The Power and Performance of Apple's M1 Max Laptop: A Detailed Analysis

As I embarked on editing and rendering a high-resolution video project, I was eager to put Apple's latest M1 Max laptop through its paces. The machine is packed with impressive specs, including 5.9K Blackmagic RAW footage, which is shot in the camera. To render this out to 4K H.264, I needed to utilize the laptop's capabilities.

The M1 Max chip has dedicated encoders for H.264, but it doesn't have any optimization for Blackmagic RAW. This means that the render process would require the GPU to decode the footage, scale it to 4K, and then transcode it to H.264 using the onboard encoders. The lack of optimization for this particular codec was a challenge.

To test the M1 Max's performance, I edited and rendered the project on my MacBook Pro originally. This allowed me to observe how the laptop handled the workload under different conditions. Two minutes into the render, the fans began to ramp up considerably. To ensure accurate results, I made sure that all source files were coming from a Samsung T5 USB drive and that the MacBook finished the render in four minutes 15 seconds.

I also wanted to explore how the M1 Max compares to other machines, so I set up my massive video editing workstation with Threadripper Pro and dual Quadro GPUs. For context, this beast of a machine was only about a minute quicker than the M1 Max laptop for this particular project. The fact that the M1 Max could perform as well on the MacBook Pro while still being portable and versatile is truly impressive.

I then decided to test the 16-inch MacBook Pro with its high power mode against the M1 Max laptop in terms of performance. Surprisingly, the smallest MacBook Pro was able to squeeze a bit more out of the chip compared to the M1 Max laptop. The result suggests that the 16-inch MacBook Pro might be outperforming the M1 Max laptop for heavy extended workloads like video rendering.

However, it's essential to note that this isn't always the case. Depending on the codecs used, the margin of difference between the two machines will likely be much less. For example, if you're working with ProRes, there are dedicated decoders on board for that codec, which means the M1 Max laptop can handle it more efficiently.

The performance differences become even more apparent when comparing the M1 Max laptop to Apple's Mac Studio. The Mac Studio is designed to excel in tasks like video rendering and content creation. With its M1 Ultra chip, it provides a significant boost in performance compared to the M1 Max laptop. In our test, the Mac Studio finished the same project in just three minutes 47 seconds.

The fans on the Mac Studio also got pretty audible during the render process, which I observed during testing. This is not surprising, given that the Mac Studio's thermal solution is designed to handle demanding workloads for longer periods without thermal throttling. The result is a machine that can perform at a higher level, but it doesn't come with the same level of portability as the M1 Max laptop.

In conclusion, the M1 Max MacBook Pro offers impressive performance and portability, making it an excellent choice for those who need to work on the go or prefer a more compact setup. The Mac Studio, however, excels in tasks that require intense processing power and can handle heavy workloads with ease. While the M1 Ultra version of the Mac Studio represents a significant upgrade over the M1 Max laptop, it may not be the best choice for everyone.

Given that the 16-inch MacBook Pro is able to outperform the M1 Max laptop in certain scenarios, I recommend considering this option if you have a workflow that pushes your machine to its limits. If that's not the case, the M1 Max laptop provides fair value and can handle most tasks with ease. The Mac Studio, however, offers the best performance for video rendering and content creation, especially when using ProRes or other codecs with dedicated decoders.

The final verdict is that Apple's M1 Max MacBook Pro is a fantastic machine that represents excellent value, but it may not be the best choice for every user. If you're looking for portability and versatility, the M1 Max laptop is an excellent option. However, if you need to handle demanding workloads or require exceptional performance, the Mac Studio might be a better fit.

As I continue to test and explore Apple's hardware, I'll provide updates on my findings. In the meantime, consider supporting the channel by subscribing, leaving comments, and sharing videos with others who might enjoy them. Your feedback is invaluable, and I'm always eager to hear from you.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enapple's new mac studio can be specced with the m1 max chip just like the macbook pro my 14 inch here has got the m1 max with 24 core gpu and 32 gigs of ram and it's pretty fantastic but all of that power is crammed into this tiny chassis now just imagine what that same chip could do in that new mac studio with the huge new cooling solution and it would be interesting to do some comparisons uh if only i could get hold of a mac studio to compare with so this is actually the entry level mac studio and i'm deploying the air quotes because this thing still costs 2 000 pounds so it's not an entry-level mac but it is the entry level spec of the mac studio and i think it's the spec that will sell the best since it's the standard off-the-shelf m1 max spec and you can go and just buy it at the apple store and it has the exact same m1 max configuration as i have in the laptop 24 core gpu and 32 gigs of ram the only difference is that the laptop comes as standard with the one terabyte ssd whereas the mac studio has a poultry 512 gigabyte drive and that does mean slower ssd performance but that is a bit like saying one rocket is slower than another rocket most people will never be able to see the difference in real world usage now i did run a blackmagic disk speed test on both machines but i take these results with a pinch of salt because the performance is so variable from one test to the next especially it would seem on the macbook pro so let's focus instead on what apple is doing with all of this extra thermal headroom in the mac studio surely they've taken the opportunity to squeeze a little bit more out of that already impressive m1 max chip so i'm going to do a range of benchmark comparisons to c and we'll start with the obligatory geekbench 5. and you can see here from the graphics that they're basically scoring the same three points difference on single core and the macbook pro is actually scoring 34 points higher on the multi-core test though it should be said that every time you run this test you will get a slightly different result so what these numbers show us is that performance between these two machines as far as geekbench is concerned is identical let's withhold judgment on that for just a moment and run a few more tests i've done the geekbench 5 metal gpu test i have to say this isn't a great test because it never actually pushes the graphics cores hard enough to get a proper result but we're comparing two identical chips so let's go for it and if we run the test multiple times you'll get scores that are thousands of points different though generally the max studio did seem to average a higher score than the macbook pro so i decided to move to something that would push the chip harder for longer a 10 minute cinebench r23 multi-core run this is a 3d render test using the cpu and it definitely does get the fan ramping up on both of these machines and the final result is a win for the mac studio but not by much it scores 12 394 compared to the macbook pro at 12 373. i'll confess that i expected more from that one but let's now try the bmw render in the latest version of blender first of all using the cpu render process and the macbook pro finished in three minutes 24 seconds and the mac studio wins in 3 minutes 21 seconds and if we try the same render with the gpu using the new metal optimization in blender 3.1 the macbook pro finishes in 55 seconds and the mac studio takes 57 seconds i did this one a few times and i found that the macbook pro won every time by a couple of seconds so are you confused yet let's try one more test now so far we've managed to ramp up the fans but never to the point where they were really working hard so what i did is i loaded up a recent video project in the latest version of davinci resolve studio and there's nothing complex about this timeline other than the fact it's shot in 5.9 k blackmagic raw and we're going to render this out to 4k h.264 now of course the m1 max has got dedicated encoders for h.264 but it doesn't have any optimization for blackmagic raw so that means that in this workflow the render process will require the gpu to decode the 5.9 kb raw footage scale it to 4k and then transcode it to h.264 using the onboard encoders and i actually edited and rendered this particular project on my macbook pro originally so i know that about two minutes into the render the fans will ramp up considerably now just to make sure that the faster ssd in the macbook pro isn't messing up our test numbers all the source files are coming from a samsung t5 usb drive and the macbook finishes the render in four minutes 15 seconds now just as a side note for context my massive video editing workstation with threadripper pro and dual quadro gpus is only about a minute quicker for this particular project so this m1 max laptop is a fantastic machine especially as i was able to edit and render that project while set up in bed running on battery power of course i have tested it both plugged in and on battery power and i've found that there's no difference it's another thing that makes these macbook pros so great but what about the mac studio well its fans also got pretty audible and it finished the render in three minutes 47 seconds and i tested this a few times and the results are consistent the max studio here is finally showing the advantage of its thermal solution because it shaves half a minute off of this render time so the max studio can perform at a higher level but this isn't because apple has taken advantage of the cooling in it to turn things up a little bit it's more a case that it can go for longer without thermal throttling and honestly that's slightly disappointing and seems like a wasted opportunity to me but it does provide us with some useful insights for the vast majority of workloads the m1 max version of the mac studio offers no performance benefit over the smallest macbook pro and given that the 16-inch macbook pro is able to squeeze a bit more out of the chip with its high power mode i suspect that that model would actually be outperforming the mac studio accepting very heavy extended workloads like the video render we just showed you that doesn't mean incidentally that the mac studio will always be better for video rendering it does depend what codecs you're using if for example you're working with prores then there are dedicated decoders on board for that so the margin of difference will likely be much less now don't get me wrong this is a fantastic desktop machine and at two thousand pounds i think it represents fair value especially as if you spec up the six core intel mac mini which apple still sells with 32 gigs of ram it comes to the same price and the mac studio would absolutely destroy that intel mac mini it leaves me wondering though why wouldn't you just buy the macbook pro i mean this m1 max macbook pro is more expensive at 3 000 pounds but if you configure a one terabyte drive in the mac studio it goes up to 2200. and if you already have a display a keyboard and a mouse then sure you're saving 800 pounds but if you've got to go and buy an apple keyboard and a mouse and a nice 4k display you're basically going to be at the same price and the macbook pro is far more versatile but of course we all have our preferences and different requirements i'm personally swapping out my 16 gigabyte m1 mini for this mac studio and that does represent a pretty huge upgrade but now that i'm shooting videos at a higher resolution we're finding that tom's pc laptop just can't cope so having another editing machine around it's a useful thing to have so this mac studio it's a really nicely engineered piece of apple hardware and the m1 max version represents fair value i think but just don't by expecting to see gains over the m1 max notebooks unless you've got a workflow that's going to be pushing this machine to the absolute limit and if that is the case this probably isn't the right machine for you maybe you need to look at the m1 ultra version i will be doing some more testing with this machine so if you enjoy mac and other tech content please consider supporting the channel it's just one click of the subscribe button maybe consider leaving us a thumbs up or down as the case may be and perhaps share the video with someone else you think might enjoy it as always i'm looking forward to your comments and i'll see you again soon for some more geekery youapple's new mac studio can be specced with the m1 max chip just like the macbook pro my 14 inch here has got the m1 max with 24 core gpu and 32 gigs of ram and it's pretty fantastic but all of that power is crammed into this tiny chassis now just imagine what that same chip could do in that new mac studio with the huge new cooling solution and it would be interesting to do some comparisons uh if only i could get hold of a mac studio to compare with so this is actually the entry level mac studio and i'm deploying the air quotes because this thing still costs 2 000 pounds so it's not an entry-level mac but it is the entry level spec of the mac studio and i think it's the spec that will sell the best since it's the standard off-the-shelf m1 max spec and you can go and just buy it at the apple store and it has the exact same m1 max configuration as i have in the laptop 24 core gpu and 32 gigs of ram the only difference is that the laptop comes as standard with the one terabyte ssd whereas the mac studio has a poultry 512 gigabyte drive and that does mean slower ssd performance but that is a bit like saying one rocket is slower than another rocket most people will never be able to see the difference in real world usage now i did run a blackmagic disk speed test on both machines but i take these results with a pinch of salt because the performance is so variable from one test to the next especially it would seem on the macbook pro so let's focus instead on what apple is doing with all of this extra thermal headroom in the mac studio surely they've taken the opportunity to squeeze a little bit more out of that already impressive m1 max chip so i'm going to do a range of benchmark comparisons to c and we'll start with the obligatory geekbench 5. and you can see here from the graphics that they're basically scoring the same three points difference on single core and the macbook pro is actually scoring 34 points higher on the multi-core test though it should be said that every time you run this test you will get a slightly different result so what these numbers show us is that performance between these two machines as far as geekbench is concerned is identical let's withhold judgment on that for just a moment and run a few more tests i've done the geekbench 5 metal gpu test i have to say this isn't a great test because it never actually pushes the graphics cores hard enough to get a proper result but we're comparing two identical chips so let's go for it and if we run the test multiple times you'll get scores that are thousands of points different though generally the max studio did seem to average a higher score than the macbook pro so i decided to move to something that would push the chip harder for longer a 10 minute cinebench r23 multi-core run this is a 3d render test using the cpu and it definitely does get the fan ramping up on both of these machines and the final result is a win for the mac studio but not by much it scores 12 394 compared to the macbook pro at 12 373. i'll confess that i expected more from that one but let's now try the bmw render in the latest version of blender first of all using the cpu render process and the macbook pro finished in three minutes 24 seconds and the mac studio wins in 3 minutes 21 seconds and if we try the same render with the gpu using the new metal optimization in blender 3.1 the macbook pro finishes in 55 seconds and the mac studio takes 57 seconds i did this one a few times and i found that the macbook pro won every time by a couple of seconds so are you confused yet let's try one more test now so far we've managed to ramp up the fans but never to the point where they were really working hard so what i did is i loaded up a recent video project in the latest version of davinci resolve studio and there's nothing complex about this timeline other than the fact it's shot in 5.9 k blackmagic raw and we're going to render this out to 4k h.264 now of course the m1 max has got dedicated encoders for h.264 but it doesn't have any optimization for blackmagic raw so that means that in this workflow the render process will require the gpu to decode the 5.9 kb raw footage scale it to 4k and then transcode it to h.264 using the onboard encoders and i actually edited and rendered this particular project on my macbook pro originally so i know that about two minutes into the render the fans will ramp up considerably now just to make sure that the faster ssd in the macbook pro isn't messing up our test numbers all the source files are coming from a samsung t5 usb drive and the macbook finishes the render in four minutes 15 seconds now just as a side note for context my massive video editing workstation with threadripper pro and dual quadro gpus is only about a minute quicker for this particular project so this m1 max laptop is a fantastic machine especially as i was able to edit and render that project while set up in bed running on battery power of course i have tested it both plugged in and on battery power and i've found that there's no difference it's another thing that makes these macbook pros so great but what about the mac studio well its fans also got pretty audible and it finished the render in three minutes 47 seconds and i tested this a few times and the results are consistent the max studio here is finally showing the advantage of its thermal solution because it shaves half a minute off of this render time so the max studio can perform at a higher level but this isn't because apple has taken advantage of the cooling in it to turn things up a little bit it's more a case that it can go for longer without thermal throttling and honestly that's slightly disappointing and seems like a wasted opportunity to me but it does provide us with some useful insights for the vast majority of workloads the m1 max version of the mac studio offers no performance benefit over the smallest macbook pro and given that the 16-inch macbook pro is able to squeeze a bit more out of the chip with its high power mode i suspect that that model would actually be outperforming the mac studio accepting very heavy extended workloads like the video render we just showed you that doesn't mean incidentally that the mac studio will always be better for video rendering it does depend what codecs you're using if for example you're working with prores then there are dedicated decoders on board for that so the margin of difference will likely be much less now don't get me wrong this is a fantastic desktop machine and at two thousand pounds i think it represents fair value especially as if you spec up the six core intel mac mini which apple still sells with 32 gigs of ram it comes to the same price and the mac studio would absolutely destroy that intel mac mini it leaves me wondering though why wouldn't you just buy the macbook pro i mean this m1 max macbook pro is more expensive at 3 000 pounds but if you configure a one terabyte drive in the mac studio it goes up to 2200. and if you already have a display a keyboard and a mouse then sure you're saving 800 pounds but if you've got to go and buy an apple keyboard and a mouse and a nice 4k display you're basically going to be at the same price and the macbook pro is far more versatile but of course we all have our preferences and different requirements i'm personally swapping out my 16 gigabyte m1 mini for this mac studio and that does represent a pretty huge upgrade but now that i'm shooting videos at a higher resolution we're finding that tom's pc laptop just can't cope so having another editing machine around it's a useful thing to have so this mac studio it's a really nicely engineered piece of apple hardware and the m1 max version represents fair value i think but just don't by expecting to see gains over the m1 max notebooks unless you've got a workflow that's going to be pushing this machine to the absolute limit and if that is the case this probably isn't the right machine for you maybe you need to look at the m1 ultra version i will be doing some more testing with this machine so if you enjoy mac and other tech content please consider supporting the channel it's just one click of the subscribe button maybe consider leaving us a thumbs up or down as the case may be and perhaps share the video with someone else you think might enjoy it as always i'm looking forward to your comments and i'll see you again soon for some more geekery you\n"