How comes that your channel has only 13.200 subs? You’re amongst the super precise testers of the Tube, nothing to envy to other big TH-camrs. You need more viewers, you deserve them!
Of all the videos I have watched to help educate my decision between the 14" and 16" and Pro vs Max, yours really gave me the most clear data for what I am using these tools to accomplish! Thanks for your in depth study with a photographer's perspective!
I dont usually comment on videos, but the way you organise and layout your graphs, with plenty of data from various systems, and the fact you can easily annotate using the pencil to see what you are talking about. Great job, you have earned yourself a subscriber :) one thing I would like to see is how activating low power mode affects performance - it may mean you can get more battery out of it at slightly lower power. Might be worth it??
That would be a good test to run, I might do a battery test marathon where I do all of these export test using different programs on battery power in all of the mode. That is a great idea. This will take time to run that is for sure.
@@ArtIsRight yeah I have heard the rumour floating around that you can dramatically increase the battery life but have minimal performance loss. Regardless these new macs are insane, even though I have no need for them (My m1 air is awesome)
It really hurts to see you go over the slides. All that testing and all that time spent and just presenting the graph for a few seconds before moving on with a full 37 minutes of packed information. I can't believe you've done such extensive testing and I can't imagine how much time you spent on making those videos. If any channel is gonna blow up, it's gonna be the people putting real work in. You sir have taught me a lot and I'm truely grateful.
Nice! Also you got the 4TB SSD model that is really cool, after ordering and testing my 2 TB, I want to replace my MacPro with it for the time being until Apple release a new Mac Pro with Apple Silicon and I really like to have more SSD but the order time is so long right now, so I'll probably keep the one that I have.
This is definitely one of the most solid testing videos I've ever seen! I've been looking for such a comparison between M1 Max and M1 Pro, as well as the difference on 32GB and 64GB for so long, since many people suggest to consider these used old models if not feeling like paying $$$$ for the new Macbook Pro models. Love it!! Thank you so much
Thank you for making this video! Helped me make my decision today, was struggling with this. Ended up spending the extra $500 to get the M1 Max (10/24) over the M1 pro. Almost a year later and still relevant!
@@benjiman818 it’s difficult to tell whether I could have gotten away with M1 Pro instead of the Max. The Max was more heavily discounted than the Pro so the difference was a negligible 2 or 3 hundred bucks. I will say that I’m really glad I got 32gb instead of 16 and the 2tb ssd is crazy fast!
@@romankuzmich6220 Yeah I think 16GB might not be enough for me as a video editor and I often have multiple apps open. Does the memory fill up 16GB fast?
@@benjiman818 most of the memory gets sucked up by Safari for me (I usually have to have a million tabs open for work). If you’re not a crazy multitasker like me it won’t be too bad. Definitely recommend 32gb, go 64 if you have the money.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 *💻 Video Introduction* - The video introduces the main focus, which is to explore the real-world differences in performance between the 32GB memory configurations for the M1 Pro and M1 Max. - The host summarizes the material to be covered and explains how timestamps can be used to navigate the video. - The possibility of a significant difference in memory speed between the M1 Pro and M1 Max is highlighted as a key point of interest. 02:10 *🖥️ Processor and Memory Performance Analysis* - The M1 Pro's memory speed is stated as around 200 GB/s, and the M1 Max's speed is double that. - The speaker presents an analysis based on a review by AnandTech that indicates that saturation of memory bandwidth is not usually achieved unless all components of the CPU are utilized (including the GPU and Neural Engine). - The conclusion drawn is that currently, few programs are capable of fully utilizing the available bandwidth. 03:04 *🛠️ Test and Reference System Explanation* - The host explains the machines to be used for testing: a base model 14 inch M1 Pro and a high-end M1 Max. - The possible biases and unbalances due to availability constraints in the tests are admitted to. - Various Intel machines are to be included in the test. 04:14 *🗒️ Performance-Pricing Ratio Discussion* - The speaker elaborates on how the results will give an idea of the performance and pricing ratio. - Key term definitions are given, such as "SoC" (System on a Chip), which refers to the computers having several components on a single chip. - SSD size and their impact on performance are also discussed, recommending choosing SSD size based on future needs rather than speed. 06:45 *📊 Real-World Benchmark Assessment* - The host dives into real-world benchmark test results and compares various performance modes. - Differences between auto and high power modes for the M1 Macs are explored, revealing virtually no impact on performance. - The unoptimized state of many photo apps is acknowledged, indicating potential for future improvements. 08:09 *📷 Lightroom Classic Performance Comparison* - The comparison of Lightroom Classic performance between 32GB versions of the M1 Pro and M1 Max reveals little discernible difference. - The host suggests that the performance difference between the M1 Pro and M1 Max might be more noticeable once Adobe updates Lightroom Classic to take full advantage of the hardware. 10:16 *📉 Lightroom CC Performance Analysis* - Analysis of Lightroom CC performance shows more noticeable differences between the M1 Pro and M1 Max, particularly when exporting files. - Higher memory speeds and additional CPU cores in the M1 Max result in faster export times. - Patterns of CPU utilization during exports in both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC are examined, revealing Lightroom CC's more intensive use of system resources. 12:05 *🔊 Fan Noise Comparison* - Fan noise comparisons between the 14-inch and 16-inch models show the smaller model runs louder due to its reduced heat dissipation capacity. - Compared to earlier Intel-based Macs, all M1 Macs appear to have significantly less fan noise. 13:01 *🔄 Lightroom Classic HDR Merge Performance* - Performance during HDR merge tasks in Lightroom Classic shows no discernible difference between the 32GB versions of the M1 Pro and M1 Max. 14:54 *🖼️ Lightroom CC Real-Life Test* - A test involving exporting pictures in Lightroom CC shows a performance improvement with the M1 Max due to its faster RAM and extra CPU cores. - The influence of efficient memory management in the software becomes evident. 17:23 *🎞️ Capture One Performance Overview* - The speaker introduces performance reviews with Capture One, an application that mainly uses CPU and GPU. - The specifics of the application tests are yet to be detailed. 17:37 *📝 Capture One Performance Findings* - CPUs cores have a more substantial impact than RAM on the software's performance. - M1 Max shows about 30-33% efficiency increase, indicating incomplete utilization of available cores. 20:50 *🔋 Capture One Battery Test* - CPU performance between 16 and 14 core GPU versions is similar. - Greater GPU power results in faster task completion and potentially less energy consumption. 22:29 *🎨 Photoshop Benchmark Analysis* - Differences between M1 Max and M1 Pro in the Photoshop speed test are marginal (about three seconds). - Working with larger files may require more GPU or faster memory speed. 26:43 *🎥 Final Cut Pro Performance Test* - The M1 Max significantly reduces export times in all tests, demonstrating its double encoder/decoder engine. - Memory setup (32 vs. 64 GB) showed no significant impact on performance time. 28:21 *💰 Performance Cost Analysis * - Upgrading to the M1 Max for marginal gains may not be worth the price difference for most users. - GPU performance increase might not be worth the additional cost unless working with large files or requiring high GPI performance. 31:08 *🔍 Size, Battery, and Thermal Performance Considerations* - Between 14 and 16-inch models, differences primarily come down to physical constraints (size, weight, heat dissipation). - Battery life and performance are similar, but real-world use and needs should guide selections. 32:59 *📚 Creative Areas and Recommendations* - For file management and minor color correction, base models may provide sufficient performance. - For more complex tasks like composite large files or panorama merge, higher configurations are recommended. 34:09 *🎬 Video Professionals Recommendations* - For video professionals, the M1 Max with double encoder/decoder engine significantly reduces export time. - Multitasking and handling large file sizes may require 64GB of memory. 34:51 *📈 Analysis Continuation for Video Professionals* - For video professionals, 32GB memory on M1 Max or Pro are suitable, unless involved in heavy visual effects, Motion, or After Effects which would benefit from 32 core GPU version. 35:19 *🛠️ Tailor Device to Creative Needs* - Advises to select device configuration that fits your specific creative needs instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. - Tools should aid creativity instead of being the primary focus. 36:14 *🎨 Creativity over Tools* - Emphasizes that creativity is more important than the tools used to express it. - Encourages viewers to focus less on granular tech details and invest more in creating content. Made with HARPA AI
This is my third time watching this video! It is one of the most helpful insights! Im getting closer to my choice of machine, right now it is actually mostly down to the 24gpu having almost a month longer delivery than the pro with 32gb ram. There is such little price difference between these that it feels stupid not to go with the max though. Beside battery there is only potential gains to be had. That is a tough choice…
I hear you, I am working on a battery test but that takes a long time at least 3 hr per machine for pro app hard rendering. It will be at least a week before I have that test result out. When it comes to these machines, I wouldn't worry too much about battery life, they are so good to start with relative to the intel. If you can wait 24 cores is a good balance. If you use capture 1 then 24 cores is really the best for performance vs price point.
@@ArtIsRight Hi Art. Apple has just announced the M2 MacBook Air. Looks like it can be configured to 8 core CPU and 24 GB of unified memory. Is it possible enough for Lightroom and Photoshop for the next 3-5 years? I need to order immediately because of the long delay. I can’t wait for the TH-cam reviews to come out. Thanks Art.
You sir deserve way more subs and views on your videos! I'm very glad I found this video on youtube. You just got a new subscriber. Great job and thank You for this super useful video for me as a photographer.
Hello Art. I have to agree with all of the other commenters here. Your presentation style is great and the amount of detail provided is amazing! I can really appreciate the amount of effort you put into these videos especially since I used to be a SW tester in a previous life. :) I am looking for your advice. I was pretty convinced I knew what spec I was going to get but now I am second guessing it. I typically keep my Macbook Pros for 5 - 7 years. My current machine is a mid 2014 15" Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. It runs pretty slow when editing and the fans run all the time especially with an external monitor. The new laptop will be my daily driver but will also be used for photography. I currently use both LR CC and Photoshop. I shoot landscapes with a 42 MP Sony A7R2. I don't shoot panoramas all the time but I do them from time to time. I also use a lot of masks and brushes in LR plus edit in PS using multiple layers. I really thought the 16" Macbook M1 Pro with 16G and 1 TB was the one but now I am not so sure. Initially I was torn between this spec but was thinking about spending an extra $400 to get the 2 TB drive. My current machine went from 512 GB to 1 TB and from 8 GB to 16 GB of RAM during ownership. This makes me consider the 2 TB option now. Now after watching your video I am thinking about getting 32 GB or RAM instead. However, if I get 32 GB or RAM then why not spend $200 more for the M1 Max with the 24 core GPU. Please help. I am not sure how to proceed. Thanks!
I would go with 32GB, I came to the conclusion in one my recent video that if any one is going to buy the M1 Pro with 16 GB memory then it is better off to save the money and buy the M1 computer with 16 GB instead. You are not getting that much worse performance per $ with the M1 Pro at 16 GB and it defeats the point of having the SOC in the first place. So I would advise 32GB. As far as Pro vs Max for your workflow you are using Adobe Products which makes very little use of the GPU. Getting more GPU Cores does not help your workflow in anyway meaningful way at all. If you use C1 then yes get the MAX but based on what you are telling me. I would use that extra $200 and put it towards a 2TB SSD yes it does cost more than $200 but that is what I would advise.
@@ArtIsRight Thanks, I appreciate the quick response. Btw, I was wondering what your thoughts were on internal and external drives. For internal storage, how do you personally determine what size to get? Is it based on how much size you may need for a specific project or do you try to fit a big portion of photos and videos on it? Regarding external drives, what type and speed do you suggest if using it to edit and store a LR catalogue? E.g, Sata SSD, NVMe, etc.
For internal drive since it serves as my on the road machines, all downloads on road trip take places on the laptop. And I use this laptop for Weddings & Events as well. Which for use can take up to 300 GB/ Shoot. So factoring in the fact that I want to have my documents on the road with me, download the files, have some files to work on etc. 2 TB then to be best. For external drive if you are just doing photography, Samsung T5 SSD with up 500 MB/s will do just fine, no need to get anything fancy, Samsung T7 SSD which gets 1 GB/s or anything faster is getting into overkill territory. Reason being is that they will download / write fast but only until the SLC or DRAM on the NVMe fills up. And with the T5 you can wait a little but they work really well.
Your channel is the best, period! To make it greater please remove the background music as it’s very irritating to say the least. You voice is clear and nice to listen to, sincerely, Michel
thanks a lot for this very helpful and competent review, which for me was a deciding factor for my configuration. your work is much appreciated. best regards.
Great Video! I'm considering buying an MBP in addition to my 2019 27" iMac i9. Have you already done the updated video mentioned in 10:30? Has Adobe already optimized LR for the M1s?
I mentioned this in my various M2 Mac reviews. I would check those out. I have not made a specific one for this. I am in the process of testing Ventura & LRC 12
Man that is some very thorough testing and top advice ! I'm very impressed !! Also impressed by all Apple silicon machines. I recently bought a Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and am very impressed by that machine as well.
Your video(s) is/are very informative & interesting. You've helped me a lot with this video to make the right decision for me-but this was not the only video of yours. With your other videos I know what configuration I will buy for me. So, thanks very much to you & I hope you will continue to produce videos because they are very good. 👍
This was an excellent breakdown. I was on the fence between a pumped up Mac mini/a decent spec 14 inch MBP M1 Pro/ and getting a M1 Max anything. But since I mainly do photos and some youtube videos the max is overkill for me. The best bang for my buck seems to be the 16" MBP M1 Pro with 10,16,16, 1TB . And Costco has them for $200 off now so I'm set. Thank you so much. This was really helpful!
In your concluding section, I appreciate the message, “Don’t get it unless you need it.” After so many tests, it can be hard to keep track of which scenarios gave opportunities for the performance difference to shine. Could you quickly summarize those results to help us determine when we “need it”?
I think the real deal between the Max and the Pro is the extra encoders for video. If you don’t do video, the upgrade is not worthy it, specially when you compare the difference in render or exporting times.
Thanks Art! Really enjoy your videos, they are the most insightful and well done comparison videos I have found on the subject of the new MBP's. Apple didn't make it easy with the number of choices and configurations. I think I finally have the right configuration for me with some head room to grow. Your videos have been the biggest influence on that decision, so thanks again!
Hey Art, here's probably a different type of question for ya... 4 days ago I bought a new M1 Pro 10 core base with 1TB SSD. Then they released the M2 models 2 days after... I got a $400 discount, but am considering returning in the 14 day window and getting the new model. I think I know the answer here, but do you feel like foregoing the $400 discount is worth having the newest model?
All things consider, M2 Pro would be faster but $400 is $400. I would go for the saving especially with 1TB SSD because that does cost more as well. If you need the extra 20% then sure, but remember that most apps are probably not optimized for the M2 Pro yet, the same message that I shared with every iterative release. So with the M1 Pro you can use that now. It is a hard one, I would may be hold on to the machine for now and make a choice closer to the 14 days limit.
@@ArtIsRight my thoughts exactly. I’m using it extensively and seeing how it feels naturally. You know when I see the biggest hangups is going between a7r5 61mp images in LR. It can get hung up I’m moving back and forth in the film strip. One tough test I’ve noticed is to press “F” to enter full screen and move between images while zooming in/out. The 14” M1 Pro is struggling even with previews built. Have you tried this sort of this on a max unit of yours? The film strip hang ups is pretty distracting/annoying to work with. Wondering if an m2 pro with 32gb of ram could solve this.
A few things, so what I usually do with LRC is import the files and set 1:1 preview, and then go do something else, wait for it to finished. Once it is done then I start the edit. Otherwise everything is slow. This is not the computer / chip as much as LRC is just slow in this regard. Better or higher end chip will help but won't make too much of a variation. Not sure how much RAM you have in the M1 Pro, if you have 32GB, then M2 Pro 32GB will be faster, sure but still not yet optimized and then you won't really reap in the benefit. That is just the dichotomy that you have to consider at this point in time. Also would you consider sending me a few hundred of non specific images from A7R5 for me to use and run test with. Let me know, you can dm me on fb or email me. Thanks.
I am wondering why there is only 13600+ subscribers where in this channel is one that provides more real world testing on devices like the new NotchBook Pros
How does the RAM speed of the M1 Pro compare to the base M1 MacBook Air? Will I see any real world improvements? I use a lot of Chrome tabs, close to a hundred at times. I don't close Chrome either, so I've purchased the 32GB RAM version of the M1 Pro MacBook Pro 16 inch.
If you are using Chrome, RAM Speed would not matter much. I would just look at the various test that use RAM in this video, there're test of other M1 Mac.
What about 16” Macbook Pro M1 Pro with 32GB instead of 16gb… would it be worth the upgrade? Or should I go for the Max? Specifically for online work and video editing/TH-cam
Yes and no, if you can just work off the cloud and download what you need when you need it then you should be ok. But if you are working on a large file, lots of RAW images or video, then having local storage is nice. You can always use an external drive but nothing that is bus powered as of now is as fast as the internal SSD.
@@ArtIsRight thanks for the reply. I’m in real estate so I don’t typically deal large raw data, the closest thing would be PowerPoint but I’m thinking of getting into Adobe inDesign for marketing decks. Last week I got the M1 Max (32) with 32gb and 1T but I’m thinking it may be overkill 🤷🏻♂️ considering downgrading to M1 Pro with either 16 or 32 gb - leaning towards 32 because I want to have to ability to keep a lot of tabs open without worrying (worst case scenario is having all these open at once: excel, few pdfs, message app, handful of chrome apps, a few safari apps, music app, LogMeIn remote access, Dropbox, Maps app, Word, Outlook, Notes, Reminders, Teams and Zoom here and there..) am I right in thinking 32 would suit me better or are these all handled just fine with 16 gb of memory? Thanks again, I really appreciate your input and expertise!
Now that you have told me what you do, 512 should fit you just fine. Also M1 Max is overkill for what you need, I think the pro will work just find and I would go with 16 GB, you don't need more. However, if you like, you can always update to 32 GB and just give the system more RAM which might help with multi tasking and lots of load when you use multiple programs.
Thank you Art. Your videos are the most informative and I have been watching them over and over again. I am subscribed and will recommend your channel to all my photo and video friends. I own a 15" MacBook Pro from mid 2014. It is slow (in video use) and hinders my workflow. My primary area of focus is photos with occasional video projects. Nothing fancy just simple videos with minimal effects and titling. In choosing the next machine, I am torn between the 14" and the 16" form factor. I like the portability of the 14" model but the thermal throttling and the shorter battery life are holding me back from getting the 14" MacBook Pro. I have seen and played with the various models in the store only. So I cannot really gauge the real life performance in the extremes. What is your take on the battery's max life as in how many hours before you have to plug it in? Is fan noise noticeable and does thermal throttling effect performance? As you aptly pointed out the fan noise in my current system is annoying and the constant fan being on is also distracting. Thanks for any feedback you may have. BTW, I am a BenQ monitor owner for some seven years or so. Your monitor calibration videos are next on my list as soon as I get my new MacBook Pro in the next few weeks.
you're welcome. So shorter battery life on the 14" is just physic and battery size chemistry not much to do about that. As far as thermal throttling, in my extensive testing that has not been the issue. With the 32 GPU Max may be but if you need the smaller lighter form factor then there's not much to argue about that need. If seen size / pixels limit was not an issue, I would choose the 14" over 16" any day. For the 16" Max 32 GPU I can generally run normal task all day long, if I am working it hard in FCP and exporting I find that I rarely go below 50% editing 5.9K footage. But if you are running back to back export test in various program like my up coming battery test then you get about 3-4 hours of continuous hard use on the 16" Which is way better than the intel. Thermal throttle is not an issue on the 14 vs 16, just that the fan kick on faster and more frequent on the 14, which makes sense, less heat dissipation in the chassis.
I'll order my new mbp in black friday. It will be entry level 14"m1pro or the next one. The real question is 16GB or 32GB. All I'd need is to someone hook same models with different amount of RAM to 4k/5k monitor and fire up Blender's Eevee Splash Fox test and tell if there is difference in fps. Could somebody do that? (PLEASE!) Has somebody already done this?
I did this test with a 32 GB model, I would go with that if you are using blender. You can also check this out as well th-cam.com/video/Nx6cJkJzvhA/w-d-xo.html
@@ArtIsRight, my scientific oriented mind would prefer real comparison, but I guess Your guess could be right. RAM is only the most expensive part of this machine, but seems to be that people have money.
@@ArtIsRight, and thank You for your time to answer! I have no idea how much live-rendering can use RAM. There is so few comparisons of models close to each other in this field. Tons of maxed out vs. entry level.
I don't use those programs and I can't test or speak about them educatedly. If anything changes in the future I'll do the test. Otherwise I would suggest a search around TH-cam and see if another channel might offer the comparisons.
It would depend on what you are doing and the app that you are using with data. But I would say choose 32 GB RAM for large data set and any SOC would do really. Between the base 14 M1 Pro and top M1 Pro processor there's not that much difference in speed. When you go to the max if your program and data set uses CPU then it is pointless to get the max. However, if your app uses, GPU then you'll see faster speed. There are a few videos about these M1 PRO & MAX for data science, I would encourage you to look those up :) Hope this helps.
I’ve been a Windows user my whole life and never really used MacOS before, but I’d like to get myself a 16” MacBook Pro. After some thinking I know I want 32GB RAM, but I’m still not sure which I should get between the M1 Pro and M1 Max. I have the A7R IV and tend to import everything from the day at once then half assed scroll through to see which ones are good enough for me to edit. I don’t add a lot of layers in Lightroom but I still like playing around with them. I also use Photoshop sometimes and even have both Lr and Ps open at the same time along with my web browser. Most of my editing is done in Lr but I’d like to learn Ps better. I don’t really do video editing but might dabble in that in the future. Between the M1 Max and Pro, which would be better to get with the 32GB RAM configuration? Is there any battery life difference? What about the computer getting hot after a while? What about future proofing? Don’t really care much about fan noise…
Pro & Max has the same 10 core CPU, there are no performance differences what so ever with LRC. RAM is more of a factor in editing duration and pano merge, including any local brushes. Otherwise, it the variation is marginal. I still recommend getting 32 GB. GPU makes no differences in LRC, so don't get more and pay more unless you know for a fact that your app can use it. Pro has longer batter life, you can watch my battery life test th-cam.com/video/KxKZJDl5Css/w-d-xo.html All computer do get hot but not much for these SoC the fan rarely turns on and it would be difficult to push them hard enough to turn on. As far as, Future proofing, it is concept really, there's really non. Max won't do well into the future any more than Pro does if your workflow can't use it and by that I mean the app won't utilized it. For Adobe, I don't see that changing anytime soon, LRC will continue to rely heavily on CPU and if anything, there may be some GPU optimization here and there but I would not hold my breath. It has been this way for more than a decade now and there's really no reason for them to chart a new course. RAM and SSD size based on usage will benefit your more.
Art, you are brilliant your test are the most in-depth I have eve seen and yes as Adobe keeps updating LRC I assume things will only get better I am still glad I went from the $3500 M1 Max 16” Wotan 32GB and 1TB ssd
I got the $3899 M1 Max 32 Core GPU 64GB RAM & 1TB SSD. After -$200 discount ended up paying $3699 flat. Didn’t had to pay any taxes since shipping to FL
hi, thanks for doing these tests, but as a professional photographer, this isn't quite the benchmarks that are useful. With capture one (thats the only software that used in the advertising photography world) I would like to know what its like to flick from one image to another and the delay (if any ) as the pic redraws. This is the most painful delay with many computers, it needs to be very quick. The other important info is the tether speed- transferring files and the speed of the previews shown. I would like to shoot in burst of speed and then look up at the laptop and see the last shot I did on the screen. I would love to see the timings of these.
Well as a pro photographer there are helpful to me. From my test these machine are fluid and better than the intel. Even though I may not touch on it, because it is not necessary the video for this. I might do something along that line if there's time. But at the end of the day each photographer workflow are different and I just can't cover them all. Cheers.
@@ArtIsRight Sorry, I re-read my message, I didn't mean to say it like that. I shoot a large volume, but don't process a large volume, so processing is important, but not as important as fast editing (for me). I understand that people shoot different ways , but I would love it if you could add a tether speed test, or just show the snappiness with flicking through shots. Thanks for doing these tests- there is little in the way of photographer orientated information on TH-cam.
I have the 16 gig 16" m1 pro model and there is just a millisecond delay switching thru 45 meg files in Lightroom in develop mode and no delay in library mode.
That delay happens because in Dev mod, LRC go to the RAW file, read and demosaic again regardless if there is an existing preview not. But this is much faster on the M1 compared to previous intel machines.
Hey Art, as a TH-camr who uses Premiere Pro (coming from PC I could possibly switch to FCP in the future), for video editing and LRC/PS for professional portrait photography, which configuration would you recommend? I'm thinking M1 Pro, 32GB RAM, 2 TB SSD but would love your recommendation.
If you do video I would go with the M1 Max, double the encoding and decoding engine = 2x export speed compared to the M1 pro. I would save the money and go for the 24 cores instead of the 32 cores.
If I'm a photography Student that almost only uses capture one and affinity photo, should I opt for a m1 max? Or just get the base 14'' with upgraded ram?
If you want to save money the base 14" will do just fine. If you want faster capture 1 export then go for the max, but as you can see from the result comparing C1 export, between the base 14" and top max you are about 7-8 min faster when exporting 1000 D850 45MP raw file but the price ∆ is $500-700 if you can justify that then go for the max. But I think base 14" will do just fine and I would use the saving to upgrade the RAM to 32 GB. Hope this helps.
Thank you very much for your videos and advice! After being on PC's my entire life I'm far more confident now I'm getting the right machine. Is there anyway in the future you could also test the performances of DAWs ?
@@ArtIsRight Digital Audio Workstations, music production/performance software. Logic (macOS only) (which Jacob Collier uses) *** If you haven’t seen Jacob Collier’s stuff, specifically the “Logic Sessions” it’s absolutely insane, he edits 100s of samples simultaneously. To be fair his rig is obscene: Ben Bloomberg: Mac Pro - Xeon W 3725M w/ 28 cores hyperthreaded / 384G ram / 80TB zfs nvme accelerated 10G storage / 128ch pcie / dante at 96khz **** Other examples are Pro Tools, Abelton (Ed Sheeran) and Reaper. MainStage (MacOS only) is a music theatre and Broadway standard. Nearly all shows are using MainStage, although Hamilton uses Ableton. Any pit I have played in recently the keyboardists are using MainStage. Apple’s COREmidi is a major reason behind that. Nearly all marching bands and drum corps are using MainStage as well. My school has 2 laptops in case 1 fails, mine will be the third. Other schools I advise and work for have similar setups. Each laptop will have the entire show loaded onto it so it can be plugged in and ready to go. The DAWs for lack of a better term are uh, finicky. Stability, and the ability to load and execute samples with no latency are major concerns. This is becoming even more important as the shows, samples and triggers become more complex. Your formatting and production was so excellent, I thought it would be really cool to see such a thorough and well put together demonstration of the products to help advise the band directors and myself how to allocate resources and money.
I hear you and thank you for clarifying. I am terrible with sound and would not know where to start testing and talk about these test educatedly. Like I said in my other comments about other discipline of creatives. If it is something that I don't do and I don't have an intimate understanding of it, I would rather shy away from it. What I don't want to do is synthetic benchmark on these software and talk about what I see but not really understanding truly what I am seeing. If I can find one of my friend who does these thing and can truly push the machine, I'll consider doing these test in the future. So I would not rule it out entirely but I'm not ready yet at this point. :)
www.anandtech.com/show/17024/apple-m1-max-performance-review Excerpt from the link above. The CPU cores clock up to 3228MHz peak, however vary in frequency depending on how many cores are active within a cluster, clocking down to 3132 at 2, and 3036 MHz at 3 and 4 cores active. I say “per cluster”, because the 8 performance cores in the M1 Pro and M1 Max are indeed consisting of two 4-core clusters, both with their own 12MB L2 caches, and each being able to clock their CPUs independently from each other, so it’s actually possible to have four active cores in one cluster at 3036MHz and one active core in the other cluster running at 3.23GHz.
I am primarily a Lightroom Classic User working with 47MP RAW Files, and my biggest frustration is the rendering speed on my current Intel based MacBook Pro. Do you see a significant improvement in rendering sharp previews as you sort through catalogs of pictures? I have a M1 Pro, 32GB RAM and 4 TB SSD on order. Do you think I should upgrade to the M1 Max is my use case is primarily LRC with 47MP Raw Files?
That is the Max Speed, it won't change much. You are seeing the 10 cores plateau, meaning that 10 cores in the Pro is the same as in the MAX. And LRC does not use GPU so you won't see any improvements at all. The only machine that is faster than what you have right now is a 16 cores Mac Pro to which it is super expensive and you are buying into the past. We might see speed improvement if Adobe Optimizes LRC but that may or may not come. When a software works, there are sometime little incentive to update, not saying that this is the case with LRC but it might not be as top priority as we like them to be.
@@ArtIsRight I just updated LC yesterday and one of the noted improvements was exporting with GPU processing. I’m curious to see how that looks on these machines
Love it!! I just bought a new MacBook Pro 16" with the M1Pro and 32GB of RAM and I was a little bit dejected because I thought I should have bought the M1 Max but your video made me confident to stick with my Laptop and I love it now. Thank you very much.
I’m extremely torn here! I don’t know what to choose between the 14inch 24GPU/32GB/1To and the MBA maxed out version which is half the price and quite a bit lighter than the MBP. I work with a GFX100S and project to travel extensively for at least 18 months. As the GFX system is already weighing quite a bit, every gram counts and I will never do 1k imports or exports ( more probably 200-300). Yes I do huge Panos and PS/Affinity work. Putting this in a backpack plus tent, sleeping gear, food, water, etc…. I’d appreciate some feedback or considerations or actual user experiences related to this use case. Thanks!
Don't get the Air for what you describe just get the 14" and if you are not using capture 1, you don't need 24 GPU, unless Affinity can use it. Yes the air is lighter but in my testing it is much less capable and for pano it takes longer. 14" is going to be best for you.
@@ArtIsRight Thank you Art. I’m using C1 indeed. Still I’m not in high volume output and therefore….torn. I know that the Air is capable of dealing with the GFX files, I’m questioning to what extent or where I would run into troubles. The Air could probably get much more of a beating at much less cost if I had to replace it. It certainly is a question of performance and screen comfort given my gear, but hauling an iPad and already existing dock plus all the rest, a BIG 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔I know that I should go for the MBP, but this is theory….my 2017 iMac for sure handles the workload not too badly and the Air is benchmarking better!
They are all good it just depends on how good you want it to be. For me I have too much going on and the least time that I can spend on the computer, the better I am off with, this is why I configure everything at the max but this choice is totally independent of the user. Everything comes down to the balancing act of time, money, weight of the machine and spec.
Great videos, in depth and unbiased 👌🏼 I would say though, that in every day terms RAM size is more noticeable/important for me when I’m multi tasking/running various process at once (when software developing for instance), rather than when I’m doing exports or working on something specific in one application. I have an M1 max 32gb personal and an M1 pro 32GB from my work and it’s purely anecdotal (so take with a grain of salt) but it does feel like I go into swap memory easier and more frequently with the M1 pro. Again, no metrics to back that up, and it’s probably quite hard to replicate for comparisons like this, so not a criticism of your approach at all, just something of note about how I think memory size/bandwidth could generally have more of an impact throughout a working day.
It is that the program require more memory so the compressed memory would get swap. in M1 unless active, you'll start to see compression and possibly swap at around 75% usage.
One should consider the keyboard and mouse areas in the 14" and 16" model.. when you rest your palms..the 14 feels a bit odd and the 16 feels very odd.. the 13" feels perfectly comfortable for me.. I wish the pro and max come to the super convenient 13" chasis in future..
Sadly I don't have that machine in the studio to test. But I would probably put it this way, the machine that you are looking at right now are in a different category. If you are looking for an iMac replacement then I would just wait for M1 Max in a desktop form factor. Even though the performance will for the most part be the same, unless Apple makes some tweaks. But I feel that an iMac to iMac would be more of an Apple to Apple comparison rather than an Apple to Orange.
@@ArtIsRight thank You for you response! Mainly right now I looking for something more powerful. No matter if its gonna be desktop or laptop (actually MacBooks “mobility” is a plus for me and might be very useful in a future). I know that iMac is a different category but as I saw in many of tests and comparisons, MacBook with M1 max should outperform it. All I’m looking for is faster machine for what I do (photoshop large files, Lightroom, capture one, illustrator, premiere pro, after effects, davinci, blender). My current iMac is struggling in many situations right now
Got it, so I think if you need a machine now, these are great Pro machines for Pro unlike the last year M1 computer which are capable but more limited to consumer. Based on what you are telling, this is a business expense so I would say yes if you need something faster today, I know frustration can be annoying with older machines, then they are going to be a great investment. And in the future say an iMac release you can then keep or sell this machine. If your current machine is struggling now, then these a great choice. Also at this point, I could not recommend that anyone get an Intel machine, it is not worth the investment and yes all around and in most tasks these new machines will beat the intel one. You can see that in many of my charts, these M1 Pro and Max easily beat my $12.5K Mac Pro.
Nice overview. What I'm interested in is the battery life of 16 Pro 32GB vs 16 Max(24) 32 GB. 64GB seems to be overkill. What's even more interesting instead of all these export-times (where I'm gonna drink a coffee): How does the workflow feel. Is there any difference while working? For example on C1 my 61MP images are rendered with noticeable lag on M1 16 inch 16GB - will a different config change that?
Well the latest release of LRC now utilized both CPU and GPU for export and on the M1 Ultra it is lighting fast. Watch some of my recent videos and you'll see the results.
Art, This is the best comparison video on TH-cam all driven by data. Thank you so much for doing this and sharing. I need your recommendations. I'm torn & going back & forth between two models. I'm an events Photographer & do shoot both Photos & Videos and i do edit all my event work myself. I user Adobe apps like Lightroom, Photoshop, Premier Pro, After effects. I have been an windows user all along. First time moving to Mac. I have to buy this at Best Buy only so the options to configure is limited. I cannot go maxed-out specs. Which do you think is the right configuration for me? Thank you so much in advance.
It depends on how much video you do, if your video work is 50/50 or more, I would get the Max save yourself the render time and just get the 24 GPU with 32 GB RAM. Not need for 32 GPU. If you are mostly photography then for 16" go with the base M1 Pro and 32 GB. If you are looking at the 14" you have a few more options for the M1 Pro, base one is a strong performer and you save $300 so you have the option there. But get more RAM - 32 GB that is for sure. Hope this helps, feel free to follow up.
@@ArtIsRight Thank you so much. At Best Buy , there is not option to choose 24GPU & also if I need 32 GB RAM , then. I need to upgrade it to M1 Max 32GPU. So I end up ordering it the M1 Max 32GB & 1TB SSD. My plan is to keep it for a longer time . There is no option to upgrade to 2TB . I do more videos than photo work. Thank you for your recommendations. 🙏🏻
@@ArtIsRight Thank you so much Art. Your videos was very helpful to make this decision. You deserve more subscribers. Love your style of presentation. I subscribed & will follow your work . 🙏🏻 One more question, Since I work on Video & Photo editing I need to keep the files in an external drive & work. I was thinking to get an Samsung T7 USB C drive & setup . Do you think ithis is ok ? Do I need to keep my Lightroom catalog & premier pro projects in the external drive & do my work ? I’m new to Mac & hence need your recommendations. Thank you 🙏🏻
@@ArtIsRight Totally get the export performance . Does it really make a difference during editing though - that’s where I would value fast response . Lag when adjusting sliders and using brushes is what I want to get rid off
@@ArtIsRight That’s great news . Can’t wait to see it . It’s a shame with such power we can’t fix that lag in C1 considering LR is like butter from what I hear .
I am a Capture One user and was set on the 16" M1 Pro, 10Core, 16GPU, 32Unified, but at the end you recommended the M1 Max..... Can you please clarify why? Can't the 16GPU handle Capture One M1 native OK?
Yes it can but C1 uses primary GPU and having more increase the overall performance and decrease export time by 30% as of now but with an optimized software it would be able to do much more. Like I said the choice is totally up to you and your needs, how long you keep the machine and how much power you need vs speed. Some pro want the fastest, some want to save money and choose a slower machine.
I am hesitating so much with which configuration of the 14'' I should get... I do photography and now I am starting a photo-video school so I cannot decide between Max 24 or 32 and 1TB or 2TB in case I need some strong base for my workflow. Otherwise, I was just thinking on the Max 24, 32 RAM, 1 TB...but no real clue if that will work in case I do video in the future.
Yes just go with the setup that you have in mind, it will work great for both photo and video. If you need more storage space then get 2 TB, but I would look at your storage habits so far, everyone and every workflow is different. How you have been using your space in the past will give a good indicator as to what you might need. But 24 cores is the way to go, in all photos app there are very little benefit getting 32 GPU. For video max is best, save lots of time.
Again great stuff. Could you give us an idea what the performance increase is with an m1 pro vs m1 max when connected to an 4K monitor in scaled resolution? My m1 air really struggles to quickly display images in Capture one & Lightroom when viewed on an 4K monitor in 1440px mode. Would this be memory or gpu bound?
About the same based on my test so far, I'm working on that video but it is taking sometime to film. I think that M1 Air a few things are causing the issues, less powerful and less GPU, no fan, so SOC slow down when hot, RAM is limited and not as fast as M1 Pro or Max. These are really fast computers compared to what have come before.
Hey there! What is the performance difference if you do heavy edits in LR? I am not sure if I should go for the Pro or the Max with 32 GPU cores (I will upgrade to 32Gb pf ram and I TB SSD). I‘m a wedding photographer and I edit 500-1000+ photos per wedding. In my basic workflow I do minor portrait retouch with the clone / fix stamp tool in LR. With my current Mac Mini i7 with an external GPU I notice heavy lag because Lightroom utilizes almost 100% of the memory of the eGPU. All I can do is close Lightroom after lets say 15-20 pictures where I used the spot healing tool, reopen it and continue. It will never free the memory by itself even if I let the Mac Mini sit for 10mins.
Not much for GPU, I do wedding as well. So I would stick with the pro with more RAM, that is my thought on this. GPU on these because of the unified memory are handled differently.
Hey Art thank you so much for this test! You really are the best tester. I’m committed to a 14” with 32GB ram and 1TB SSD…should I spend the extra $200 and get m1 max with 24 core GPU? I mainly use Logic Pro and some Final Cut. Thank you sir
For Logic there would be very little to not reason to update to the max. For video work yes, the double encoder, decoder engine really speed things up by 2x. Save time on export. Footage play back are good on both.
@@ArtIsRight so M1 Pro will be fine if I’m mainly using Logic Pro? I’m worried the m1 Max will overheat and drain battery faster on 14”. If you were me would you spend the extra 200 for m1 max?
Will do fine and I would not worry about over heat or shorter battery life. If it runs hot it with throttle and because 14" battery is smaller, it will drain faster vs the 16. But between the Pro and Max, I have not notice much difference.
How comes that your channel has only 13.200 subs? You’re amongst the super precise testers of the Tube, nothing to envy to other big TH-camrs. You need more viewers, you deserve them!
Thank You!
He's got a new one here already hahaha
Of all the videos I have watched to help educate my decision between the 14" and 16" and Pro vs Max, yours really gave me the most clear data for what I am using these tools to accomplish! Thanks for your in depth study with a photographer's perspective!
Great to hear! Thank you!
Which one did you choose?
thank you for doing all the in-depth tests. It takes long time to do those tests. Thank you for your hard work.
Thank you!
Ditto. This is super helpful to make an informed purchase decision :)
Finally someone to break it down with clarity. Thank you, this really helped me make a decision.
thank you
I dont usually comment on videos, but the way you organise and layout your graphs, with plenty of data from various systems, and the fact you can easily annotate using the pencil to see what you are talking about. Great job, you have earned yourself a subscriber :)
one thing I would like to see is how activating low power mode affects performance - it may mean you can get more battery out of it at slightly lower power. Might be worth it??
That would be a good test to run, I might do a battery test marathon where I do all of these export test using different programs on battery power in all of the mode. That is a great idea. This will take time to run that is for sure.
@@ArtIsRight yeah I have heard the rumour floating around that you can dramatically increase the battery life but have minimal performance loss. Regardless these new macs are insane, even though I have no need for them (My m1 air is awesome)
👍🏼
It really hurts to see you go over the slides. All that testing and all that time spent and just presenting the graph for a few seconds before moving on with a full 37 minutes of packed information. I can't believe you've done such extensive testing and I can't imagine how much time you spent on making those videos. If any channel is gonna blow up, it's gonna be the people putting real work in. You sir have taught me a lot and I'm truely grateful.
:) Thank you!
Really underrated Channl! Keep the good work up!
Thank you!
LOVE the depth you put into this. Incredibly helpful.
Thank you!
Great video, thank you. I just last week received my 16" Max 32gpu 32gb UM, 4tb SSD. What an amazing device!!
Nice! Also you got the 4TB SSD model that is really cool, after ordering and testing my 2 TB, I want to replace my MacPro with it for the time being until Apple release a new Mac Pro with Apple Silicon and I really like to have more SSD but the order time is so long right now, so I'll probably keep the one that I have.
This is definitely one of the most solid testing videos I've ever seen! I've been looking for such a comparison between M1 Max and M1 Pro, as well as the difference on 32GB and 64GB for so long, since many people suggest to consider these used old models if not feeling like paying $$$$ for the new Macbook Pro models. Love it!! Thank you so much
Thank you!
Thank you for making this video! Helped me make my decision today, was struggling with this. Ended up spending the extra $500 to get the M1 Max (10/24) over the M1 pro. Almost a year later and still relevant!
Glad I could help!
Still think it's worth it?
@@benjiman818 it’s difficult to tell whether I could have gotten away with M1 Pro instead of the Max. The Max was more heavily discounted than the Pro so the difference was a negligible 2 or 3 hundred bucks. I will say that I’m really glad I got 32gb instead of 16 and the 2tb ssd is crazy fast!
@@romankuzmich6220 Yeah I think 16GB might not be enough for me as a video editor and I often have multiple apps open. Does the memory fill up 16GB fast?
@@benjiman818 most of the memory gets sucked up by Safari for me (I usually have to have a million tabs open for work). If you’re not a crazy multitasker like me it won’t be too bad. Definitely recommend 32gb, go 64 if you have the money.
simply the best tester and channel. Thanks a lot :)
Thank you too!
Great video.. thanks a lot for running the tests
:)
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 *💻 Video Introduction*
- The video introduces the main focus, which is to explore the real-world differences in performance between the 32GB memory configurations for the M1 Pro and M1 Max.
- The host summarizes the material to be covered and explains how timestamps can be used to navigate the video.
- The possibility of a significant difference in memory speed between the M1 Pro and M1 Max is highlighted as a key point of interest.
02:10 *🖥️ Processor and Memory Performance Analysis*
- The M1 Pro's memory speed is stated as around 200 GB/s, and the M1 Max's speed is double that.
- The speaker presents an analysis based on a review by AnandTech that indicates that saturation of memory bandwidth is not usually achieved unless all components of the CPU are utilized (including the GPU and Neural Engine).
- The conclusion drawn is that currently, few programs are capable of fully utilizing the available bandwidth.
03:04 *🛠️ Test and Reference System Explanation*
- The host explains the machines to be used for testing: a base model 14 inch M1 Pro and a high-end M1 Max.
- The possible biases and unbalances due to availability constraints in the tests are admitted to.
- Various Intel machines are to be included in the test.
04:14 *🗒️ Performance-Pricing Ratio Discussion*
- The speaker elaborates on how the results will give an idea of the performance and pricing ratio.
- Key term definitions are given, such as "SoC" (System on a Chip), which refers to the computers having several components on a single chip.
- SSD size and their impact on performance are also discussed, recommending choosing SSD size based on future needs rather than speed.
06:45 *📊 Real-World Benchmark Assessment*
- The host dives into real-world benchmark test results and compares various performance modes.
- Differences between auto and high power modes for the M1 Macs are explored, revealing virtually no impact on performance.
- The unoptimized state of many photo apps is acknowledged, indicating potential for future improvements.
08:09 *📷 Lightroom Classic Performance Comparison*
- The comparison of Lightroom Classic performance between 32GB versions of the M1 Pro and M1 Max reveals little discernible difference.
- The host suggests that the performance difference between the M1 Pro and M1 Max might be more noticeable once Adobe updates Lightroom Classic to take full advantage of the hardware.
10:16 *📉 Lightroom CC Performance Analysis*
- Analysis of Lightroom CC performance shows more noticeable differences between the M1 Pro and M1 Max, particularly when exporting files.
- Higher memory speeds and additional CPU cores in the M1 Max result in faster export times.
- Patterns of CPU utilization during exports in both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC are examined, revealing Lightroom CC's more intensive use of system resources.
12:05 *🔊 Fan Noise Comparison*
- Fan noise comparisons between the 14-inch and 16-inch models show the smaller model runs louder due to its reduced heat dissipation capacity.
- Compared to earlier Intel-based Macs, all M1 Macs appear to have significantly less fan noise.
13:01 *🔄 Lightroom Classic HDR Merge Performance*
- Performance during HDR merge tasks in Lightroom Classic shows no discernible difference between the 32GB versions of the M1 Pro and M1 Max.
14:54 *🖼️ Lightroom CC Real-Life Test*
- A test involving exporting pictures in Lightroom CC shows a performance improvement with the M1 Max due to its faster RAM and extra CPU cores.
- The influence of efficient memory management in the software becomes evident.
17:23 *🎞️ Capture One Performance Overview*
- The speaker introduces performance reviews with Capture One, an application that mainly uses CPU and GPU.
- The specifics of the application tests are yet to be detailed.
17:37 *📝 Capture One Performance Findings*
- CPUs cores have a more substantial impact than RAM on the software's performance.
- M1 Max shows about 30-33% efficiency increase, indicating incomplete utilization of available cores.
20:50 *🔋 Capture One Battery Test*
- CPU performance between 16 and 14 core GPU versions is similar.
- Greater GPU power results in faster task completion and potentially less energy consumption.
22:29 *🎨 Photoshop Benchmark Analysis*
- Differences between M1 Max and M1 Pro in the Photoshop speed test are marginal (about three seconds).
- Working with larger files may require more GPU or faster memory speed.
26:43 *🎥 Final Cut Pro Performance Test*
- The M1 Max significantly reduces export times in all tests, demonstrating its double encoder/decoder engine.
- Memory setup (32 vs. 64 GB) showed no significant impact on performance time.
28:21 *💰 Performance Cost Analysis *
- Upgrading to the M1 Max for marginal gains may not be worth the price difference for most users.
- GPU performance increase might not be worth the additional cost unless working with large files or requiring high GPI performance.
31:08 *🔍 Size, Battery, and Thermal Performance Considerations*
- Between 14 and 16-inch models, differences primarily come down to physical constraints (size, weight, heat dissipation).
- Battery life and performance are similar, but real-world use and needs should guide selections.
32:59 *📚 Creative Areas and Recommendations*
- For file management and minor color correction, base models may provide sufficient performance.
- For more complex tasks like composite large files or panorama merge, higher configurations are recommended.
34:09 *🎬 Video Professionals Recommendations*
- For video professionals, the M1 Max with double encoder/decoder engine significantly reduces export time.
- Multitasking and handling large file sizes may require 64GB of memory.
34:51 *📈 Analysis Continuation for Video Professionals*
- For video professionals, 32GB memory on M1 Max or Pro are suitable, unless involved in heavy visual effects, Motion, or After Effects which would benefit from 32 core GPU version.
35:19 *🛠️ Tailor Device to Creative Needs*
- Advises to select device configuration that fits your specific creative needs instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.
- Tools should aid creativity instead of being the primary focus.
36:14 *🎨 Creativity over Tools*
- Emphasizes that creativity is more important than the tools used to express it.
- Encourages viewers to focus less on granular tech details and invest more in creating content.
Made with HARPA AI
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This is my third time watching this video! It is one of the most helpful insights!
Im getting closer to my choice of machine, right now it is actually mostly down to the 24gpu having almost a month longer delivery than the pro with 32gb ram.
There is such little price difference between these that it feels stupid not to go with the max though. Beside battery there is only potential gains to be had.
That is a tough choice…
I hear you, I am working on a battery test but that takes a long time at least 3 hr per machine for pro app hard rendering. It will be at least a week before I have that test result out. When it comes to these machines, I wouldn't worry too much about battery life, they are so good to start with relative to the intel. If you can wait 24 cores is a good balance. If you use capture 1 then 24 cores is really the best for performance vs price point.
@@ArtIsRight Hi Art. Apple has just announced the M2 MacBook Air. Looks like it can be configured to 8 core CPU and 24 GB of unified memory. Is it possible enough for Lightroom and Photoshop for the next 3-5 years? I need to order immediately because of the long delay. I can’t wait for the TH-cam reviews to come out. Thanks Art.
Best mac tester ever. So thorough
Thank You!
Thank you Art, for such a brilliant work and advice. Incredibly helpful and very informative.
My pleasure!
Fantastic - most clear explanation! Thank you :)
Glad it was helpful!
You sir deserve way more subs and views on your videos! I'm very glad I found this video on youtube. You just got a new subscriber. Great job and thank You for this super useful video for me as a photographer.
Much appreciated!
This is a great great great video!
Thanks for sharing this knowledge with us. It's highly appreciated it.
My pleasure!
Hello Art. I have to agree with all of the other commenters here. Your presentation style is great and the amount of detail provided is amazing! I can really appreciate the amount of effort you put into these videos especially since I used to be a SW tester in a previous life. :)
I am looking for your advice. I was pretty convinced I knew what spec I was going to get but now I am second guessing it. I typically keep my Macbook Pros for 5 - 7 years. My current machine is a mid 2014 15" Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. It runs pretty slow when editing and the fans run all the time especially with an external monitor. The new laptop will be my daily driver but will also be used for photography. I currently use both LR CC and Photoshop. I shoot landscapes with a 42 MP Sony A7R2. I don't shoot panoramas all the time but I do them from time to time. I also use a lot of masks and brushes in LR plus edit in PS using multiple layers.
I really thought the 16" Macbook M1 Pro with 16G and 1 TB was the one but now I am not so sure. Initially I was torn between this spec but was thinking about spending an extra $400 to get the 2 TB drive. My current machine went from 512 GB to 1 TB and from 8 GB to 16 GB of RAM during ownership. This makes me consider the 2 TB option now. Now after watching your video I am thinking about getting 32 GB or RAM instead. However, if I get 32 GB or RAM then why not spend $200 more for the M1 Max with the 24 core GPU.
Please help. I am not sure how to proceed. Thanks!
I would go with 32GB, I came to the conclusion in one my recent video that if any one is going to buy the M1 Pro with 16 GB memory then it is better off to save the money and buy the M1 computer with 16 GB instead. You are not getting that much worse performance per $ with the M1 Pro at 16 GB and it defeats the point of having the SOC in the first place. So I would advise 32GB. As far as Pro vs Max for your workflow you are using Adobe Products which makes very little use of the GPU. Getting more GPU Cores does not help your workflow in anyway meaningful way at all. If you use C1 then yes get the MAX but based on what you are telling me. I would use that extra $200 and put it towards a 2TB SSD yes it does cost more than $200 but that is what I would advise.
@@ArtIsRight Thanks, I appreciate the quick response. Btw, I was wondering what your thoughts were on internal and external drives. For internal storage, how do you personally determine what size to get? Is it based on how much size you may need for a specific project or do you try to fit a big portion of photos and videos on it? Regarding external drives, what type and speed do you suggest if using it to edit and store a LR catalogue? E.g, Sata SSD, NVMe, etc.
For internal drive since it serves as my on the road machines, all downloads on road trip take places on the laptop. And I use this laptop for Weddings & Events as well. Which for use can take up to 300 GB/ Shoot. So factoring in the fact that I want to have my documents on the road with me, download the files, have some files to work on etc. 2 TB then to be best. For external drive if you are just doing photography, Samsung T5 SSD with up 500 MB/s will do just fine, no need to get anything fancy, Samsung T7 SSD which gets 1 GB/s or anything faster is getting into overkill territory. Reason being is that they will download / write fast but only until the SLC or DRAM on the NVMe fills up. And with the T5 you can wait a little but they work really well.
Also I don't like SanDisk SSD, it get hot fast and then thermo throttle the speed of the NVMe SSD
@@ArtIsRight thank you Art!
This sets the bar for product review standards. A+
Thank you!
Thanks for those words at the end, really needed them.
You are so welcome
Your channel is the best, period! To make it greater please remove the background music as it’s very irritating to say the least. You voice is clear and nice to listen to, sincerely, Michel
Thanks!
Great Thanks Art! Enjoy your videos, It really helpful
:)
Great work sir. Subscribed!
Welcome aboard!
Great work, respect, keep on going!
👍🏼
I've watched countless videos on comparisons between the new macs, and this one is by far the best!
Thank you!
You r my favourite.. you are doing a lot of hard work .I love your all review . Keep it up 👍
Thanks a ton
thanks a lot for this very helpful and competent review, which for me was a deciding factor for my configuration. your work is much appreciated. best regards.
You are welcome!
Amazing detailed review and good advice! 🙌👌🔥
Thanks
Thank you for sorting the results :)
You’re welcome 😊
Excellent video, thanks for all your hard work
My pleasure!
Thanks so much for this comparison!
You bet!
Another superb video! Extremely well-organized, all content is relevant, and your analysis & communication skills are great! 👍👍 Thank you! 😀
Much appreciated!
Great Video! I'm considering buying an MBP in addition to my 2019 27" iMac i9. Have you already done the updated video mentioned in 10:30? Has Adobe already optimized LR for the M1s?
I mentioned this in my various M2 Mac reviews. I would check those out. I have not made a specific one for this. I am in the process of testing Ventura & LRC 12
Man that is some very thorough testing and top advice ! I'm very impressed !! Also impressed by all Apple silicon machines. I recently bought a Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and am very impressed by that machine as well.
Thank you!
👍🏻 looking forward to your reviews
👍🏼
Your video(s) is/are very informative & interesting. You've helped me a lot with this video to make the right decision for me-but this was not the only video of yours. With your other videos I know what configuration I will buy for me. So, thanks very much to you & I hope you will continue to produce videos because they are very good. 👍
Thank you!
HI, this one was really good - any tests regarding tethering speed? any suggestions?
No test, they will function well and better than Intel machines.
The best video, thank you :)
Thank you too!
Great tests, thanks for all the work. It's helped me make my MBP purchase decision.
Great to hear!
This was an excellent breakdown. I was on the fence between a pumped up Mac mini/a decent spec 14 inch MBP M1 Pro/ and getting a M1 Max anything. But since I mainly do photos and some youtube videos the max is overkill for me. The best bang for my buck seems to be the 16" MBP M1 Pro with 10,16,16, 1TB . And Costco has them for $200 off now so I'm set. Thank you so much. This was really helpful!
I know, Costco deals are great! Glad this help
thank you for the work done! :)
Welcome!
In your concluding section, I appreciate the message, “Don’t get it unless you need it.” After so many tests, it can be hard to keep track of which scenarios gave opportunities for the performance difference to shine. Could you quickly summarize those results to help us determine when we “need it”?
I have a system recommendation for each different software suite at the end th-cam.com/video/_HdRAPFM_0I/w-d-xo.html this will take you to that part
Good info, thanks
You bet
I think the real deal between the Max and the Pro is the extra encoders for video. If you don’t do video, the upgrade is not worthy it, specially when you compare the difference in render or exporting times.
Ditto!
Simply: Thank You!
👍🏼
Thanks Art! Really enjoy your videos, they are the most insightful and well done comparison videos I have found on the subject of the new MBP's. Apple didn't make it easy with the number of choices and configurations. I think I finally have the right configuration for me with some head room to grow. Your videos have been the biggest influence on that decision, so thanks again!
Thank you!
Hey Art, here's probably a different type of question for ya...
4 days ago I bought a new M1 Pro 10 core base with 1TB SSD.
Then they released the M2 models 2 days after... I got a $400 discount, but am considering returning in the 14 day window and getting the new model. I think I know the answer here, but do you feel like foregoing the $400 discount is worth having the newest model?
All things consider, M2 Pro would be faster but $400 is $400. I would go for the saving especially with 1TB SSD because that does cost more as well. If you need the extra 20% then sure, but remember that most apps are probably not optimized for the M2 Pro yet, the same message that I shared with every iterative release. So with the M1 Pro you can use that now. It is a hard one, I would may be hold on to the machine for now and make a choice closer to the 14 days limit.
@@ArtIsRight my thoughts exactly. I’m using it extensively and seeing how it feels naturally. You know when I see the biggest hangups is going between a7r5 61mp images in LR. It can get hung up I’m moving back and forth in the film strip. One tough test I’ve noticed is to press “F” to enter full screen and move between images while zooming in/out. The 14” M1 Pro is struggling even with previews built. Have you tried this sort of this on a max unit of yours? The film strip hang ups is pretty distracting/annoying to work with. Wondering if an m2 pro with 32gb of ram could solve this.
A few things, so what I usually do with LRC is import the files and set 1:1 preview, and then go do something else, wait for it to finished. Once it is done then I start the edit. Otherwise everything is slow. This is not the computer / chip as much as LRC is just slow in this regard. Better or higher end chip will help but won't make too much of a variation. Not sure how much RAM you have in the M1 Pro, if you have 32GB, then M2 Pro 32GB will be faster, sure but still not yet optimized and then you won't really reap in the benefit. That is just the dichotomy that you have to consider at this point in time. Also would you consider sending me a few hundred of non specific images from A7R5 for me to use and run test with. Let me know, you can dm me on fb or email me. Thanks.
@@ArtIsRight sent you some messages.
best review
good job
Thank you!
This is the greatest M1 comparison video on youtube.. Pure data driven facts.
Glad you liked it
I am wondering why there is only 13600+ subscribers where in this channel is one that provides more real world testing on devices like the new NotchBook Pros
Thanks!
@@ArtIsRight you’re welcome
Thank you !
You're Welcome!
Awesome video and comparison. Thanks a lot. Crazy how performant the M1 mac mini 16 GB is… But I’m still going for the 16 M1Pro 32GB.
👍🏼
Apple should hire you, you are so helpful
Thank You!
I agree . He is so helpful . He responds to everyone’s questions . 👏👏🙏🏻
How does the RAM speed of the M1 Pro compare to the base M1 MacBook Air? Will I see any real world improvements? I use a lot of Chrome tabs, close to a hundred at times. I don't close Chrome either, so I've purchased the 32GB RAM version of the M1 Pro MacBook Pro 16 inch.
If you are using Chrome, RAM Speed would not matter much. I would just look at the various test that use RAM in this video, there're test of other M1 Mac.
Really useful to me for choosing my MacBook Pro ，thanks so much ，
Happy to help!
What about 16” Macbook Pro M1 Pro with 32GB instead of 16gb… would it be worth the upgrade? Or should I go for the Max? Specifically for online work and video editing/TH-cam
Max is nice because of the double encoder / decoder engine. And with max you get 32 GB to start out
@@ArtIsRight Now I know what to get, thank you! 🙏🏼
Is it necessary to upgrade the internal storage if I have 2T of Dropbox cloud space available? Great vid!!
Yes and no, if you can just work off the cloud and download what you need when you need it then you should be ok. But if you are working on a large file, lots of RAW images or video, then having local storage is nice. You can always use an external drive but nothing that is bus powered as of now is as fast as the internal SSD.
@@ArtIsRight thanks for the reply. I’m in real estate so I don’t typically deal large raw data, the closest thing would be PowerPoint but I’m thinking of getting into Adobe inDesign for marketing decks. Last week I got the M1 Max (32) with 32gb and 1T but I’m thinking it may be overkill 🤷🏻♂️ considering downgrading to M1 Pro with either 16 or 32 gb - leaning towards 32 because I want to have to ability to keep a lot of tabs open without worrying (worst case scenario is having all these open at once: excel, few pdfs, message app, handful of chrome apps, a few safari apps, music app, LogMeIn remote access, Dropbox, Maps app, Word, Outlook, Notes, Reminders, Teams and Zoom here and there..) am I right in thinking 32 would suit me better or are these all handled just fine with 16 gb of memory? Thanks again, I really appreciate your input and expertise!
Now that you have told me what you do, 512 should fit you just fine. Also M1 Max is overkill for what you need, I think the pro will work just find and I would go with 16 GB, you don't need more. However, if you like, you can always update to 32 GB and just give the system more RAM which might help with multi tasking and lots of load when you use multiple programs.
@@ArtIsRight Thank you for your recommendation, will go for Pro with 32gb and 512 storage.
Sure thing!
Thanks for this
My pleasure!
As the software dev's learn to optimize the applications for M1 (max and pro), we will see more saturation of the resources.
I know... 🤞🏼
You said "optimized" and not feature implementation... How would Optimization saturate ressources?
@@KensleyInnocent EXACTLY!
Thank you Art. Your videos are the most informative and I have been watching them over and over again. I am subscribed and will recommend your channel to all my photo and video friends.
I own a 15" MacBook Pro from mid 2014. It is slow (in video use) and hinders my workflow. My primary area of focus is photos with occasional video projects. Nothing fancy just simple videos with minimal effects and titling. In choosing the next machine, I am torn between the 14" and the 16" form factor. I like the portability of the 14" model but the thermal throttling and the shorter battery life are holding me back from getting the 14" MacBook Pro. I have seen and played with the various models in the store only. So I cannot really gauge the real life performance in the extremes.
What is your take on the battery's max life as in how many hours before you have to plug it in? Is fan noise noticeable and does thermal throttling effect performance? As you aptly pointed out the fan noise in my current system is annoying and the constant fan being on is also distracting. Thanks for any feedback you may have.
BTW, I am a BenQ monitor owner for some seven years or so. Your monitor calibration videos are next on my list as soon as I get my new MacBook Pro in the next few weeks.
you're welcome. So shorter battery life on the 14" is just physic and battery size chemistry not much to do about that. As far as thermal throttling, in my extensive testing that has not been the issue. With the 32 GPU Max may be but if you need the smaller lighter form factor then there's not much to argue about that need. If seen size / pixels limit was not an issue, I would choose the 14" over 16" any day.
For the 16" Max 32 GPU I can generally run normal task all day long, if I am working it hard in FCP and exporting I find that I rarely go below 50% editing 5.9K footage. But if you are running back to back export test in various program like my up coming battery test then you get about 3-4 hours of continuous hard use on the 16" Which is way better than the intel. Thermal throttle is not an issue on the 14 vs 16, just that the fan kick on faster and more frequent on the 14, which makes sense, less heat dissipation in the chassis.
Thank you sooo much for this specific video I think lots of people are looking to save 200 dollars or just know the actual dif before buying. 👏🏼👏🏼
No problem 😊
I'll order my new mbp in black friday. It will be entry level 14"m1pro or the next one. The real question is 16GB or 32GB. All I'd need is to someone hook same models with different amount of RAM to 4k/5k monitor and fire up Blender's Eevee Splash Fox test and tell if there is difference in fps.
Could somebody do that? (PLEASE!)
Has somebody already done this?
I did this test with a 32 GB model, I would go with that if you are using blender. You can also check this out as well th-cam.com/video/Nx6cJkJzvhA/w-d-xo.html
@@ArtIsRight, my scientific oriented mind would prefer real comparison, but I guess Your guess could be right. RAM is only the most expensive part of this machine, but seems to be that people have money.
@@ArtIsRight, and thank You for your time to answer! I have no idea how much live-rendering can use RAM.
There is so few comparisons of models close to each other in this field. Tons of maxed out vs. entry level.
Right, I don't use that program so I rather not do any assessment or test that would be a generic benchmark, if I can't do real world, I won't do it.
@@ArtIsRight. I understand. Just hoping that someone else will read my suggestion.
Art great video,Thank You.
Many thanks
Hi. I work with sketchup and artlantis, twinmotion and vray. Would i see any difference on rendering?? Thanks
I don't use those programs and I can't test or speak about them educatedly. If anything changes in the future I'll do the test. Otherwise I would suggest a search around TH-cam and see if another channel might offer the comparisons.
which config you think it's ideal to work with Data science? im in trouble to decide what to pick and i'm tempted to max out.....
It would depend on what you are doing and the app that you are using with data. But I would say choose 32 GB RAM for large data set and any SOC would do really. Between the base 14 M1 Pro and top M1 Pro processor there's not that much difference in speed. When you go to the max if your program and data set uses CPU then it is pointless to get the max. However, if your app uses, GPU then you'll see faster speed. There are a few videos about these M1 PRO & MAX for data science, I would encourage you to look those up :) Hope this helps.
@@ArtIsRight thank you so much, it helped alot
👍🏼
I’ve been a Windows user my whole life and never really used MacOS before, but I’d like to get myself a 16” MacBook Pro. After some thinking I know I want 32GB RAM, but I’m still not sure which I should get between the M1 Pro and M1 Max. I have the A7R IV and tend to import everything from the day at once then half assed scroll through to see which ones are good enough for me to edit. I don’t add a lot of layers in Lightroom but I still like playing around with them. I also use Photoshop sometimes and even have both Lr and Ps open at the same time along with my web browser. Most of my editing is done in Lr but I’d like to learn Ps better. I don’t really do video editing but might dabble in that in the future.
Between the M1 Max and Pro, which would be better to get with the 32GB RAM configuration? Is there any battery life difference? What about the computer getting hot after a while? What about future proofing? Don’t really care much about fan noise…
Pro & Max has the same 10 core CPU, there are no performance differences what so ever with LRC. RAM is more of a factor in editing duration and pano merge, including any local brushes. Otherwise, it the variation is marginal. I still recommend getting 32 GB. GPU makes no differences in LRC, so don't get more and pay more unless you know for a fact that your app can use it. Pro has longer batter life, you can watch my battery life test th-cam.com/video/KxKZJDl5Css/w-d-xo.html All computer do get hot but not much for these SoC the fan rarely turns on and it would be difficult to push them hard enough to turn on. As far as, Future proofing, it is concept really, there's really non. Max won't do well into the future any more than Pro does if your workflow can't use it and by that I mean the app won't utilized it. For Adobe, I don't see that changing anytime soon, LRC will continue to rely heavily on CPU and if anything, there may be some GPU optimization here and there but I would not hold my breath. It has been this way for more than a decade now and there's really no reason for them to chart a new course. RAM and SSD size based on usage will benefit your more.
@@ArtIsRight Thank you so much for your detailed response! Just one more question…does the GPU make a difference in PS?
Not much, RAM plays a much bigger role.
Thank you! Very reasonable recommendations based on data - not marketing spoof!
You're welcome!
Art, you are brilliant your test are the most in-depth I have eve seen and yes as Adobe keeps updating LRC I assume things will only get better I am still glad I went from the $3500 M1 Max 16” Wotan 32GB and 1TB ssd
That is a great config!
I got the $3899 M1 Max 32 Core GPU 64GB RAM & 1TB SSD. After -$200 discount ended up paying $3699 flat. Didn’t had to pay any taxes since shipping to FL
This video is a masterpiece.
Thank you!
hi, thanks for doing these tests, but as a professional photographer, this isn't quite the benchmarks that are useful. With capture one (thats the only software that used in the advertising photography world) I would like to know what its like to flick from one image to another and the delay (if any ) as the pic redraws. This is the most painful delay with many computers, it needs to be very quick. The other important info is the tether speed- transferring files and the speed of the previews shown. I would like to shoot in burst of speed and then look up at the laptop and see the last shot I did on the screen. I would love to see the timings of these.
Well as a pro photographer there are helpful to me. From my test these machine are fluid and better than the intel. Even though I may not touch on it, because it is not necessary the video for this. I might do something along that line if there's time. But at the end of the day each photographer workflow are different and I just can't cover them all. Cheers.
@@ArtIsRight Sorry, I re-read my message, I didn't mean to say it like that. I shoot a large volume, but don't process a large volume, so processing is important, but not as important as fast editing (for me). I understand that people shoot different ways , but I would love it if you could add a tether speed test, or just show the snappiness with flicking through shots. Thanks for doing these tests- there is little in the way of photographer orientated information on TH-cam.
I'll add that to my list of videos and if I have time, I'll do that test.
I have the 16 gig 16" m1 pro model and there is just a millisecond delay switching thru 45 meg files in Lightroom in develop mode and no delay in library mode.
That delay happens because in Dev mod, LRC go to the RAW file, read and demosaic again regardless if there is an existing preview not. But this is much faster on the M1 compared to previous intel machines.
Hey Art, as a TH-camr who uses Premiere Pro (coming from PC I could possibly switch to FCP in the future), for video editing and LRC/PS for professional portrait photography, which configuration would you recommend? I'm thinking M1 Pro, 32GB RAM, 2 TB SSD but would love your recommendation.
If you do video I would go with the M1 Max, double the encoding and decoding engine = 2x export speed compared to the M1 pro. I would save the money and go for the 24 cores instead of the 32 cores.
If I'm a photography Student that almost only uses capture one and affinity photo, should I opt for a m1 max? Or just get the base 14'' with upgraded ram?
If you want to save money the base 14" will do just fine. If you want faster capture 1 export then go for the max, but as you can see from the result comparing C1 export, between the base 14" and top max you are about 7-8 min faster when exporting 1000 D850 45MP raw file but the price ∆ is $500-700 if you can justify that then go for the max. But I think base 14" will do just fine and I would use the saving to upgrade the RAM to 32 GB. Hope this helps.
Thank you very much for your videos and advice! After being on PC's my entire life I'm far more confident now I'm getting the right machine. Is there anyway in the future you could also test the performances of DAWs ?
DAWs?
@@ArtIsRight Digital Audio Workstations, music production/performance software. Logic (macOS only) (which Jacob Collier uses) *** If you haven’t seen Jacob Collier’s stuff, specifically the “Logic Sessions” it’s absolutely insane, he edits 100s of samples simultaneously. To be fair his rig is obscene: Ben Bloomberg:
Mac Pro - Xeon W 3725M w/ 28 cores hyperthreaded / 384G ram / 80TB zfs nvme accelerated 10G storage / 128ch pcie / dante at 96khz ****
Other examples are Pro Tools, Abelton (Ed Sheeran) and Reaper.
MainStage (MacOS only) is a music theatre and Broadway standard. Nearly all shows are using MainStage, although Hamilton uses Ableton. Any pit I have played in recently the keyboardists are using MainStage. Apple’s COREmidi is a major reason behind that.
Nearly all marching bands and drum corps are using MainStage as well. My school has 2 laptops in case 1 fails, mine will be the third. Other schools I advise and work for have similar setups. Each laptop will have the entire show loaded onto it so it can be plugged in and ready to go.
The DAWs for lack of a better term are uh, finicky. Stability, and the ability to load and execute samples with no latency are major concerns. This is becoming even more important as the shows, samples and triggers become more complex. Your formatting and production was so excellent, I thought it would be really cool to see such a thorough and well put together demonstration of the products to help advise the band directors and myself how to allocate resources and money.
I hear you and thank you for clarifying. I am terrible with sound and would not know where to start testing and talk about these test educatedly. Like I said in my other comments about other discipline of creatives. If it is something that I don't do and I don't have an intimate understanding of it, I would rather shy away from it. What I don't want to do is synthetic benchmark on these software and talk about what I see but not really understanding truly what I am seeing. If I can find one of my friend who does these thing and can truly push the machine, I'll consider doing these test in the future. So I would not rule it out entirely but I'm not ready yet at this point. :)
@@ArtIsRight thank you for explaining, being honest and having integrity :)
Thank you, I'll continue to explore the options :)
hi thanks for the video, can you do the comparaison using ms word and excel
For those you won't see any real difference if at all unless you are running a huge word doc with lots of photos or huge excel file.
What is the clock speed of the processors?
www.anandtech.com/show/17024/apple-m1-max-performance-review
Excerpt from the link above.
The CPU cores clock up to 3228MHz peak, however vary in frequency depending on how many cores are active within a cluster, clocking down to 3132 at 2, and 3036 MHz at 3 and 4 cores active. I say “per cluster”, because the 8 performance cores in the M1 Pro and M1 Max are indeed consisting of two 4-core clusters, both with their own 12MB L2 caches, and each being able to clock their CPUs independently from each other, so it’s actually possible to have four active cores in one cluster at 3036MHz and one active core in the other cluster running at 3.23GHz.
@@ArtIsRight so it's all 3.3mhz for each. Interesting.
👍🏼
Thanks Art!
You bet!
I am primarily a Lightroom Classic User working with 47MP RAW Files, and my biggest frustration is the rendering speed on my current Intel based MacBook Pro. Do you see a significant improvement in rendering sharp previews as you sort through catalogs of pictures? I have a M1 Pro, 32GB RAM and 4 TB SSD on order. Do you think I should upgrade to the M1 Max is my use case is primarily LRC with 47MP Raw Files?
That is the Max Speed, it won't change much. You are seeing the 10 cores plateau, meaning that 10 cores in the Pro is the same as in the MAX. And LRC does not use GPU so you won't see any improvements at all. The only machine that is faster than what you have right now is a 16 cores Mac Pro to which it is super expensive and you are buying into the past. We might see speed improvement if Adobe Optimizes LRC but that may or may not come. When a software works, there are sometime little incentive to update, not saying that this is the case with LRC but it might not be as top priority as we like them to be.
@@ArtIsRight I just updated LC yesterday and one of the noted improvements was exporting with GPU processing. I’m curious to see how that looks on these machines
Love it!! I just bought a new MacBook Pro 16" with the M1Pro and 32GB of RAM and I was a little bit dejected because I thought I should have bought the M1 Max but your video made me confident to stick with my Laptop and I love it now. Thank you very much.
Enjoy!
Great analysis on I Lightroom classic versus LR cc
Thanks
I’m extremely torn here! I don’t know what to choose between the 14inch 24GPU/32GB/1To and the MBA maxed out version which is half the price and quite a bit lighter than the MBP. I work with a GFX100S and project to travel extensively for at least 18 months. As the GFX system is already weighing quite a bit, every gram counts and I will never do 1k imports or exports ( more probably 200-300). Yes I do huge Panos and PS/Affinity work. Putting this in a backpack plus tent, sleeping gear, food, water, etc….
I’d appreciate some feedback or considerations or actual user experiences related to this use case. Thanks!
Don't get the Air for what you describe just get the 14" and if you are not using capture 1, you don't need 24 GPU, unless Affinity can use it. Yes the air is lighter but in my testing it is much less capable and for pano it takes longer. 14" is going to be best for you.
@@ArtIsRight Thank you Art. I’m using C1 indeed. Still I’m not in high volume output and therefore….torn. I know that the Air is capable of dealing with the GFX files, I’m questioning to what extent or where I would run into troubles. The Air could probably get much more of a beating at much less cost if I had to replace it. It certainly is a question of performance and screen comfort given my gear, but hauling an iPad and already existing dock plus all the rest, a BIG 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔I know that I should go for the MBP, but this is theory….my 2017 iMac for sure handles the workload not too badly and the Air is benchmarking better!
They are all good it just depends on how good you want it to be. For me I have too much going on and the least time that I can spend on the computer, the better I am off with, this is why I configure everything at the max but this choice is totally independent of the user. Everything comes down to the balancing act of time, money, weight of the machine and spec.
@@ArtIsRight I’m travelling after all and should be able to manage time. Will wait a few day’s
@@ArtIsRight I just watched the live C1 video. Well, I think Paul’s using a 64Gb MBP, a 16GGb Air would take quite a bit longer!
Great videos, in depth and unbiased 👌🏼
I would say though, that in every day terms RAM size is more noticeable/important for me when I’m multi tasking/running various process at once (when software developing for instance), rather than when I’m doing exports or working on something specific in one application. I have an M1 max 32gb personal and an M1 pro 32GB from my work and it’s purely anecdotal (so take with a grain of salt) but it does feel like I go into swap memory easier and more frequently with the M1 pro. Again, no metrics to back that up, and it’s probably quite hard to replicate for comparisons like this, so not a criticism of your approach at all, just something of note about how I think memory size/bandwidth could generally have more of an impact throughout a working day.
It is that the program require more memory so the compressed memory would get swap. in M1 unless active, you'll start to see compression and possibly swap at around 75% usage.
@@ArtIsRight ah I see, that does makes sense and put it in perspective🤦, thank you 🙃
I have a 17 inch love the screen size for online poker, Do you recommend 14 or 16 inch? Leaning towards 16 but not sure, cheers my wolf!
If you have a 17" I would go for 16", 14 is a big jump down.
Plan to photo stack 400 mb to 1 tb files and process them on capture one or adobe..and don’t want to sit too long waiting for loading or changes
32 GB or 64 GB Would help
Wow very comprehensive
Thank you!
One should consider the keyboard and mouse areas in the 14" and 16" model.. when you rest your palms..the 14 feels a bit odd and the 16 feels very odd.. the 13" feels perfectly comfortable for me.. I wish the pro and max come to the super convenient 13" chasis in future..
It all depends.
I would love to see comparison between fully specs out iMac 27 2020 and M1 max. Is it worth for a photographer to switch?
Sadly I don't have that machine in the studio to test. But I would probably put it this way, the machine that you are looking at right now are in a different category. If you are looking for an iMac replacement then I would just wait for M1 Max in a desktop form factor. Even though the performance will for the most part be the same, unless Apple makes some tweaks. But I feel that an iMac to iMac would be more of an Apple to Apple comparison rather than an Apple to Orange.
@@ArtIsRight thank You for you response! Mainly right now I looking for something more powerful. No matter if its gonna be desktop or laptop (actually MacBooks “mobility” is a plus for me and might be very useful in a future). I know that iMac is a different category but as I saw in many of tests and comparisons, MacBook with M1 max should outperform it. All I’m looking for is faster machine for what I do (photoshop large files, Lightroom, capture one, illustrator, premiere pro, after effects, davinci, blender). My current iMac is struggling in many situations right now
Got it, so I think if you need a machine now, these are great Pro machines for Pro unlike the last year M1 computer which are capable but more limited to consumer. Based on what you are telling, this is a business expense so I would say yes if you need something faster today, I know frustration can be annoying with older machines, then they are going to be a great investment. And in the future say an iMac release you can then keep or sell this machine. If your current machine is struggling now, then these a great choice. Also at this point, I could not recommend that anyone get an Intel machine, it is not worth the investment and yes all around and in most tasks these new machines will beat the intel one. You can see that in many of my charts, these M1 Pro and Max easily beat my $12.5K Mac Pro.
Nice overview. What I'm interested in is the battery life of 16 Pro 32GB vs 16 Max(24) 32 GB. 64GB seems to be overkill.
What's even more interesting instead of all these export-times (where I'm gonna drink a coffee): How does the workflow feel. Is there any difference while working? For example on C1 my 61MP images are rendered with noticeable lag on M1 16 inch 16GB - will a different config change that?
👍🏼
Is memory speed the same in the two
Max is faster but not variation is seen because app can't take advantage of that.
If the CPU cores are what matter for LR exporting, it sounds like I want the Mac Studio with 20 cores
Well the latest release of LRC now utilized both CPU and GPU for export and on the M1 Ultra it is lighting fast. Watch some of my recent videos and you'll see the results.
Art, This is the best comparison video on TH-cam all driven by data. Thank you so much for doing this and sharing. I need your recommendations. I'm torn & going back & forth between two models. I'm an events Photographer & do shoot both Photos & Videos and i do edit all my event work myself. I user Adobe apps like Lightroom, Photoshop, Premier Pro, After effects. I have been an windows user all along. First time moving to Mac. I have to buy this at Best Buy only so the options to configure is limited. I cannot go maxed-out specs. Which do you think is the right configuration for me? Thank you so much in advance.
It depends on how much video you do, if your video work is 50/50 or more, I would get the Max save yourself the render time and just get the 24 GPU with 32 GB RAM. Not need for 32 GPU. If you are mostly photography then for 16" go with the base M1 Pro and 32 GB. If you are looking at the 14" you have a few more options for the M1 Pro, base one is a strong performer and you save $300 so you have the option there. But get more RAM - 32 GB that is for sure. Hope this helps, feel free to follow up.
@@ArtIsRight Thank you so much. At Best Buy , there is not option to choose 24GPU & also if I need 32 GB RAM , then. I need to upgrade it to M1 Max 32GPU. So I end up ordering it the M1 Max 32GB & 1TB SSD. My plan is to keep it for a longer time . There is no option to upgrade to 2TB . I do more videos than photo work. Thank you for your recommendations. 🙏🏻
Yes then max is great!
@@ArtIsRight Thank you so much Art. Your videos was very helpful to make this decision. You deserve more subscribers. Love your style of presentation. I subscribed & will follow your work . 🙏🏻 One more question, Since I work on Video & Photo editing I need to keep the files in an external drive & work. I was thinking to get an Samsung T7 USB C drive & setup . Do you think ithis is ok ? Do I need to keep my Lightroom catalog & premier pro projects in the external drive & do my work ? I’m new to Mac & hence need your recommendations. Thank you 🙏🏻
@@ArtIsRight Probably a new separate video on first things/Setup to do for new mac owners will be helpful. 🙏🏻
Do we really need to jump to Max for Capture One ? Was hoping to get by on M1 Pro with 10/14 config
You can just stay with Pro, but Max with the extra GPU core does help with the performance of C1 and export times are faster as well.
@@ArtIsRight Totally get the export performance . Does it really make a difference during editing though - that’s where I would value fast response . Lag when adjusting sliders and using brushes is what I want to get rid off
I think that lag will happen, I'll have a video that I will go live soon that will touch on this.
@@ArtIsRight That’s great news . Can’t wait to see it . It’s a shame with such power we can’t fix that lag in C1 considering LR is like butter from what I hear .
First video is up th-cam.com/video/OmY89orgzuQ/w-d-xo.html
I am a Capture One user and was set on the 16" M1 Pro, 10Core, 16GPU, 32Unified, but at the end you recommended the M1 Max..... Can you please clarify why? Can't the 16GPU handle Capture One M1 native OK?
Yes it can but C1 uses primary GPU and having more increase the overall performance and decrease export time by 30% as of now but with an optimized software it would be able to do much more. Like I said the choice is totally up to you and your needs, how long you keep the machine and how much power you need vs speed. Some pro want the fastest, some want to save money and choose a slower machine.
not sure there is any other creator that geeks out the way you do! pure objectivity and facts here, wish more of the internet was like this!
Thank you!
I am hesitating so much with which configuration of the 14'' I should get... I do photography and now I am starting a photo-video school so I cannot decide between Max 24 or 32 and 1TB or 2TB in case I need some strong base for my workflow. Otherwise, I was just thinking on the Max 24, 32 RAM, 1 TB...but no real clue if that will work in case I do video in the future.
Yes just go with the setup that you have in mind, it will work great for both photo and video. If you need more storage space then get 2 TB, but I would look at your storage habits so far, everyone and every workflow is different. How you have been using your space in the past will give a good indicator as to what you might need. But 24 cores is the way to go, in all photos app there are very little benefit getting 32 GPU. For video max is best, save lots of time.
@@ArtIsRight thank you so much for your very quick reply and support!!!!! :)
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Again great stuff. Could you give us an idea what the performance increase is with an m1 pro vs m1 max when connected to an 4K monitor in scaled resolution? My m1 air really struggles to quickly display images in Capture one & Lightroom when viewed on an 4K monitor in 1440px mode. Would this be memory or gpu bound?
About the same based on my test so far, I'm working on that video but it is taking sometime to film. I think that M1 Air a few things are causing the issues, less powerful and less GPU, no fan, so SOC slow down when hot, RAM is limited and not as fast as M1 Pro or Max. These are really fast computers compared to what have come before.
Hey there! What is the performance difference if you do heavy edits in LR? I am not sure if I should go for the Pro or the Max with 32 GPU cores (I will upgrade to 32Gb pf ram and I TB SSD). I‘m a wedding photographer and I edit 500-1000+ photos per wedding. In my basic workflow I do minor portrait retouch with the clone / fix stamp tool in LR. With my current Mac Mini i7 with an external GPU I notice heavy lag because Lightroom utilizes almost 100% of the memory of the eGPU. All I can do is close Lightroom after lets say 15-20 pictures where I used the spot healing tool, reopen it and continue. It will never free the memory by itself even if I let the Mac Mini sit for 10mins.
Not much for GPU, I do wedding as well. So I would stick with the pro with more RAM, that is my thought on this. GPU on these because of the unified memory are handled differently.
@@ArtIsRight thank you for your recommendation. You saved me ~ 500 €. Will go with the 16“ Pro, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD
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Hey Art thank you so much for this test! You really are the best tester. I’m committed to a 14” with 32GB ram and 1TB SSD…should I spend the extra $200 and get m1 max with 24 core GPU? I mainly use Logic Pro and some Final Cut. Thank you sir
For Logic there would be very little to not reason to update to the max. For video work yes, the double encoder, decoder engine really speed things up by 2x. Save time on export. Footage play back are good on both.
@@ArtIsRight so M1 Pro will be fine if I’m mainly using Logic Pro? I’m worried the m1 Max will overheat and drain battery faster on 14”. If you were me would you spend the extra 200 for m1 max?
@@ArtIsRight I ordered 14” M1 Pro 32 ram 1 TB ssd 16 core GPU… let’s see how it works out!
Will do fine and I would not worry about over heat or shorter battery life. If it runs hot it with throttle and because 14" battery is smaller, it will drain faster vs the 16. But between the Pro and Max, I have not notice much difference.