I'm planning to upgrade to the 14' Macbook Pro, but not sure what CPU to get I'm planning on getting the M1 Max with 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU. But, I might be fine with the M1 Pro with 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU. I will use the notebook for editing in 4k/1080p for youtube and edit in Final Cut Pro/Premier Pro

Sometimes I will use Photoshop, Java 8 game design in Eclipse.

I'm not sure if I should get the 14" or the 16" since I've seen them both in person and wouldn't mind having one of the two.

I'm wondering if you think the following specs would be enough for my use case, or if you think I should go for the M1 Pro?:

14" M1 Max Macbook Pro - 32 GB memory/1 TB SSD

Just to let you know that an M1 Max on the 14" chasis runs a bit hot.

You should probably be fine with a Pro unless you do some large 4k editing projects with a ton of color grading and maybe exotic codecs. Other than that, as pointed out already, the Max in the 14" is running on it's limit. It's already clocked a little lower than the version in the 16", fans will come on sooner, will spin about twice as fast, reach about 49dB(A) vs. 37dB(A) on the 16" and you will take a hit on the battery life. If none of this bothers you, go ahead. But I think the Pro is a perfect match for the 14".

GrumpyCoder said:

You should probably be fine with a Pro unless you do some large 4k editing projects with a ton of color grading and maybe exotic codecs. Other than that, as pointed out already, the Max in the 14" is running on it's limit. It's already clocked a little lower than the version in the 16", fans will come on sooner, will spin about twice as fast, reach about 49dB(A) vs. 37dB(A) on the 16" and you will take a hit on the battery life. If none of this bothers you, go ahead. But I think the Pro is a perfect match for the 14".

Hmmm I'll take that into note. The 4k videos I edit are 8 - 20 minutes usually and I don't use that much special effects.

jav6454 said:

Just to let you know that an M1 Max on the 14" chasis runs a bit hot.

That's good to know

TheDurbie said:

Hmmm I'll take that into note. The 4k videos I edit are 8 - 20 minutes usually and I don't use that much special effects.

No problem with the Pro then. It'll just take a little longer to export, that's all.

GrumpyCoder said:

No problem with the Pro then. It'll just take a little longer to export, that's all.

Thanks for the information, best I could find all day

TheDurbie said:

Thanks for the information, best I could find all day

Sure thing. Here's some more info for videos. I think for 20 minute videos, the Pro is totally fine taking a little longer. It's for the 16", but it translates to the 14" as well.

GrumpyCoder said:

Sure thing. Here's some more info for videos. I think for 20 minute videos, the Pro is totally fine taking a little longer. It's for the 16", but it translates to the 14" as well.

Click to expand...

Not bad video. Real world testing and in the end, the results show that the M1 Pro is a cash saver and does the job well. If I were chasing between either the Max or Pro, I'd take the Pro and use the saved money on something else.

jav6454 said:

Not bad video. Real world testing and in the end, the results show that the M1 Pro is a cash saver and does the job well. If I were chasing between either the Max or Pro, I'd take the Pro and use the saved money on something else.

Indeed. There is a benefit for the Max with 3D work, rendering, simulation and games. But certainly not for Java based games, more like Unity/Unreal and native Metal. Other than that, the Pro is totally fine. 👍
I personally went for the Max with 24 GPU cores (16"), but I have to dig into Unity/Unreal all the time, mostly Windows/Linux, but every now and then macOS. I probably would have been fine with the Pro as well.

GrumpyCoder said:

Indeed. There is a benefit for the Max with 3D work, rendering, simulation and games. But certainly not for Java based games, more like Unity/Unreal and native Metal. Other than that, the Pro is totally fine. 👍
I personally went for the Max with 24 GPU cores (16"), but I have to dig into Unity/Unreal all the time, mostly Windows/Linux, but every now and then macOS. I probably would have been fine with the Pro as well.

I think the Pro 16 Core GPU will fit my needs

GrumpyCoder said:

Indeed. There is a benefit for the Max with 3D work, rendering, simulation and games. But certainly not for Java based games, more like Unity/Unreal and native Metal. Other than that, the Pro is totally fine. 👍
I personally went for the Max with 24 GPU cores (16"), but I have to dig into Unity/Unreal all the time, mostly Windows/Linux, but every now and then macOS. I probably would have been fine with the Pro as well.

I just don't see the need to own a M1 Max. For me that is.

jav6454 said:

I just don't see the need to own a M1 Max. For me that is.

Yeah for me I didn't know if I would need a high end M1 Pro or a low end M1 Max

TheDurbie said:

Yeah for me I didn't know if I would need a high end M1 Pro or a low end M1 Max

In your case, initially it was hard for me to recommend one given I know little of how effective having twice the amount of accelerators was. But after seeing the video review, I'd say you're better off with the Pro.

jav6454 said:

In your case, initially it was hard for me to recommend one given I know little of how effective having twice the amount of accelerators was. But after seeing the video review, I'd say you're better off with the Pro.

I wish I could watch the video but since I'm on vacation right now the Wi-Fi speed is 0.21MB for download :/ But, I can watch the video in about three days.

TheDurbie said:

I wish I could watch the video but since I'm on vacation right now the Wi-Fi speed is 0.21MB for download :/ But, I can watch the video in about three days.

In short, the video stated that the differences between a fully enabled Pro and Max M1 was not as substantial as it seems on paper even with the extra cores and extra accelerators.

jav6454 said:

In short, the video stated that the differences between a fully enabled Pro and Max M1 was not as substantial as it seems on paper even with the extra cores and extra accelerators.

I've noticed that Apple's "claims" can be true but in a way nobody would use. For example Apple says the 16" Macbook Pro gets 21 hours of battery life. Yes it does, but only if Wi-Fi is off, True tone is off, Brightness low, and watching Apple's recommend pack on Apple TV downloaded to the disk. Apple is really good at making claims that are true but, only true if you use it how nobody would.