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Will the M4 Pro outperform the M3 Max ?
- Thread starter TheRealAlex
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Common sense would dictate that Apple won't release a Mac that doesn't beat (at least in clinical benchmarks) the current M3 Max.
How should we know? Nobody here has insider information about unreleased Apple hardware, and if they do they will keep their mouths shut.
Nobody outside of Apple knows.
Here are some things I can say with some confidence:
Here are some things I can say with some confidence:
- The M4 Max will be faster than the M4 Pro.
- Neither chip will turn the Mac into a gaming PC like you seem to be hoping.
- If the M4 generation includes WiFi 7 and thunderbolt 5 as you hope, there will be very few, if any, accessories that can take advantage at launch.
At least one of the chip configurations likely will....but it's entirely possible that not all of them will.
Based on how they re-aligned the M3 chipset this year, I think Apple is more concerned about having "like-for-like" comparisons. So, for example, I could see the base M4 chip being an upgrade over the base M3 chip...but it falls a bit behind the upgraded M3 Pro and further behind the M3 Max. The M4 Max would eventually then be the one chip that pushes beyond the M3 Max.
I knew this would happen this week... Why do these questions always come up when my time machine is in the shop?
AFA say beating it in Geekbench and most other benchmarks? No. It's not getting a 35%+ bump unless Apple reverses the strategy it just seemed to set (ie. a sizable gulf both in proc and gpu).
It will have some advantages AFA single threaded perf, perhaps neural engine improvements, possibly ray tracing, things like that.
It will have some advantages AFA single threaded perf, perhaps neural engine improvements, possibly ray tracing, things like that.
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Along the lines of what you are asking
www.macworld.com
Those disappointing M3 benchmarks? You're reading them wrong
The numbers might not show a massive speed boost over the M2, but Apple is doing much more with its core design.
www.macworld.com
This is a great read, thank for sharing. It compiles and validates my theory, pieced together from watching many reviews. Specifically, the newer generation performs the same as the 'bump' from the prior-gen. But it does it using less power!Along the lines of what you are asking
Those disappointing M3 benchmarks? You're reading them wrong
The numbers might not show a massive speed boost over the M2, but Apple is doing much more with its core design.
A lot of YouTubers want to clickbait/bash the base M3 Pro because it barely outperforms the M2 Max. But it's doing that with two less performance cores, and on a 3nm node, which means less power and heat than a M2 Max would put out. So if the M3 Pro/M2 Max are the same price, smart money says go for the M3 Pro.
One other thing I've noticed after having my 16" base M3 Pro for a few days... the AV1 decode really makes a big difference if you're a heavy YouTube watcher. I can have a video playing constantly in the background, and it doesn't appear to increase battery drain (at all) over what I'm doing with other apps.
The M3 Pro seems to be more about battery life and maybe running cooler than the Max. It's a decent product segmentation.
For those of us that want more battery life and generally don't need the extra performance, I think that the approach of more efficiency cores is a good one. If you want absolute performance, you go with the Max.
If I had to buy today, I'd get the Pro but I'm perfectly happy with my M1 Pro. Maybe for another 3-4 years.
For those of us that want more battery life and generally don't need the extra performance, I think that the approach of more efficiency cores is a good one. If you want absolute performance, you go with the Max.
If I had to buy today, I'd get the Pro but I'm perfectly happy with my M1 Pro. Maybe for another 3-4 years.
I can't agree more with this. People are yelling at M3 pro, but I imagine they would still complain if M3 pro performed better but lacked efficiency (more heat, more battery used). "Why I returned M3 Pro: HOT and SHORT battery life!" will be these youtubers' new subject line.