My question is what's the better buy for me between the new 14" MBP and the early 2023 Mac Studio M2 Max?
comparing two specific models, the late 2023 MacBook Pro M3 Pro:
Here's a few review site tech stats comparisons:
NanoReview (just compares the SoCs and seems to assume laptop version of M2 Max but probably not much difference b/w Studio)
9to5 Mac additional info about the M3 Family SOC improvements
Geek Bench (I realise this is stress testing the cores and not real world computing)
Google sheet with deep specs on all 87 of the MBP M3 family models thanks to Alex Ziskind on YouTube
To me they're neck and neck on most things with M3 Pro slightly in front on most tasks, but the Studio comes with 32 GB out of the box which lifts multi-app scenario performance tremendously IMO.And is still A$610 cheaper and I think memory and video codecs will be very important if get back into professional quality live-streaming for clients (I use mimoLive, it's bloody amazing c.f. OBS, Presenter Pro and other products I've used professionally).
I think it comes down to three things for my use case:
Currently I have a M1 Mac mini with 8 GB and have been waiting and waiting not pulling the trigger on the Studio M2 Max in case the M3s did something unique. And they did (apart from 3 nm which is good for EE and cost/performance but otherwise irrelevant to this comparison) in terms of AV1 decode and Raytracing I guess are those things.
I do YouTube a lot and my speeds are fine without it, and I do not game at all and do use AutoCad as a design and CNC programming tool but not a render tool (I generally don't need to render, certainly not to professional image standards).
I'm constantly hitting memory issues, not so much when I have InDesign+PS+Acrobat+PS/Premier Pro/Autocad open on a job but when I have two browsers with dozens, if not 100s of tabs open (Tab Groups in Safari has helped me ENORMOUSLY reducing that load, thank you Apple occasionally you knock it out of the park), a couple of Numbers or Excel docs, calendar, Mail, Outlook (don't ask!). I expect 18 GB would be enough, let alone 32 GB since the audio/video rendering I do is trivially small, for me it's more about day-to-day open-applications creep.
Heres's the main NanoReview stats.
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comparing two specific models, the late 2023 MacBook Pro M3 Pro:
- Apple M3 Pro chip with 12‑core CPU (6E/6P), 18‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
(not the base model for faster SSD bus speed, all M3 Pro RAM bus are 150 GB/s, SSD size doesn't effect Geekbench scores in the slightest but maybe Cinebench? Base model is A$340 cheaper with education pricing) - 18GB unified memory
- 1TB SSD storage
- 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display²
- Three Thunderbolt 4 ports 1 left; 2 right), HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, MagSafe 3 port
- Up to two external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt, or one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one external display with up to 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI
- One external display supported at 8K resolution at 60Hz or one external display at 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI
- Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
- 1x Video decode engine, 1x Video encode engine, 1x ProRes encode/decode engine
- AV1 decode engine
- A$3,849.00 (Edu pricing)
- Apple M2 Max with 12‑core CPU (8P/4E — no battery issues), 30‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
(RAM Bus is 400 GB/s for all M2 Max SoCs, not sure if SSDs sizes impact bus speed) - 32GB unified memory
- 1TB of SSD storage
- Front: Two USB-C ports, one SDXC card slot
- Back: Four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, one HDMI port, one 10Gb Ethernet port, one 3.5-mm headphone jack
- Simultaneous support for up to five displays:
- Four displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI
- Two displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at up to 240Hz over HDMI
- Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
- 1x Video decode engine, 2x Video encode engines, 2x ProRes encode/decode engines
- (no AV1 decode engine)
- A$3,239.00 (Edu Pricing)
Here's a few review site tech stats comparisons:
NanoReview (just compares the SoCs and seems to assume laptop version of M2 Max but probably not much difference b/w Studio)
9to5 Mac additional info about the M3 Family SOC improvements
Geek Bench (I realise this is stress testing the cores and not real world computing)
Google sheet with deep specs on all 87 of the MBP M3 family models thanks to Alex Ziskind on YouTube
To me they're neck and neck on most things with M3 Pro slightly in front on most tasks, but the Studio comes with 32 GB out of the box which lifts multi-app scenario performance tremendously IMO.And is still A$610 cheaper and I think memory and video codecs will be very important if get back into professional quality live-streaming for clients (I use mimoLive, it's bloody amazing c.f. OBS, Presenter Pro and other products I've used professionally).
I think it comes down to three things for my use case:
- Portability. would be nice but personally not fussed, I have a 2015 MBP I can repair one day to take to meetings, and if I do live broadcasts I'll be bringing in lots of gear anyhow). Studio will sit nicer on my desk, Not sure how I'll fit the MBP on desk if I have decide to use it opened up for a third display.
- ~2x the RAM & codec engines on the Mac Studio M2 Max is a big plus for me, especially with Apple Tax (predatory pricing) on RAM. RAM bus of 150 GB/s on M3 Pro vs 400 GB/s on M2 Max might not be a big deal in the wash-up of final SoC v SoC performance, but it's a big difference.
- Extra TB4 and USB-C ports including front facing and extra display driving options future proof me better, vs AV1 and any improvements to their codec engines in M3 (I'm not sure I they're improved a lot).
Currently I have a M1 Mac mini with 8 GB and have been waiting and waiting not pulling the trigger on the Studio M2 Max in case the M3s did something unique. And they did (apart from 3 nm which is good for EE and cost/performance but otherwise irrelevant to this comparison) in terms of AV1 decode and Raytracing I guess are those things.
I do YouTube a lot and my speeds are fine without it, and I do not game at all and do use AutoCad as a design and CNC programming tool but not a render tool (I generally don't need to render, certainly not to professional image standards).
I'm constantly hitting memory issues, not so much when I have InDesign+PS+Acrobat+PS/Premier Pro/Autocad open on a job but when I have two browsers with dozens, if not 100s of tabs open (Tab Groups in Safari has helped me ENORMOUSLY reducing that load, thank you Apple occasionally you knock it out of the park), a couple of Numbers or Excel docs, calendar, Mail, Outlook (don't ask!). I expect 18 GB would be enough, let alone 32 GB since the audio/video rendering I do is trivially small, for me it's more about day-to-day open-applications creep.
Heres's the main NanoReview stats.
View attachment 2311931
View attachment 2311933
View attachment 2311934
View attachment 2311935
