In which situations is a maxed out M1 Pro not enough?

[Yebubbleman]

The highest end M1 Pro SoC configuration that you can spec either the MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) or the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) with is an M1 Pro with a 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, and with 32GB of (Unified Memory) RAM.

The M1 Max doesn't increase the number of neural engine cores from this, nor does it increase the CPU core count of 10 (8 Performance + 2 High Efficiency).

My question is this: how many of you have purchased this high-end configuration of M1 Pro (again with 10 CPU Cores, 16 GPU Cores, and 32GB of RAM) and found that you needed more power/performance than this?

Obviously, there will be extremely high-end cases where 64GB of RAM (whether unified memory or not) is no-brainer necessary and/or cases where driving two external displays simply isn't enough.

But, barring those cases, I'm curious as to where one would PRACTICALLY need to draw the line otherwise (and specifically in cases where someone attempted the aforementioned M1 Pro configuration and had to return it because it wasn't enough). I know that M1 Max doubles the ProRes engines and the video encode decode engines, but it sounds like even the standard M1 is no slouch with a lot of this and that M1 Pro is probably more than enough power until you get to the kinds of tasks that people would've previously purchased $6000 iMac Pro or Mac Pros for specifically. Otherwise, it seems to primarily be a GPU upgrade.

And the point of this isn't to look for reasons to shame people that blew more money on the M1 Max when they didn't need it. But rather to find out where a maxed out M1 Pro configuration with maximum GPU cores and RAM was attempted and still deemed insufficient. I know there's been tons of discussion on where one is better than the other one, but I haven't seen much on where that exact dividing line between "Hey a maxed out M1 Pro is fine for your needs" and "Bro, you need an M1 Max for this" barring the aforementioned obvious 64GB RAM and 3+ external displays element.

 

[velocityg4]

Any GPU intensive workload would benefit from the additional GPU cores of the Max. Various 3D visual FX work and CAD. There's gaming of course. Some video work is also GPU accelerated.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Any GPU intensive workload would benefit from the additional GPU cores of the Max. Various 3D visual FX work and CAD. There's gaming of course. Some video work is also GPU accelerated.

I definitely understand where a beefier GPU comes in handy, but that wasn't my question. My question was "where is this high-end M1 Pro not enough for people" (again, excluding the obvious cases where one needs more than two external displays or more than 32GB of RAM).

 

[Boil]

Any GPU intensive workload would benefit from the additional GPU cores of the Max. Various 3D visual FX work and CAD. There's gaming of course. Some video work is also GPU accelerated.

I definitely understand where a beefier GPU comes in handy, but that wasn't my question. My question was "where is this high-end M1 Pro not enough for people" (again, excluding the obvious cases where one needs more than two external displays or more than 32GB of RAM).

But that was a viable answer to the question, as those who need GPU power would look beyond the Mn Pro and towards the Mn Max / Ultra...

But sure, move the goalposts...! ;^p

 

[Yebubbleman]

My question is this: how many of you have purchased this high-end configuration of M1 Pro (again with 10 CPU Cores, 16 GPU Cores, and 32GB of RAM) and found that you needed more power/performance than this?

But that was a viable answer to the question, as those who need GPU power would look beyond the Mn Pro and towards the Mn Max / Ultra...

But sure, move the goalposts...! ;^p

I didn't move the goal-post, my ORIGINAL question is how many people (and for which situations) did one purchase that M1 Pro configuration and find that it wasn't enough.

 

[Boil]

"where is this high-end M1 Pro not enough for people"

Where one might need more GPU horsepower...

I didn't move the goal-post, my ORIGINAL question is how many people (and for which situations) did one purchase that M1 Pro configuration and find that it wasn't enough.

Goal post moved because you now say that needing more GPU power does not qualify for your question...

 

[anthony13]

I mean I have a maxed out m1 max and still haven instances where I abort renders that take to long. That's using vectorworks, which yes has been putting more on the GPU in recent years, but is largely a CPU intensive program. I'm often at a 100 percent usage in my workflow.

 

[satcomer]

Audio Guys would like a Mac Book Pro to run DAWS!

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Greater processor power, CPU or GPU, will decrease the time it takes to perform tasks, whether it’s rendering 3D models in real time, video, performing more scientific calculations, having more plugins in Logic Pro… the list goes on.

Therefore users who are time dependant will want the best hardware available.

 

[Yebubbleman]

My question is this: how many of you have purchased this high-end configuration of M1 Pro (again with 10 CPU Cores, 16 GPU Cores, and 32GB of RAM) and found that you needed more power/performance than this?

Obviously, there will be extremely high-end cases where 64GB of RAM (whether unified memory or not) is no-brainer necessary and/or cases where driving two external displays simply isn't enough.

But, barring those cases, I'm curious as to where one would PRACTICALLY need to draw the line otherwise (and specifically in cases where someone attempted the aforementioned M1 Pro configuration and had to return it because it wasn't enough). I know that M1 Max doubles the ProRes engines and the video encode decode engines, but it sounds like even the standard M1 is no slouch with a lot of this and that M1 Pro is probably more than enough power until you get to the kinds of tasks that people would've previously purchased $6000 iMac Pro or Mac Pros for specifically. Otherwise, it seems to primarily be a GPU upgrade.

I mean I have a maxed out m1 max and still haven instances where I abort renders that take to long. That's using vectorworks, which yes has been putting more on the GPU in recent years, but is largely a CPU intensive program. I'm often at a 100 percent usage in my workflow.

Is it Universal/Native yet? I guess it being a mainly CPU intensive app might still cause both to max out. Would be interesting to see to what degree it's using your GPU cores.

 

[ksj1]

Let's see if this satisfies your criteria. I have a 16" M1 max with 64gig, 32 gpu cores. I also have a 14" M1 Pro with 24 gpu cores and 32gig.

Currently the max is using ~35gig of ram. If I unload a couple things I can get that to under 32, but it is an inconvenience. I usually use the 14" for travel and live with the issues, which are pretty small really. The swap speed is quick, but you can see the difference.

Swapping memory while compiling code isn't quick however...

 

[Yebubbleman]

I have a 16" M1 max with 64gig, 32 gpu cores. I also have a 14" M1 Pro with 24 gpu cores and 32gig.

Currently the max is using ~35gig of ram. If I unload a couple things I can get that to under 32, but it is an inconvenience. I usually use the 14" for travel and live with the issues, which are pretty small really. The swap speed is quick, but you can see the difference.

Swapping memory while compiling code isn't quick however...

So, for you, it's about needing more than 32GB of RAM?

 

[StudioMacs]

The highest end M1 Pro SoC configuration that you can spec either the MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) or the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) with is an M1 Pro with a 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, and with 32GB of (Unified Memory) RAM.

The M1 Max doesn't increase the number of neural engine cores from this, nor does it increase the CPU core count of 10 (8 Performance + 2 High Efficiency).

My question is this: how many of you have purchased this high-end configuration of M1 Pro (again with 10 CPU Cores, 16 GPU Cores, and 32GB of RAM) and found that you needed more power/performance than this?

Obviously, there will be extremely high-end cases where 64GB of RAM (whether unified memory or not) is no-brainer necessary and/or cases where driving two external displays simply isn't enough.

But, barring those cases, I'm curious as to where one would PRACTICALLY need to draw the line otherwise (and specifically in cases where someone attempted the aforementioned M1 Pro configuration and had to return it because it wasn't enough). I know that M1 Max doubles the ProRes engines and the video encode decode engines, but it sounds like even the standard M1 is no slouch with a lot of this and that M1 Pro is probably more than enough power until you get to the kinds of tasks that people would've previously purchased $6000 iMac Pro or Mac Pros for specifically. Otherwise, it seems to primarily be a GPU upgrade.

And the point of this isn't to look for reasons to shame people that blew more money on the M1 Max when they didn't need it. But rather to find out where a maxed out M1 Pro configuration with maximum GPU cores and RAM was attempted and still deemed insufficient. I know there's been tons of discussion on where one is better than the other one, but I haven't seen much on where that exact dividing line between "Hey a maxed out M1 Pro is fine for your needs" and "Bro, you need an M1 Max for this" barring the aforementioned obvious 64GB RAM and 3+ external displays element.

Have you ever used After Effects linked to an Adobe Premier timeline? Now pretend you do that for a living.

 

[Populus]

...

Great explanation. If you don’t mind me getting into the discussion, I’d like to ask you something.

For a non-professional workflow like editing video and other, casual content creation, starting to learn music creation etc, do you think an M1 Pro would be enough? I mean, the difference probably is the render time in video. Let’s say I can leave the computer all night to do its work. Could an M1 Pro be enough for me, or even an M1/M2/M3?

 

[Ethosik]

Great explanation. If you don’t mind me getting into the discussion, I’d like to ask you something.

For a non-professional workflow like editing video and other, casual content creation, starting to learn music creation etc, do you think an M1 Pro would be enough? I mean, the difference probably is the render time in video. Let’s say I can leave the computer all night to do its work. Could an M1 Pro be enough for me, or even an M1/M2/M3?

I think so. I find the Base M1 Mac mini decent for my music and audio creation (although I would recommend 16GB of RAM as an upgrade if you go the mini). Its not overly complex so I don't need a lot of power with it. I don't have a lot of tracks, which can be the bottleneck and issue on some systems.

If you are talking about video editing and exporting as well as music creation, if you are not on tight deadlines the Pro would be great. If you can, try to use ProRes and/or HEVC (h.265) when possible to take advantage of the dedicated encoders and decoders. I know the Pro doesn't have as many as the Max so as long as you aren't on urgent deadlines it is fine. My 2019 i9 iMac was slower than my M1 Mac mini with exporting videos due to the dedicated encoders. And same story with the M1 Max which made it significantly better!

One thing I would worry about though is how long you will have the system running. This is probably left over from Intel based macs, but I went through so many laptops and thermal issues since I have extremely long render times on my videos. This is why I prefer to have desktops when doing that stuff. And right now, there is no M1 Pro desktop available, maybe we will see one at WWDC? Although for casual long exports I think you would be fine with the laptops. Maybe get the 16" if you can afford the extra cost of the large screen and you are fine with a larger screen to have the thermal headroom needed for lengthy exports. I am currently using my 16" for long exports until my Mac Studio arrives.

 

[Honza]

I’ll take a stab at answering the question. I work in Finance and we have a very large, complicated Excel model for our business. As background, I was the only one on a Mac, and my base M1 ran the model faster than the expensive Dell my colleague used. So our IT guy recommended the M1 Max (1TB 32RAM) - being a fan of Macs and not complaining about a free upgrade, I said sure - though I thought the M1 Pro would be a better buy since we don’t use GPU in Excel.

The M1 Max is somewhat faster than the base M1, but I still get regular beach balls in our Excel Model. The increase in speed is not night and day either. What’s odd is that the CPU isn’t typically maxed out, except briefly when filtering and unfiltering the large datasets. But I don’t see the CPU really struggling, especially when it beach balls. It is annoying that the M1 Max doesn’t solve the issue.

 

[pshufd]

The highest end M1 Pro SoC configuration that you can spec either the MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) or the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) with is an M1 Pro with a 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, and with 32GB of (Unified Memory) RAM.

The M1 Max doesn't increase the number of neural engine cores from this, nor does it increase the CPU core count of 10 (8 Performance + 2 High Efficiency).

My question is this: how many of you have purchased this high-end configuration of M1 Pro (again with 10 CPU Cores, 16 GPU Cores, and 32GB of RAM) and found that you needed more power/performance than this?

Obviously, there will be extremely high-end cases where 64GB of RAM (whether unified memory or not) is no-brainer necessary and/or cases where driving two external displays simply isn't enough.

But, barring those cases, I'm curious as to where one would PRACTICALLY need to draw the line otherwise (and specifically in cases where someone attempted the aforementioned M1 Pro configuration and had to return it because it wasn't enough). I know that M1 Max doubles the ProRes engines and the video encode decode engines, but it sounds like even the standard M1 is no slouch with a lot of this and that M1 Pro is probably more than enough power until you get to the kinds of tasks that people would've previously purchased $6000 iMac Pro or Mac Pros for specifically. Otherwise, it seems to primarily be a GPU upgrade.

And the point of this isn't to look for reasons to shame people that blew more money on the M1 Max when they didn't need it. But rather to find out where a maxed out M1 Pro configuration with maximum GPU cores and RAM was attempted and still deemed insufficient. I know there's been tons of discussion on where one is better than the other one, but I haven't seen much on where that exact dividing line between "Hey a maxed out M1 Pro is fine for your needs" and "Bro, you need an M1 Max for this" barring the aforementioned obvious 64GB RAM and 3+ external displays element.

I would have preferred a Max to support more than 2 external displays.

 

[profcutter]

I think the OP is frustrated because they were looking for real world examples of a maxed-out pro not cutting the mustard. As in specific cases. I can’t add any, because I’m cruising around on a 2015, much to my chagrin, but I think they wanted folks to say something like: I was using AE with 6k footage, x number of layers, and the Pro started chugging away. I upgraded to the Max, and it was able to do 5 more layers… or something like that.

 

[jmargo4]

I think the OP is frustrated because they were looking for real world examples of a maxed-out pro not cutting the mustard. As in specific cases. I can’t add any, because I’m cruising around on a 2015, much to my chagrin, but I think they wanted folks to say something like: I was using AE with 6k footage, x number of layers, and the Pro started chugging away. I upgraded to the Max, and it was able to do 5 more layers… or something like that.

I see. thanks for explaining! and hey the 2015 is a SICK and classic computer. i have a new 14 inch and i love it (best mac ive ever used), but im not lying when I say that there are times I miss the one you have. and also... by the time you do upgrade your computer its gonna be some crazy new chip that blows the m1 family out of the water!

 

[nastysailboat]

I found a situation where I was able to bring the M1 Max to a slow down. Playing the Apple Arcade game Warp Drive at the max settings. Highest resolution the 16 inch can do, highest frame rate. It actually crashed the game several times. I personally don’t care to play at those settings on that game because I can’t really tell a difference between that an performance settings but I wanted to see if the MBP could handle it the fans kicked and the app crashes before I could finish a race.

 

[julesme]

The OP can easily find real world examples from mainstream press reviews of the new MBP’s. Start with The Verge: They let a senior video editor named Alex Diaconis test his 4K Premiere Pro workflow for a week using 3 new MBPs; two were running M1 Pro chips with 32 GB RAM, while one machine had M1 Max with 64GB RAM.

Diaconis said that the M1 Pro machines were dropping frames in some scenarios (in particular with added graphics and adjustment layers), and the M1 Max machine did a better job handling his workflow. Premiere Pro ran “noticeably smoother” on the M1 Max machines.

Apple MacBook Pro 14 and 16 (2021) review: return to form

Good enough to forget entirely about the 2016 MacBook Pro.

www.theverge.com

 

[Flore]

I'm using Final Cut Pro X for some heavy video editing / digital art / timelapse projects. Here it's not the resolution that is the problem, but I often nest animated clips inside more animated clips, which each then have effects on them etc.

Even HD only proxy clips (not the original 4K or higher resolution files) stutter in playback sometimes with the M1 Max and 64GB Memory. It might be some very specific cases that I'm encountering and depends on the kind of animation or effects, but it possibly is one of those examples you're looking for - on the M1 Pro it is likely even worse.

Another point is, anytime you do some rendering / export etc, faster is simply better, i.e. in my case exporting 3000 photos from Lightroom for a Timelapse, or a video from FCP. Sure I can sometimes do other things while waiting, but this is where I would like even more speed (at some point it's no longer worth it though).

 

[kevcube]

I’ll take a stab at answering the question. I work in Finance and we have a very large, complicated Excel model for our business. As background, I was the only one on a Mac, and my base M1 ran the model faster than the expensive Dell my colleague used. So our IT guy recommended the M1 Max (1TB 32RAM) - being a fan of Macs and not complaining about a free upgrade, I said sure - though I thought the M1 Pro would be a better buy since we don’t use GPU in Excel.

The M1 Max is somewhat faster than the base M1, but I still get regular beach balls in our Excel Model. The increase in speed is not night and day either. What’s odd is that the CPU isn’t typically maxed out, except briefly when filtering and unfiltering the large datasets. But I don’t see the CPU really struggling, especially when it beach balls. It is annoying that the M1 Max doesn’t solve the issue.

sounds like your bottleneck might be single-core performance, for whatever operation that Excel is hanging on. Hopefully you can talk the IT guy into buying an M2 on release!

 

[Phil-from-Hamburg]

I am an engineer and researcher working in the field of district heating. I perform large network simulations which will easily use all available resources of any „normal Desktop“ or „Laptop“ computer.
We have a 256-core server with 4Tb Ram available, for the largest simulations.
But other than that, 99% of work I do could be done also with the base Macbook Air.

 

[MrGunny94]

It's quite simple, if you have a ton of testing environments (VMs) and containers (exocker) the 32GB and 64GB are a must. I work with VMs and Containers, however due to the way my employer works we have everything in the cloud so I don't need more than 1 Linux VM locally to push updates or to test things (In reality I don't need it but I like to be grounded with Fedora for my daily work)