your time to answer