Please help me choose - new M1 max 64Gb/4Tb or M2 max 64Gb/2TB

[73CortinaV8]

Use case: software engineering, running docker and databases. Watching movies. Plan to keep for 5+ years


I can get a new M1 max 64Gb/4Tb 32-core gpu for $3299 from BH (in stock)

Or an M2 max 64Gb/2Tb 30-core GPU for $3759 from apple EDU (2 weeks)

edit: Or a M2 max 64Gb/2Tb 38-core for $3919 from apple EDU (in stock now)

I'm leaning towards the more disk space, but I'll be locked into old HDMI and non-6E wifi. Not sure that makes a difference

I suppose I could stretch and cough up the $4299 for the 4Tb M2, but I really don't want to

the other factor is I can have the M1 Monday but 2 weeks for the 1st M2. I could wait but it isn't ideal as I'm on a 2016 mbp on its last legs

 

[Rnd-chars]

I have that M1 Max config and it’s been fantastic. The most compelling difference I’ve seen between the M1 Max and M2 Max has been in certain ML workloads, but I don’t think it’s significant enough to warrant upgrading.

I’d recommend going with the M1 — that’s a lot of containers and VMs you can leverage for significantly less money. Plus, it also means you’ll take less of a hit when you sell/trade it in which you can add to your extra $700 savings when upgrading to a new computer.

 

[Mark Holmes]

I have that M1 Max config and it’s been fantastic. The most compelling difference I’ve seen between the M1 Max and M2 Max has been in certain ML workloads, but I don’t think it’s significant enough to warrant upgrading.

I’d recommend going with the M1 — that’s a lot of containers and VMs you can leverage for significantly less money. Plus, it also means you’ll take less of a hit when you sell/trade it in which you can add to your extra $700 savings when upgrading to a new computer.

Same config here used for video editing a lot of Multicam 4K. Love this computer. And so glad I maxed out the RAM - often find myself using 50+GB of memory. Might never upgrade and run this til it dies.

 

[Sterkenburg]

I am on that exact M1 Max config and it is by far the best general purpose machine I have ever used, if that's worth anything. I use it daily for programming, data science and ML, writing stuff, photo/video editing and media consumption. Glad I sprung for the 4TB drive as I keep a lot of photos and movies locally and not having to worry about storage micromanagement or external drives is just great.

 

[Nicole1980]

The M2 is not going to be a noticable jump. But having 4tb of storage is heaven. Knowing that you have that kind of space with no worries is big IMO. I got my daughter the 4tb M1 pro and she already has used used up 1.5 tb. So if she only had the 2tb model things would already be getting a little tenuous for her. Instead, she's got no worries whatsoever.

In other words, go with the M1 4tb for sure

 

[dz5b609]

I'll actually take the M2 opposed to most other opinions here. But it kinda depends on the situation. With TB4 you can just use external storage for the bulk of your storage for a fraction of the cost that Apple charges for internal storage at in most situations the same real-life speed.

So if you don't mind an external SSD lying somewhere on your desktop or in your backpack or if you don't need all your storage everywhere at all times. I would go the M2 route also with the better wifi and HDMI in mind which if you want to go 5+ years will make a difference.

 

[Nicole1980]

So if you don't mind an external SSD lying somewhere on your desktop or in your backpack

Depends on use case and that little SSD could be misplaced or lost.

You also wrote: better wifi and HDMI in mind which if you want to go 5+ years will make a difference.

I would say in 5+ years both techs will still be usable but both also likely will be surpassed by something else, so no matter what, you'll be 'behind', but still have something that works perfectly fine.

 

[steve217]

For what you’re doing (Docker, software engineering), RAM and disk are going to be the priority.

I would get the M1 64GB/4TB option ($3299).

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I'm with #6 and I very happily own an M1 Studio. We all know that Apple will obsolete the M1s before the M2s... even if they are still quite capable of carrying on into about 2028 and beyond. With some OP indifference about which to buy such that he's asking strangers, M2 is likely buying 1-2 more years of use beyond when Apple decides to vintage M1s.

With Silicon Macs, this is not about how well either works right now. Both generations roar right now. It's about how well each will work in the future. Likely no later than about 2028, M1s will be vintaged... and I will not be the least bit surprised if modern Apple won't offer some strong reasons to "upgrade" sooner than that (including key features in macOS not "being compatible" with "old" M1s (even if hacks later show that such features work just fine on M1s)).

One conspiracy for Silicon Macs is to try to speed up the upgrade cycle akin to iPhone: motivate Mac owners to upgrade Macs more frequently = more 💰💰💰 for Apple. These "incredible", "fastest ever", "best ever" Macs we are enjoying now are probably 2 macOS updates from starting to get the classic "long in tooth" descriptor associated with them and maybe 1 more away from key features in new macOS "not being able to work with..." We know how this goes. See Silicon on iDevices as a long-history blueprint of how this will likely play out.

So, as an indifferent OP, M2 all the way... and buy third party external storage if you really need the extra 2TB right now. Else, use the 2TB and when you need more, you can easily add it then. Third party SSD will cost much less than Apple's pricing. You'll have those Thunderbolt ports ready for some fast storage whenever you need it. Here's the math on that:

• to turn 2TB into 4TB of Apple SSD is + $600 in the Apple store.
• For the same money plus approx. $200 more (which will still be better than the "stretch" option), OP could add an 8TB M.2 stick to the 2TB option for 10TB of total storage.
• Or if 2TB more is all that OP desires, many 2TB sticks are well below $100 right now, saving $500 vs. Apple pricing.

OP, unless you have an absolute reason in support of Mac Studio, you might want to consider Mac Mini Pro with an eye towards upgrading it in maybe 5 years, when Apple will likely be undermining the appeal of M1 and M2 with macOS updates anyway. What I really wanted to buy when I purchased Mac Studio was the much rumored Mac Mini with M1 MAX at the time. In spite of feeling much love for my Studio, if I was going again right now, I'd probably buy Mac Mini Pro with maximum RAM and as little as 512GB SSD to get over the "half speed" SSD issue... then big external SSD for the bulk of my storage needs.

Another option is a MBpro with M2 MAX (now getting discounted in many places) and perhaps a dock to easily dual use it as laptop and desktop Mac. This dock "coming soon" looks especially good for such purposes.

With rumors of M3 Macs hitting as soon as October, the M2s should see some discounts and refurb pricing to make them even more price appealing as soon as 2 months from now. If you lack a burning need to buy now, you might want to stand by for upwards of 6-8 weeks and see if M3s do show up in OCT. If so, most M2s should show SOME price impact and M1s even more so.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Twice the space at 500$ less, makes this a no brainer IMHO. The M2 will not really make a difference for your workflow.

 

[ilikewhey]

is this for 14 or 16inch.

 

[Rnd-chars]

If you do opt for external storage regardless of which config you choose, you may want to note that performance will be significantly lower for sustained reads/writes, though you’ll also incur a minor CPU hit for all operations. This would matter when moving large containers or saving large changes in state.

Also, external SSD quality control has taken a hit lately, including Sandisk’s (owned by Western Digital) notable failure. Looking at the article’s comments, it seems Toshiba and Crucial are safer bets though that’s still largely anecdotal feedback.

And you may take an extra performance hit depending on if you encrypt the external drive, which I generally recommend unless it’s purely a scratch disk.

 

[izzy0242mr]

Use case: software engineering, running docker and databases. Watching movies. Plan to keep for 5+ years


I can get a new M1 max 64Gb/4Tb 32-core gpu for $3299 from BH (in stock)

Or an M2 max 64Gb/2Tb 30-core GPU for $3759 from apple EDU (2 weeks)

edit: Or a M2 max 64Gb/2Tb 38-core for $3919 from apple EDU (in stock now)

I'm leaning towards the more disk space, but I'll be locked into old HDMI and non-6E wifi. Not sure that makes a difference

I suppose I could stretch and cough up the $4299 for the 4Tb M2, but I really don't want to

the other factor is I can have the M1 Monday but 2 weeks for the 1st M2. I could wait but it isn't ideal as I'm on a 2016 mbp on its last legs

Personally I'd go for the more storage if storage is an important thing to you. The M1+ platform is really solid and will easily last you 5+ years (I plan to keep my M1 Pro base model for like 7 years at least, personally).

The M2 Max isn't a huge upgrade vs the M1 Max in terms of either performance or efficiency. I don't think you'll experience serious issues with HDMI being 2.0 instead of 2.1 unless you have specific and frequent work cases that require 2.1 for some reason. Ditto on Wifi 6E (vs the M1 Max's Wifi 6). Minor upgrades—nice, but not going to be things that put you significantly behind in the next 5+ years.

I don't think 2 weeks is going to make much of a difference, personally. Chances of your 2016 MBP dying completely are low in that time frame.

 

[brerlappin]

IMHO, I’d go with the M1 Max… it’s an amazing machine