Mac Studio M1 Max vs M2 Max Comparison
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- čas přidán 27. 05. 2024
- I compare my newly purchased Apple M2 Max Mac Studio and put it up against my recently acquired M1 Max Mac Studio. The announcement of the M2-equipped Mac Studio at WWDC2023 surprised me as Apple's refresh intervals for their Apple Silicon desktops seemed to be on average at around 2 years. I purchased the new Mac Studio on opening day and put it up against the M1 version of the Mac Studio. The M2 Max is faster in every way EXCEPT for SSD read speeds where it seems to take a 10% speed hit compared to the outgoing model. I run a bunch of benchmarks to get a sense of what the M2 Max's performance figures are compared to the M1's.
00:00 - Start
02:23 - Speedometer Benchmark
03:05 - Geekbench 6 Benchmarks
04:05 - SSD Storage Benchmarks
05:11 - GFX Metal Benchmarks
06:12 - Handbrake Transcode Test
07:15 - Closing thoughts - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Great video, thanks. What were the sizes and models of your monitors please?
Very comprehensive review, thank you...most all videos here on YT focus on the Ultra, not Max. I should add that the new Studios also support WiFi 6e and Bluetooth 5.3 if that's important to you. Also, it appears that M1 Studios are no longer available at Costco.
You're very welcome. I did call out the differences in my intro and I think most users likely won't care or notice or need those new additions. In my case I LOVED my M1Max but since I bought at retail that there wasn't any incentive for me to keep it and not opt for the M2 Max b/c I was within my return period with Apple. You're absolutely right that all the YT review seems to talk about Apple's most powerful chip and how the Studio fares against the Mac Pro M2 Ultra. The average media enthusiast like myself likely can't even tap out the M2Max's full potential unless they're really putting it through the wringer. I'm just SUPER happy that Apple made a computer that meets the needs of professional and prosumers with a price point that is wide enough to be afford by the average person. The Mac Pro is super cool and sexy but holy... at $9K CAD for the base model I often wonder why the Mac Pro was ever conceived as the Studio can do everything the Mac Pro can at nearly half the cost. The exception of course the expandability. If you're a pro video house then perhaps I can see value in it b/c they need expandability but for most people, the Studio is a HOME RUN product.
@@piercedasian Agreed! I think the M2 Max Studio is the real sweet spot for photographers who do a lot of work in Lightroom, Photoshop, various plugins like Topaz, etc. Also for most content creators working on video projects.
100%. I've loving how fast apple silicon is regardless of it being M1 or M2 versions. They're still faster than intel machine I've ever had.
Took me a while looking for this. Coming from a Mac Mini M1 to the m2 studio max looking forward to this upgrade as the 16gb was not doing it for me
I had heard about the SSD speed decrease on M2 Max, but I couldn't find a clear figure on exactly how much difference there was (aside from ppl saying that the difference would be negligible in real-world use). Thanks to your video, now I know exactly what the SSD difference is, and I'm glad to know that it really should be completely negligible in real-world use. Cheers!
Yep, its funny how SSD chatter was a bit of a big deal when the M2's came out and how the speeds were bad yet so many so called experts could provide tangible proof of what those speed impacts were. It wasn't later until Max Tech et al showed the stark difference between the base config vs. stepping up 1 level for SSD storage can make such a huge speed bump. I think that anything that goes beyond 3000MB/s is pretty darned quick so anything beyond that is just number flexing I think. Might be different in a few years from now when our computers star to age and applications and the OS need to move huge amounts of data to perform the simplest of functions then perhaps having a SUPER crazy fast SSD might help. I'm just super happy that my Mac Studio(s) both have 1TB b/c you DO gain speeds. I originally purchased a 512GB Mac Studio M1 Max and the SSD on the 1TB version of the M1Max was indeed faster by a decent amount as well (4700 write vs. 5700ish). 1000MB/s is a pretty big jump even in the M1 Max Mac Studio which was never really called out by anyone. Thanks for stopping by!
I got a base model M1 Max (32gb/512) from Costco for $1499 a month ago. I'm primarily using it for audio mastering and its been a blazing fast upgrade from my 2010 Mac Pro. I see no need to return it for the latest Studio M2 Max.
Definitely if you already have the M1 Max, the M2 is totally unnecessary. But if you have an M1 pro machine, an M2 Max is a more significant upgrade. And an M2 Ultra is definitely a major improvement. But it’s also completely unnecessary for most people.
Unnecessary? So why do we all want it!
Ah you're one of the lucky ones. As what I said in my video, IF I had the chance in Canada to buy a M1Max MS for the prices you folks pay in the US I would have ZERO incentive to upgrade to M2Max b/c the M1Max is stupid fast. The only thing I wished Apple would offer on a prosumer/pro computer is a minimum of 1TB SSD storage. There is no excuse at the price point and target audience of whom would buy this product that having less than 1TB is acceptable. I actually had the M1Max 512GB initially and found that with my apps and OS updates that I was only at 250GB free space. I have a ton of external storage but I think in maybe 3-4 years from now that I'd be in the same situation as my 256GB MacBook Pro... completely out of space that I can't even do the bloody OS updates properly without removing a ton of stuff from it. The 1TB version of the m1Max and the M2max does have faster SSD speeds by nature of the # of nands they use. I recall my 512 M1Max had a write speed of 4700-5000 MB/s and when I compared it against the M1Max 1GB that the SSD were writing at 1000MB/s faster at over 6000MB/s. Does it really matter? nope not really but something I did notice in the M1/M2Max computers. Good on you for getting the costco deal... so jelly that us Canucks don't have access to those kind of aggressive prices.
b/c we always want more POWA!
Yep I agree that if you already have the M1Max that the jump isn't as stark for the most part. Where the M2Max really improved upon I the GPU power. While MOST of my tests showed the claimed 20-30% increase in GPU compute power that there were some tests that blew me away getting nearly a 50% speed bump. This was somewhat mentioned (but in reference to the M2 Ultra) that in DaVinci Resolve that there was up to a 50% speed improvement - that's insanely impressive. But in the grand scheme of things... I think the M1Max is a powerhouse of a computer that will still easily meet the needs of the prosumer/professional for many many many years to come. One thing I do believe Apple did address in the M2 generation of CPUs is optimizing the cache better so the CPU/GPUs are sitting idle. I did notice that in some things I was doing that the M1Max using stat 6 would show the CPU/GPU doing nothing for a brief moments during CPU intensive tasks with the M2Max is pegged to max the moment you send it a complex job. While not at all scientific that I did notice this and wonder if apple did indeed address idle cache bugs in the M1's architecture.
You can "Trade-in" with Apple to have the M2 Max. I received U$ 1,145 for my former M1 Max early 2022 Macstudio (32GB - 512GB SSS)+ U$ 200 educational bonus. So I added U$ 654 to the purchase to reach the 1,999 price of the new M2 Max (32GB - 512GB SSS). Take into account tax, mine was charged with 8.88%
I'm looking at replacing a 2017 iMac 27" with something. Costco currently have the M1 at £1299 inc VAT, with M2 version at £1899. Fairly obviously the M2 will outperform and that was never my question. I'm curious how much the M1 Max Studio will fair against an older iMac (which was maxed out in the day - 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, Radeon Pro 580 8 GB). I'd be very grateful for any insight. Having to buy a screen and keyboard and mouse / trackpad, would still bring this in at well under what I'd imagine a hypothetical 27" iMac would be today
Had my M1Max Studio for over a year, working like a champ and not going anywhere anytime soon. I’m fact I’m very happy to see the M2 is a real improvement, means things will be even better when I finally replace mine with an M4 😀
yeah, Apple Silicon is truly amazing. I definitely am shocked at how great it really is!
@@piercedasian i mean i cant even tell. got the m2 max 1tb and all i do is surf the web. it does load pages almost instantly which is an improvement over my 10yo pc
Great video!. The base M1 Max studio has finally been reduced here in the UK down to £1500.
We're alot like you and get screwed over by apple's pricing. (Base m2 Max here is around £2300)
Been waiting patiently for the Base model studio to go on offer after i found my m1 mac mini couldnt keep up with my workflow.
Its a no brainer purchase at 1500 given the M2 Pro Mac mini is the same cost here! (A brill machine but straight loss against the M1 max in most categories in the pricing department)
we really can't complain in Canada in the GRAND scheme of things since apple products relative to the rest of the world is still lower than everywhere else. I love my M2 Max Studio. It does everything I want it to do and more (if no absolute overkill for what I typically use it for).
Since you cannot adjust the internals after purchase, what do you think about 32 GB RAM? Is that enough? Ever felt that you wanna have 64 GB?
32gb is more than enough given how efficiently these new silicon chips use memory. I have 32gb and rarely even get past 20% usage with multiple processes and browser windows going
What about swapping on SSD when using Chrome (the web browser) with maybe 5-10 windows and a lot of tabs i each one with a good mix of CZcams, Wikipedia and really everything?
I know that it's a difference between Apple's chips with "unified memory" (RAM) and Intel back in the days where the CPU always has to access RAM throu the system controller. It's an adjusted architecture with Apple's own chips.
Some users say that "8 GB RAM with Apple's chip is like 16 GB RAM with Intel/x86" because of this difference. Maybe that's true in some situations? What I can understand is that 32 GB RAM with M1/M2 and with Intel is different. You will "get more out of that RAM with M1/M2".
I know from MaxTech here on CZcams that with 8 GB RAM (M1/M2) there will be pretty much swapping on the SSD. With 16 GB RAM that will decrease a lot! With 32 GB RAM I can't remember but I believe it's "very very little". Of course it depends on your workload. So if you got 500 tabs open with youtube in everyone that will probably create much swapping even if you got 64 GB RAM or even more. But for realistic situations and not extreme situations I believe that 32 GB will be very good.
But it's also nice to have some future proofing! Future OS versions and future apps will eat more RAM and storage. That's the trend since the birth of the computer :)
well, I edit video regularly and work with a decent number of photo files along with the usual office productivity applications and I dabble a TINY bit in coding as well and I have YET to push a computer past the 32GB memory limit. The SSDs in the units are so insanely fast that even if you needed more than 32GB of RAM that the swapping of data between RAM and SSD happens at blisteringly fast speeds. I pondered on buying 64GB of RAM BUT I figured the money saved ($400+ CAD) could be used towards a new future Mac Studio that will likely have more base RAM as part of their standard config. I buy for the now with a bit of foresight into my future needs and if I can work on a 16GB MacBook Pro from late 2016 then going to a 32GB Mac Studio would be MORE than enough.
yep this is exactly my same sentiments. I have pushed my Mac Studio M1 Max to 22GB of RAM but that leaves plenty of extra for whatever apps might use. All in all, 32GB is plenty for the majority of users. This isn't a 8GB base Mac mini but a pro level computer so naturally Apple isn't going to neuter it completely :)
can confirm in Sonoma my 3 year old M1 hits 401 in speedometer
wow that's impressive. I think with benchmarks one has to remember that the numbers are relative. I've seen higher numbers on my multiple speedometer runs but I figured that since computers had the same exact apps running in the background that it gives the user an idea of what they could reasonably expect when jumping from M1 to M2 Max on the Studio.
@@piercedasian apple improved browsing speed in Sonoma in Ventura my Mac M1 score 330 now its 401 , am sure m2 max running on Sonoma will hit even higher , I recoment you to test after clearing history
thanks for that advice, I'll definitely have to give that a test go.
good video but the audio is incredibly low volume
low volume? I thought it was too loud. My apologies.
I have 2200.00 and am wondering if I should get the M1 Studio Max 64 gigs memory and 1 TB SSD or the M2 32 Gigs Memory and 1 TB SSD? Any suggestions please!!! I have to buy it in the next 2 days Thanks!!! I do mainly FCPX editing, Nothing super long or 2 complicated and currently editing on an M1 Airlock 16 ram and pretty good, but lately getting memory usage warnings often... Thanks!!!
M2 just because of hdmi 2.1
Are you testing the 512GB SSD in the M2 Max? Or a bigger SSD? I can't quite tell from the video... but seems highly relevant.
0:22 says 1TB in both
correct, I had indicated at the start of the video that both my units were upgraded to 1TB. There is an improvement in speeds on BOTH units going from 512GB to 1TB though the improvement is far more stark on the M2 systems as indicated by other CZcamsrs.
Nice clear review showing the speed differences. Thanks
Glad you liked the video! Thanks for stopping by!
I tried the browser bench on my m1 Air and I got 368 on safari and 400 on chrome
Yep the speed measurements I am sure are impacted by other background processes and possibly even internet speeds. This is why benchmarks are relative and not absolute measurements. When I did my tests both computers were identical clones of each other running the same background processes. As long as comparisons were done with identical browsers and setups then it is a good way to compare performance differences.
I bought a m1 refurbished for $1529 through Apple thanks for the info.
You won't regret the M1 Studio. Such a crazy powerhouse of a computer.
M2 Macbook Pro 512GB or M1 Macbook Pro 1TB?
M1 MacBook Pro 1TB. The differences in a mobile platform won't be as stark from M1 to M2 so I'd rather get a MacBook with more storage and the MUCH faster SSD. Why apple even makes a computer with 512GB in 2023 is laughable. Minimum should be 1TB yet somehow they still offer SOME computers with 256GB! Why apple why???
Nice comparison. Btw, you can get a M1 Ultra refurbished from Apple and it's not much more than the M2 Max. The M1 Ultra might be worth the extra few hundred as it has a lot more CPU and GPU cores.
You really needed that upgrade? I dont think so
Well I didn't but since my M1 Mac Studio was within the return window and the cost was basically the same for the new M2 that it made sense to upgrade. So much faster than any previous Mac I've owned.
I just got this m1 32g/512 at 999 and wonder if it is a good enough deal
Costco has M1 studio Base model for 999. I just got it today