M1 Max vs. M3 Pro/Max Purchase Help!

[mstgkillr]

I've spent many hours (weeks) researching my 16" MBP purchase. I think I have it narrowed down to the following:
M1 Max 32GB/8TB $2,320 (lots of storage)
M3 Pro 36GB/2TB $2,969 (Max RAM for Pro)
M3 Max 16/40 64GB/2TB $3,909 (More RAM than I need currently)

Honestly, price is not a huge concern, but I don’t want to waste money either. However, battery life, heat, and fan noise while doing minimal tasks (web surfing) are... and not much of a concern when doing any heavy lifting. I would also like to future proof this machine if it makes sense.

Anything remotely intensive would be limited to Fusion 360 (3-D modeling/printing), light video editing, etc.

It appears the M1 Max might be the best deal, but I really don’t need 8TB of storage as I have a NAS with more than enough storage (~100 TB). What is the M1 Max missing over the M3 Pro/Max… maybe WiFi?

I did well with my M1 Pro 16GB/512GB, but needed to upgrade the storage, so I’m looking for at least 2TB. In an attempt to future proof, I assume I should be looking for 32GB of RAM or more.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[HDFan]

1. You need to purchase now and can't wait for the M4? Best guesses about when they will appear from Gurman:

The M4 iMacs, MacBook Pros (low- and high-end versions) and Mac minis (low- and high-end models as well) are due between the end of 2024 and early 2025. New MacBook Airs are coming in the spring of 2025,

2. I have a 8 TB boot SSD (on a Studio) where I keep many of my libraries for maximum performance. When editing video, I have enough space to temporarily move files there.

Having plenty of extra room on the boot drive is important. See all of the posts about problems with the boot drive running out of space, not having the ~30% free space, etc. MacOS can eat up a lot of it very quickly, particularly if you are using Time Machine.

3. My NAS drives, even with Thunderbolt connections, are obviously much slower than my SSD but my external hardware RAID drives as well. They are almost 1/3 the speed. All are ~100 TB in size or larger.

4. I max out my memory. There are some programs I run that have memory leaks so it gives me longer periods of time between running out of application memory errors. [Working with support with 1 program that took 326 GB of memory!] Right now I have ~90 GB of active memory. I run a lot of programs simultaneously. Your needs may be different.

 

[Flav]

I've spent many hours (weeks) researching my 16" MBP purchase. I think I have it narrowed down to the following:
M1 Max 32GB/8TB $2,320 (lots of storage)
M3 Pro 36GB/2TB $2,969 (Max RAM for Pro)
M3 Max 16/40 64GB/2TB $3,909 (More RAM than I need currently)

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

From what you explain I would suggest the M3 Pro. It seems it is a nice middle ground and based on your previous experience would be a good fit for you. More ram and more storage than before.

M1 Max would have more storage than you need and you would sacrifice ~50% CPU performance.
M3 Max would have more ram than you need and it looks like you'd be wasting money as it's $1000 more expensive.

 

[ThrawnTHX]

You mentioned wanting to future proof your purchase. Well, buying an M1 is at odds with that goal. I second the poster that recommends waiting out the rest of 2024 for new MBP announcements. I mean, we’ve got the M4 chip in an iPad so it’s inevitable at this point. Since you mention money not being a huge concern, you may as well further your future proofing goal by getting a max when they come out.

Also, if you’ll use it to play any AAA games, consider that the RAM is shared system wide and games gobble up VRAM these days. 64gb would be my recommendation if you’re plunking down the cash for everything else. Storage is a personal decision.