M1 Pro/Max owners: Are you upgrading to M3 or staying put?

[StrollerEd]

My only gripe about the M1Max 16 32GB RAM beast is that it on the heavy side for a laptop to carry when out and about. My solution has been to buy a s/h M1 MBA 16RAM. It was difficult to find one with 16GB RAM at a good price, but eventually struck lucky.

Coconut Battery cycles for the M1Max now at a count of 558 and although it says 83.3% I do notice that I need to recharge more often. mIght soon be time for a replacement perhaps.

btw, what is regarded as normal for battery temperature?

 

[pshufd]

My only gripe about the M1Max 16 32GB RAM beast is that it on the heavy side for a laptop to carry when out and about. My solution has been to buy a s/h M1 MBA 16RAM. It was difficult to find one with 16GB RAM at a good price, but eventually struck lucky.

Coconut Battery cycles for the M1Max now at a count of 558 and although it says 83.3% I do notice that I need to recharge more often. mIght soon be time for a replacement perhaps.

btw, what is regarded as normal for battery temperature?

Mine is a 37 C degrees, ambient temp of 68 F degrees, fans off.

 

[StrollerEd]

Mine is a 37 C degrees, ambient temp of 68 F degrees, fans off.

Thanks; mine says 31.1 C degrees, which I thought might be a tad high.

 

[ignatius345]

I am still on the fence but leaning towards no. I have less than 100 cycles on my 14” and 16” M1 Pros and they’re already extremely fast for everything that I do.

Sounds like you have your answer. If you want my advice, set that money aside and let it earn interest or do something useful instead of buying a computer you don't really need and which will start depreciating immediately.

 

[fromgophonetoiphone]

Yeah I think the main thing is she will get a nice bump in computing quality. Power is one thing, but she's just a web surfer. I watched that Windows 8 (LOL) laptop boot up and 3 minutes later the her 80 Chrome tabs were still loading. She has bad tab management habits, but I think an M1 Pro will handle that like a champ.

For me, I guess the M3 Pro is a slight bump only. For my use pattern I probably won't see too much of a difference. I guess this exercise is more like having 2 MBPs.

 

[cardfan]

Good with M1 Max 16 mbp for 3-4 more years to be honest. Ok. Maybe oled I could bite on.

 

[MisterSavage]

Good with M1 Max 16 mbp for 3-4 more years to be honest. Ok. Maybe oled I could bite on.

I think the same for me also. I really haven't encountered any scenarios where I'm unhappy with the performance.

 

[Hudzilla]

Upgraded from M1 a couple weeks ago, kicking myself i didnt pull the trigger earlier, unbeliveablw difference in performance, speed, pretty much everthing. M3 is really handling anything i throw at it. with ease.

 

[mactinkerlover]

Upgraded from M1 a couple weeks ago, kicking myself i didnt pull the trigger earlier, unbeliveablw difference in performance, speed, pretty much everthing. M3 is really handling anything i throw at it. with ease.

Which m1 variant did you upgrade from and which m3 did you go to?

 

[Hudzilla]

Which m1 variant did you upgrade from and which m3 did you go to?

2020 8 core, to base M3

Difference is definitely noticeable

 

[mactinkerlover]

2020 8 core, to base M3

Difference is definitely noticeable

Nice. for clarification the m1 or the 8 core m1 pro?

 

[Hudzilla]

Nice. for clarification the m1 or the 8 core m1 pro?

Sorry, yeah M1

 

[fromgophonetoiphone]

@Hudzilla what are the main things you do on your M1/M3 where speed makes a huge difference?

 

[xraydoc]

Late to the thread but really thinking lately about replacing my 14" MBP 10-core/16-core M1 Pro with either a 14" MBP 14-core M3 Max or 16-core M3 Max.

I was going to buy an M3 Max Mac Studio when they're released later this year, but having just one computer (instead of a desktop and laptop) makes management so much easier. All my files stay in one place, only one device to backup & update, etc...

But if I do, I'm hung up on the 14/30-core versus 16/40-core question. I don't really need the 15% extra CPU or GPU power (I don't edit 8K video or play games), especially since my 10/16-core M1 Pro is still mostly ok (should have gotten it with 32GB of RAM, however). And I certainly don't want to hear fan noise reminiscent of the Intel-era MacBook Pros, but somehow can't help but have FOMO anxiety if I go with the more sensible choice of the 14/30-core model.

 

[Lucas Curious]

Late to the thread but really thinking lately about replacing my 14" MBP 10-core/16-core M1 Pro with either a 14" MBP 14-core M3 Max or 16-core M3 Max.

I was going to buy an M3 Max Mac Studio when they're released later this year, but having just one computer (instead of a desktop and laptop) makes management so much easier. All my files stay in one place, only one device to backup & update, etc...

But if I do, I'm hung up on the 14/30-core versus 16/40-core question. I don't really need the 15% extra CPU or GPU power (I don't edit 8K video or play games), especially since my 10/16-core M1 Pro is still mostly ok (should have gotten it with 32GB of RAM, however). And I certainly don't want to hear fan noise reminiscent of the Intel-era MacBook Pros, but somehow can't help but have FOMO anxiety if I go with the more sensible choice of the 14/30-core model.

so do it. I got the 14" 14/30 max but also have the M1 Pro 16" base. I also wanted more ram and smaller. Maybe go for the base 11 core 14" but upgrade the ram if you dont do graphic, video or play games. For me it was something like $500 more to go for the max chip vs base with more ram. You probably dont need the ram either. The thing is I use a laptop more than anything else I own so why not go bigger this time. I won't be upgrading for years because I cant even max out this one. I noticed if you have a lot of tabs open and some software like photoshop, the ram will fill until there is 10gb free left and then it will swap some of that and release the pressure and ram. I'm usually at 15gb free when doing basic stuff. Also I wanted the option of going with 2 apple monitors instead of one in the future and more ram and better chip will make performance smooth.

 

[Moreplease]

I noticed if you have a lot of tabs open and some software like photoshop, the ram will fill until there is 10gb free left and then it will swap some of that and release the pressure and ram. I'm usually at 15gb free when doing basic stuff.

But how much RAM do you have?

 

[geta]

Late to the thread but really thinking lately about replacing my 14" MBP 10-core/16-core M1 Pro with either a 14" MBP 14-core M3 Max or 16-core M3 Max.

I was going to buy an M3 Max Mac Studio when they're released later this year, but having just one computer (instead of a desktop and laptop) makes management so much easier. All my files stay in one place, only one device to backup & update, etc...

But if I do, I'm hung up on the 14/30-core versus 16/40-core question. I don't really need the 15% extra CPU or GPU power (I don't edit 8K video or play games), especially since my 10/16-core M1 Pro is still mostly ok (should have gotten it with 32GB of RAM, however). And I certainly don't want to hear fan noise reminiscent of the Intel-era MacBook Pros, but somehow can't help but have FOMO anxiety if I go with the more sensible choice of the 14/30-core model.

Unless you having the need for M3 Max power and/or need more then 36GB RAM, M3 Pro would be better choice regardless cooling/fan noise.

 

[Lucas Curious]

But how much RAM do you have?

36gb

 

[xraydoc]

Unless you having the need for M3 Max power and/or need more then 36GB RAM, M3 Pro would be better choice regardless cooling/fan noise.

I definitely need more than the 16GB of RAM I have now. I should have opted for 32GB when I bought the machine. So that one is done. 36GB would be sufficient. 48GB would have some nice breathing room.

I do have a couple apps that tax my system resources (CPU & GPU), Osirix MD being the main one, so I'm very much leaning towards the Max version. Having a Windows VM with sufficient resources is another reason I'm looking at the extra cores the Max version provides. Additionally, I'm likely to add a third external display, so that pretty much forces me to get the Max chip, as the M3 Pro only supports two external displays.

I'm leaning towards the 14/30, since I think it's a better thermal fit with the 14" form factor. I'd just hate to be in a similar situation in another two years where I say, "Ah, I should have opted for <x> upgrade when I bought it." Like I'm thinking to myself now....

 

[coffeemilktea]

I don't plan to upgrade until 32+ GB of RAM is standard in the base model of the MacBook Pro.

...so at this rate, I guess I'm holding on to my M1 MacBook Pro until 2034. 🤪

 

[fromgophonetoiphone]

Fan noise is only an issue when really taxing the CPU right? For an office worker like me I've never heard the fans go on until I ran a CPU/GPU torture test just to check they are actually there. Obviously a lot of people do more CPU/GPU worthy stuff than I do, but you should look at how much time your CPU will be spending in the power zone. If it's minimal like me as an office worker, then the concern really isn't fan noise but instead battery life. The Max with its more CPUs and GPUs uses far more power at idle. I've seen benchmarks showing anywhere from 30 min to 1.5 hours more battery life on the Pro, so in that case Pro makes more sense even though I'm unhappy they nerfed the number of P-cores down to 6.

 

[Lucas Curious]

Fan noise is only an issue when really taxing the CPU right? For an office worker like me I've never heard the fans go on until I ran a CPU/GPU torture test just to check they are actually there. Obviously a lot of people do more CPU/GPU worthy stuff than I do, but you should look at how much time your CPU will be spending in the power zone. If it's minimal like me as an office worker, then the concern really isn't fan noise but instead battery life. The Max with its more CPUs and GPUs uses far more power at idle. I've seen benchmarks showing anywhere from 30 min to 1.5 hours more battery life on the Pro, so in that case Pro makes more sense even though I'm unhappy they nerfed the number of P-cores down to 6.

I bought the base pro 14" for someone and I have the 14" 14/30 max. The Max only hits high fans when you push the CPU and GPU to the max so when encoding video. Other than that, it's silent even while editing difficult footage its silent. The max shows 14 hours battery life estimated while the base Pro showed 20 hours. in reality I will get 10 hours of streaming YouTube on the max at half brightness. So possibly you may get something like 25% more battery on the base pro vs the max. Do you need it? I don't. These Macs charge fast enough. You can also set the max at low power mode which I dont. Unless you are doing Blender or Video editing with grading, I dont think you need the Max but I do think you should get 36gb ram. Sorry but I now enjoy having several groups of safari tabs open all the time meanwhile having photoshop + Illustrator open with projects and not swapping ram. would it make a difference if it was swapping? probably nothing really noticeable. The reality is that when you hit playback during video editing, the Mac will dump everything into swap and use up all ram on my M1 Pro 16gb ram Mac so I know it really wants teh ream for that stuff. It will keep dumping in and out of swap each time. SO if you dont use this type software you can be fine with 18gb unless you really have a bunch of stuff open and dont want that memory pressure to build up and start lag.

 

[xraydoc]

so do it. I got the 14" 14/30 max but also have the M1 Pro 16" base. I also wanted more ram and smaller. Maybe go for the base 11 core 14" but upgrade the ram if you dont do graphic, video or play games. For me it was something like $500 more to go for the max chip vs base with more ram. You probably dont need the ram either. The thing is I use a laptop more than anything else I own so why not go bigger this time. I won't be upgrading for years because I cant even max out this one. I noticed if you have a lot of tabs open and some software like photoshop, the ram will fill until there is 10gb free left and then it will swap some of that and release the pressure and ram. I'm usually at 15gb free when doing basic stuff. Also I wanted the option of going with 2 apple monitors instead of one in the future and more ram and better chip will make performance smooth.

Bit the bullet today. Purchased a 14" MBP with the 14/30-core M3 Max in the Space Black color.

Very zippy machine. My 10-core M1 Pro was no slouch, but my Windows 11 ARM Parallels virtual machine is noticeably faster on the new machine.

Also couldn't help myself and bought a 3rd Studio Display. I mean, the new MBP supports more external displays than my M1 Pro did...! May as well make use of it!

 

[aj_niner]

I think this largely depends on your use case, personal income or your employer's device policy.

 

[Lucas Curious]

Bit the bullet today. Purchased a 14" MBP with the 14/30-core M3 Max in the Space Black color.

Very zippy machine. My 10-core M1 Pro was no slouch, but my Windows 11 ARM Parallels virtual machine is noticeably faster on the new machine.

Also couldn't help myself and bought a 3rd Studio Display. I mean, the new MBP supports more external displays than my M1 Pro did...! May as well make use of it!

I only have 1 of those displays. how do two run using stuff like photoshop or Davinchi Resolve? any lag? any lag with 3 and ram hungry software?