Trying to decide between M1 Pro and M1 Max for new daily driver

[LinkRS]

So I'm thinking the 16 GB of RAM will be fine?

Howdy Sig_Dude,

Personally, unless you plan on upgrading again within 12 to 18 months, you should consider 32 GB of RAM. The 64-GB upgrade is just too expensive unless you *need* that much right now, and it doesn't sound like you do. If you want to keep your Mac for use for another 10 years, that would be a good reason to go for 32 GB as well. If size is of a concern, just go with the base model of the 14". I wouldn't stress over the argument about needing a Max or Pro or not, just go based on RAM. This means that you have to go with the Pro at a minimum, but don't worry about it "only" having 6 performance cores and 14 GPU cores. Upgrade the RAM to 32 GB, and possibly the SSD, quick check (with the upgraded power supply too) puts you at $2619 (US Dollars), which isn't exactly cheap, but this would last you a good long while. Do remember that the 14" chassis does not cool as well as the 16" model, so some thermal throttling could occur, which is why it would most likely not be worth it to you, to spend the extra $200 to get the 10 Core Pro Chip, let alone the full Max chip. Good luck!

Rich S.

 

[profcutter]

As a counterpoint, I’d say for your workflow, 16gb should be fine. You’re already accustomed to a machine which is far behind in terms of speed and age, I think 16gb should work out great unless you’re working on huge files.

 

[LinkRS]

As a counterpoint, I’d say for your workflow, 16gb should be fine. You’re already accustomed to a machine which is far behind in terms of speed and age, I think 16gb should work out great unless you’re working on huge files.

touché Excellent counterpoint.

 

[Sig_Dude]

Well, after months of researching and ultimately arriving at this forum, I finally pulled the trigger tonight! Check it out:

16-inch MacBook Pro - Space Gray​

With the following configuration: Apple M1 Pro with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine 32GB unified memory 2TB SSD storage 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 port 140W USB-C Power Adapter Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID - US English Accessory Kit​

 

[Donsell]

Well, after months of researching and ultimately arriving at this forum, I finally pulled the trigger tonight! Check it out:

16-inch MacBook Pro - Space Gray​

With the following configuration: Apple M1 Pro with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine 32GB unified memory 2TB SSD storage 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 port 140W USB-C Power Adapter Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID - US English Accessory Kit​

Monster machine. You'll be pleased. Congratulations! Sorry you have to now endure the wait!

 

[calstanford]

Going from a 2009 MBP to a 2022 M1 Pro or Max is quite silly. An M1 will be many many many many times faster than your existing machine. If your 2009MBP was fast enough for you in 2021 to use, an M1 will easily be fast enough today, tomorrow and in the coming years.

 

[Donsell]

Going from a 2009 MBP to a 2022 M1 Pro or Max is quite silly. An M1 will be many many many many times faster than your existing machine. If your 2009MBP was fast enough for you in 2021 to use, an M1 will easily be fast enough today, tomorrow and in the coming years.

I disagree. He obviously keeps his equipment for a long, long time. It's not silly to spend more now and have a machine that will last him 10 or more years.

 

[CalMin]

I'd say unless you're doing specialized tasks such as heavy video editing, photoshop etc. then M1 Pro is the way to go. The Max is only faster for specific applications, and mostly graphics intensive ones.

Given your stated preference to keep the machine for a long time I'd put as much as you can afford into SSD space. Some would argue to spend a few bucks on RAM too, to which I would say sure, but I doubt your current Mac would run demonstrably faster if it had more than 8GB. I mean sure it would, but enough for it to not feel slow? Probably not so much because the CPU is the bottleneck.

Seeing how long you keep your MacBooks either will last you a long time. I don't think that M1 Max will obsolete out later than M1 Pro. When the time comes, I suspect that some future version of MacOS will probably be for "M2 series chips or higher" vs. limiting it to M1, M1 Pro or M1 Max.

Hopefully we're a ways off from that though! Either machine is great and I hope to keep mine for a long time too!

 

[profcutter]

What’s the wait time on your build?

 

[MacPioneer]

In sixty years of working with computers I have learned two things:

You can never have too much memory.

You can never have too much storage.

 

[wilberforce]

In sixty years of working with computers I have learned two things:

You can never have too much memory.

You can never have too much storage.

Hmm, well I guess a Mac Pro with 1.5TB of RAM and 8TB SSD will suit you. Starts at $40,000.

In which case, probably will need to add a third item to your list:

"You can never have too much money."

 

[profcutter]

In sixty years of working with computers I have learned two things:

You can never have too much memory.

You can never have too much storage.

Yep, or too much cash. If you overspend on a machine by buying too much memory, you may be disappointed when 3 years later you could buy the newest machines that even with half the ram leave your machine in the dust, all depending on workflow. If you need 64 Gb ram and all the GPU cores, you generally know it. Otherwise less makes more sense. As for storage, that’s so variable from person to person. Again, if you’re only using 256gb, why pay for 4tb?

 

[TinyMito]

You can always say the same about never too much X that every year and on every tech, by the time you upgrade. Think about having you ever use over 50% of those specs? The answers for most non-prosumers are 99%; No.

OP is a non-prosumer. A prosumer who works in the production/film/coder industries heavily relies on the machine for money making. Myself is a tech nerd, not a prosumer even I do code/film/photo as hobbies only.

 

[TinyMito]

Howdy Sig_Dude,

Personally, unless you plan on upgrading again within 12 to 18 months, you should consider 32 GB of RAM. The 64-GB upgrade is just too expensive unless you *need* that much right now, and it doesn't sound like you do. If you want to keep your Mac for use for another 10 years, that would be a good reason to go for 32 GB as well. If size is of a concern, just go with the base model of the 14". I wouldn't stress over the argument about needing a Max or Pro or not, just go based on RAM. This means that you have to go with the Pro at a minimum, but don't worry about it "only" having 6 performance cores and 14 GPU cores. Upgrade the RAM to 32 GB, and possibly the SSD, quick check (with the upgraded power supply too) puts you at $2619 (US Dollars), which isn't exactly cheap, but this would last you a good long while. Do remember that the 14" chassis does not cool as well as the 16" model, so some thermal throttling could occur, which is why it would most likely not be worth it to you, to spend the extra $200 to get the 10 Core Pro Chip, let alone the full Max chip. Good luck!

Rich S.

This unified memory, no longer the traditional RAM and CPU split like most desktops today. 16GB unified + 200GB/s bandwidth for swap equivalent to having higher ram spec. Now we gauge it like memory pressure in macOS world.

Do you think he needs 32GB ram for Internet, Email, photo edit, spreadsheet? I mean seriously?

Have you looked at his OP post?

It's a "daily driver" notebook that gets used on the couch for internetting, emailing, occasional photo editing, spreadsheeting, and basic personal financial tracking.

You should stop based on YouTuber's internet research. I hope you have your own MacBook Pro 2021 to base on.

 

[Madhatter32]

I would recommend a base level MBP M1 Pro or a MBA for your purposes. Anything more would be a luxury ... something that is nice but certainly not needed. Some would call it a waste of resources.

 

[Acronyc]

Well, after months of researching and ultimately arriving at this forum, I finally pulled the trigger tonight! Check it out:

16-inch MacBook Pro - Space Gray​

With the following configuration: Apple M1 Pro with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine 32GB unified memory 2TB SSD storage 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 port 140W USB-C Power Adapter Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID - US English Accessory Kit​

That will be an excellent machine for many years! Congrats!

I think you made the right choice with the RAM. Personally, I always prioritize RAM upgrades and have never been disappointed in this choice.

I got the 14-inch M1 Max because I wanted more GPU power and more external display options. The 32GB of RAM came along with the M1 Max so I was good there too. If it weren't for those reasons, I would have gotten your config (though with less storage).

 

[SalisburySam]

One thing's for sure - "future-proofing" is not wise. Technology depreciates rapidly; it doesn't make sense to buy today's tech at today's prices for tomorrow's hypothetical needs. Instead of speccing up today, set the $1,000-1,500 aside for your future machine.

So much wisdom here, not just for the OP’s use case but in general. As others are touting within Macrumors, ‘tis better to buy new, buy adequate, and buy often as the best tech path to follow for almost all use cases. It has taken me a long time to board that train, usually opting for the latest, greatest, with top trim levels all around. Very expensive path that yields little-to-no benefit. I’m in recovery, making amends to my checkbook. It’s a process.

 

[cakebytheocean]

The M1 Pro models have the best battery life and best thermals/least throttling, while still performing nearly identically to the Max variants for anything not GPU-bound. The LPDDR5 RAM is extremely fast and these models do very well with the base 16GB. I recommend the 16" M1 Pro 10/16/16GB/1TB; it has the very best battery life and runs the coolest of all of them, and you get the extra screen real estate and bigger palm rests and better speakers.

One thing's for sure - "future-proofing" is not wise. Technology depreciates rapidly; it doesn't make sense to buy today's tech at today's prices for tomorrow's hypothetical needs. Today's $400 16GB DDR5 upgrade won't be $400 in 2-3 years, not even close. "Future-proofing" a 2021 MBP can take a $2,500 purchase to $4k and beyond very quickly.

Instead of speccing up today, set the $1,000-1,500 aside for your future machine. The next 16" MBP base in 1-1.5 years will be better than a "future-proofed" 2021, which sets a hard ceiling on your resale value (nobody cares that you paid $4-5k for your 2021 Max when the new $2,500 M1 Pro Duo/M2 Pro/etc base in 2023 outperforms it).

I have watched every tech review out there for this year macbooks, done a ton of research on line and wrestled with these questions for months to the point of annoying my wife and I can tell you everything summarized here is the exact conclusions I came to.

16" M1 Pro 10/16/16GB/1TB is the sweet spot. Also future proofing makes no sense especially for RAM - just look at Apple trade in values now they dont give you more for macbooks with higher ram amounts.

 

[SalisburySam]

“…future proofing makes no sense especially for RAM - just look at Apple trade in values now they dont give you more for macbooks with higher ram amounts.”

Agree if you’re buying the RAM for some unknown purpose in the future. However, if you need it for your workflow, makes all the sense in the world to get what you need.

 

[cakebytheocean]

Agree if you’re buying the RAM for some unknown purpose in the future. However, if you need it for your workflow, makes all the sense in the world to get what you need.

100% agree which is why I referenced future proofing in my comments for lay people like me. Certainly if your workflow requires it you'll know and will likely get more.

 

[Sig_Dude]

It arrived.

IT. IS. AWESOME.

Do it.

 

[ignatius345]

How do you get from

I need to replace my late 2009 MacBook Pro (2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB).

[...]

It's a "daily driver" notebook that gets used on the couch for internetting, emailing, occasional photo editing, spreadsheeting, and basic personal financial tracking.

to

Personally, unless you plan on upgrading again within 12 to 18 months, you should consider 32 GB of RAM.

?

This is bad advice. Nobody needs 32 GB of RAM on an M-series Mac to perform the tasks the OP listed above.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I'm using a M1 MacBook Pro (2020) and just like you, I likely will ride this out until Apple stops supporting it with macOS updates. It has 8 GBs of RAM and I am doing pretty much the same things you are, I even edited some 4K video captured on my iPhone 6s from 2016 on it. Did a comparison with my previous MacBook Pro Early 2015 and it was super speedy. The battery life is great which makes it great notebook for lounging on your couch, I can manage my budget, type the occasional Word docs, have a Dell 24 inch monitor I got from work hooked up to it for watch videos or multiple tasking. I think you should save some money get one of these and upgrade again 2025 if you see the need to do.

I personally plan on getting the 2nd or 3rd get larger screen iMac when those become available as a dedicated larger screen iMac. Although the Dell hooked up to my M1 MBP is doing all a larger screen Mac would do. Looking at the future of desktop computing, so much is being consumer by the web browser. There are no iPad apps I have any need to use on my Mac. All the stalwarts Office, Chrome and what already comes with it are there.

 

[LinkRS]

How do you get from



to



?

This is bad advice. Nobody needs 32 GB of RAM on an M-series Mac to perform the tasks the OP listed above.

That is your opinion. You are welcome to it This is my opinion. I still stand by what I suggested, the OP keeps their computers for a long time, sure 16 GBs might be sufficient today, but will it be in 2 years, or even 3 years? It is not possible to know how much RAM you will need in the future. Since you can't upgrade it, you would have to purchase a whole new Mac to upgrade.

:-D

 

[Codpeace]

It arrived.

IT. IS. AWESOME.

Do it.

Wow -- you got that so fast! How long a delivery time did they originally quote to you and how long did it actually take to arrive?

And congratulations -- what a killer machine. You're going to love it!