M2 PRO 32gb/1tb vs M1 MAX 32gb/1tb

[tutusik]

Hi Guys,
I want to buy a Macbook pro 16" with 32gb + 1tb ssd. I'm thinking over M2 PRO and M1 MAX. The price is almost the same.
I want the best best bang for buck. My everyday task is amateur editing photos in photoshop/lightroom and making shorts/reels/tiktoks + >200 tabs Chrome/Safari.
Which one will be better?

1. 16-inch MacBook Pro: Apple M2 Pro chip with 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU/32GB/1TB SSD
2. 16-inch MacBook Pro: Apple M1 Max chip with 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU, 32 GB RAM, 1TB SSD

 

[Basic75]

Won't make much difference. I'd get the M2 Pro because it's newer.

 

[DMG35]

There are some other things to consider. The battery life of the M2 is going to be better than the M1 model. Also, if you have Wifi 6E the M2 model will take advantage of that while the M1 cannot. From a speed standpoint the difference will be negligible for the most part.

I don't think you'll go wrong with either version though if they are comparable in price. I personally would go with the M2 Pro simply because it's the latest model. That's just me though and the M1 is still a fantastic machine.

 

[wilberforce]

M2 Pro will be faster for PS and LR, because a) PS and LR won't use the extra GPU cores of the M1 Max, and b) the M2 Pro CPU is faster than the M1 Max CPU.
(Speaking as a PS and LR user).

 

[Chancha]

Check out this video, or even other comparisons on the channel. He did a lot of tests but I am screen capturing the one that makes the point easily: The M2 generation wipes the floor in CPU performance against M1 gen.

The benefit of still getting M1 Max vs M2 Pro for now is if you really want graphic cores / you are tight on budget / you need 64GB RAM, you need a combination of these factors together to really make it a sound choice to still go for M1 Max.

 

[wilberforce]

View attachment 2166375


The benefit of still getting M1 Max vs M2 Pro for now is if you really want graphic cores / you are tight on budget / you need 64GB RAM, you need a combination of these factors together to really make it a sound choice to still go for M1 Max.

Yup, this also shows that, for Lightroom, Max has negligible benefit over Pro (if both are M1, or if both are M2) and weirdly sometimes is worse

 

[Chancha]

LR is pretty much CPU bound, that's why the Studio Ultra with 20 cores dropped as the best ever LR machine, at least as far as Mac users are concerned.

But back to OP's "dilemma", even regardless of performance differences, I myself would still go for M2 Pro due to efficiency alone. A 16" with M1 Pro was already a walking nuclear reactor, with the M2 Pro it is more so. For users without GPU need it is never that meaningful to ever go the Max route. The 400GB/s memory bandwidth seldom shows a difference in real world task. And 64GB is quite useful for certain exclusive workflows but not really for OP's case.

 

[tstafford]

Display support is different b/w the machines as well - if that matters to you.

 

[sinsin]

For cpu based tasks the M2 Pro will give you an edge over the M1 Max, if you do a lot of encoding for your videos or use applications that can benefit from gpu cores the M1 Max can be interesting (+gpu cores, +memory bandwidth and 2x video and ProRes engines).

I was in the same situation and went for the M1 Max (low price refurbished) but mainly for the gpu benefits in 2D and 3D Motion Design work and ProRes export acceleration.

Had a hard time making my choice

 

[tutusik]

Went today for the m2 pro because my videos are mainly short videos for tiktok/reels and I don't edit photos at professional level.
My main tasks are multitasks - product/inspirations searching (that's why >200 tabs), excel, LR/PS, etc...
Now I have Mac mini m1 16/512gb - it works very well but when I open too many app + tabs it has problem so I need to shut down heavy apps.
Hope M2 PRO with 32GB will be the best.

 

[sinsin]

Went today for the m2 pro because my videos are mainly short videos for tiktok/reels and I don't edit photos at professional level.
My main tasks are multitasks - product/inspirations searching (that's why >200 tabs), excel, LR/PS, etc...
Now I have Mac mini m1 16/512gb - it works very well but when I open too many app + tabs it has problem so I need to shut down heavy apps.
Hope M2 PRO with 32GB will be the best.

Congrats, you can't go wrong with these great machines. I have also 32 GB and working with After Effects (Memory eater) Photoshop, Illustrator, multiple tabs opened in both browsers (not as much as you) and music streaming at the same time. All running fine!