While it's all true M4 machines should come out in 4-5 months and it should be a big chip upgrade. Imo unless you really need it to buy now it's worth a wait.
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M3 Max Now or Wait for the M4 Max?
- Thread starter lionfleet
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I will wait till wwdc and see if there will be a max m4 mac studio; if not I will go for the macbook pro m3 max; my current macbook is 8 years old and i need a m-chip for the new logic pro 11; of course i could wait for the m4 mbp but i need a new mac now
Oh, I see. Then maybe get something refurbished and then do a proper update with M4?
The reason I'm saying it is that M4 will be a big upgrade on MBPs. You will get a much cooler, quieter, and more powerful machine.
Hi, thanks for the info ! M4 sounds good; maybe get an M3 Max mbp now and give it to a family member when the M4 Max will be released; when the M4 max is being announced, it will probably take some time before it will be released and you can actually buy it
I have been using a 2015 MacBook Pro 15 inch for 9 years with a 2011 Thunderbolt Display. I use it for Desktop publishing and e-books creation. The programs I use are Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe InDesign and Acrobat Pro.
I just purchased a New M3 Macbook Pro 16 inch 12-Core CPU, 18-Core GPU, 18GB Unified Memory, 1 TB SSD. My 2015 with Monterey, can do almost everything the new M3 can do just a little slower.
It was about time for me to upgrade. I love the 16-inch display, the speakers and mic, the speed and Sonoma OS. The Thunderbolt Display works good with it. AI is not important to me. Its a great computer.
I just purchased a New M3 Macbook Pro 16 inch 12-Core CPU, 18-Core GPU, 18GB Unified Memory, 1 TB SSD. My 2015 with Monterey, can do almost everything the new M3 can do just a little slower.
It was about time for me to upgrade. I love the 16-inch display, the speakers and mic, the speed and Sonoma OS. The Thunderbolt Display works good with it. AI is not important to me. Its a great computer.
That depends on your workflow. There are plenty of use cases where 36GB of RAM are plenty; while others may require more.
36GB does well for me. Others may need more, but I can keep multiple apps open plus my Windows 11 ARM VM. But I don’t edit video…
I still stand by my opinion. As I wrote, we talk here about professional workflow. Immediately after your purchase and a few months from it, yes, it might be enough for you, but believe me eventually, you will start hitting the wall. During your 1, 2, or 3 years of usage, you will install new apps and plugins and each will eat like 200-500mb. Your base RAM usage with the browser opened will be something like 15-20GB of RAM. RAM will probably be the only reason you will start considering upgrading your machine, not running out of SSD storage.
Just take a look at this, just PS and AI with some relatively normal size files opened:
Is it doable with a 32-36GB machine? Of course it is! But you will be constantly hitting memory swap which makes your system slower, slowly kills your SSD, and kills your battery much faster. Just save a bit more money for upgraded RAM and you'll be happy in the long run, trust me.
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You might, but in over 20 years of using Macs professionally I have never had a memory issue, even with base memory configuration MBPs.
You are assuming all professional use cases are the same as yours. I can assure you that is not the case.
Every new Mac I buy has 2x the SSD storage becasue that is the limiting factor, not ram, for my use case.
Part of teh reason I don't use PS and AI - they can be memory hogs. Again, use case. I have no need for PS/AI and get along fine with Pixelmator Pro and Inkscape for my use case.
Hardly. Your basing your conslucions on a lot of faulty assumptions, starting with the use case.
Just because you need more ram doesn't mean I do or that the base ram configuration will be the limiting factor for me at some point in the future. My experience using Macs and helping people decide what to buy is storage space is often the limiting factor, not ram or even processor speed.
Sure, there are use cases where more ram is better; and those users should buy all they can afford; but for others more ram is wasted money.
It may impact it, but I suspect an SSD is not close to failure due to excessive reads and normal battery degradation over time has a much bigger impact than using swap memory on an older Mac.
Nah, I'd just have wasted money better used for something else. People should configure their machine fo rehire use case, not based on someone else's opinion of what qualifies as a professional's.
i can share my own personal experience - i had an m1 pro 16gb ram and 1tb storage. the storage was never an issue, but occasionally when i did some photo editing jobs in lightroom i would experience some slowdown. recently i had a ram usage warning as i had lightroom open, safari playing the nba game, and i might have had a final cut project open as well.
for me the ram i think was a factor. there would be occasional lag as well cycling through photos, saw the beach ball here and there.
i purchased an m3 max that i later returned in favor of an m1 max with 64gb of ram. the total cost to upgrade was about $800 dollars and for that i did get a better cpu than the m1 pro along with quadruple the ram
everyone's use case is different, but as of now i feel very good that this configuration will last several more years for my amateur photography and videography projects, and i get to see whats coming down the pipeline with m4 and future generation chips
for me the ram i think was a factor. there would be occasional lag as well cycling through photos, saw the beach ball here and there.
i purchased an m3 max that i later returned in favor of an m1 max with 64gb of ram. the total cost to upgrade was about $800 dollars and for that i did get a better cpu than the m1 pro along with quadruple the ram
everyone's use case is different, but as of now i feel very good that this configuration will last several more years for my amateur photography and videography projects, and i get to see whats coming down the pipeline with m4 and future generation chips
It seems that you have a light workflow that does not require Max chip, M3 base or M3 Pro will be plenty for you. I was specifically talking about professional workflow requiring M3 Max chip in which case you shouldn't settle for anything less than 64GB.
Also, the whole thread is about M3 Max.
You clearly haven't read my posts properly which caused your emotional response - completely unnecessary.
I absolutely don't care what you buy, I'm just sharing my experience of using Apple Silicon daily for 3 years hoping it helps you or someone else.
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Again, you're looking at specific use cases and have decided that the only ones that need an M3Max are those requiring 64GB of ram. For example, when I stated my experience you reached the conclusion that my workflow doesn't require an M3Max since I don't run into memory limitations.
By your logic, if someone has 64GB of ram and never has memory issues, they do not need an M3Max because their workload is "light;" a base M3 or Pro with 64 GB is all they need.
What, IMHO, you are ignoring is there are use cases where faster processor speed is useful even if the programs do not use all available memory.
Which is what I am discussing.
I would contend you are guilty of the same thing re: my replies.
Nor do I, Everyone makes their own choice.
As am I, having also used AS from its first release, and pointing out in my experience not every use case needs more than base memory, and people need to decide what will work for them, based on how they will use the machine; and because absolute statements such as "64gb of memory is the minimum you need" are not universally correct.
We all have a POV and preferences based on our experience. When someone asks me for a recommendation for what computer, or camera, or whatever to buy, the first thing I do is understand how they will use it, initially and overtime. That way I can try to recommend what meets their needs, not what my preferences are.
The single-core CPU is exactly the same on all the variants - M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. It was the same across the M1 and M2 series. What you get with Max is more CPU cores, more GPU cores, and faster encoders/decoders. If you* know that your workflow will benefit and utilize all of that then yes, I will still stand by my opinion. You should get a minimum of 64GB. This will get you a machine that you will not feel a need to upgrade in the next at least 2-3 yrs. This is my opinion from my personal experience with programming, video & photo editing, and some light 3D work. You may have different opinions and that is fine, but I will stand by what I know and experienced. Sure, there are some edge cases where the base ram m3 max will be the only good choice, like if you only need it to push signal to 4 external monitors/projectors. But in 95% cases, Max is either an overkill for your workflow - you should go lower or you're not spec'ing your RAM high enough. You will hit a wall sometime in the future.
*as you I mean a person that is reading it, not you - jlc1978 necessarily.
I never started it, I'm simply pointing out your unnecessary and baseless rant towards me.
It's needed for that use case; but that is not everyone's use case; from my experience programing, I didn't need more ram but more cores to dedicate to a VM was worthwhile. I don't do enough photo and video editing to worry about future proofing for that. I do do 3d CAD work but have never had a memory issue with that either. But that's how I use my machine, YMMV.
I respect your opinion and personal experience, it's just my experience lets me to a different conclusion for many users. Not everyone uses their Mac to do "programming, video & photo editing, and some light 3D work."
I'd bet the Max was overkill for most workflows. If 64ram isn't being overloaded you could probably go the an M3Pro with the sam amount of ram, as you suggested, and not notice any practical difference. Someone might get more future proofing with a bigger SSD or even more memory than with a M3Max.
Of course.
I'm not sure why you think I am ranting any more than you are (and I don't think you are); I merely pointed out that many users don't need upgraded ram to future proof their machines; it depends on the use case. If their use case doesn't warrant it, and many don't, they're just wasting money.
@jlc1978 We can certainly agree that it is good to choose your machine precisely to your needs. My main intention was to draw attention to the fact that if you want to keep your machine for a long time and have a heavy workflow, it will require even more RAM in the future. Disk space can always be "expanded" with external drives, while RAM cannot.
I upgraded from an M1 Max to M3 Max solely for the GPU upgrade, which was substantial. As for the CPU, I don't really notice a difference in speed for what I do. If you need the extra GPU grunt, keep the M3 Max. If not, keep the M1 Max, and see what the M4 Max brings to the table when it is released.
Photoshop pre-hogs RAM before it needs it. It's like they kept code from before OSes did swap.
As it's not truly used, the OS will likely swap it out. If you'd prefer to not pre-hog your RAM: Open Photoshop. Click menu "Photoshop 2024", "Settings...", "Performance", and reduce the RAM setting. I think I've got the default setting since I normally only use Lightroom. It's set to eat 70% of RAM.
That's a bold statement...(The comedian in me couldn't resist)
But yea, I think we are in overall agreement about what is important to consider in choosing a laptop is what are your needs; and you made some good points about when and why to get more ram.
Anyway, thanks for a reasoned discussion.
Instead of waiting on the M4, I took advantage of Best Buy's deal and picked up my M3Max MBPro with 1tb and 36gb RAM. I know the M4 will be fast but the price on the M3 Max was awesome. It runs my 3D CAD modeling with ease!
It will be interesting to see how the M3 Max compares to the M4 but I could not be more happy!
Sure man! I am happy for you, to be fair the best possible deals are a few months after the release. Buying day one is the least economically wise choice.
Sometimes when one buys, they have no control over it. I no longer had a choice.
$ wise, maybe not. An M3 Max has m2 Ultra performance, and will not be supported for years longer.
Or maybe best really to wait for the m5, it will eat the m4.
M4 Max will have updated encoders/decoders and Arm instruction set. Sure, you can wait till M5 or even M10 if you have patience and don't need it now but regarding M4 Max it will be a bigger jump from M3 Max than from M4 Max to M5 Max.