Real Life PS Test M1MBP, M2 Studio, and M4

[Hooligans Imagery]

Second and how many seconds matter to you. Massive image file tested. Newer PS runs faster.

Video also tested where extra memory and cores M2 ULTRA shows through.

Conclusions, M4 isn't really needed for images, but if you think tariffs are coming....

 

[wotan1]

I found that review both interesting and sufficiently removed from my experience that it did not in the end provide me much useful information.

I found the comparison not very helpful to my world because he was comparing among the most expensive choices for these models. The MacBook Pro even in 14 inch as he had it equipped came out close to $4 grand. The Studio was close to $6 grand and you still had to add a monitor, keyboard and mouse/trackpad. Add all that and you are out at eight grand, or 12 grand if you went for Apple's six k Pro monitor.

When I was looking to test out Mac I bought a reconditioned MacBook Pro 16 inch M1 chip for all of $1400. My experience was that even that lowly cheap used base level M1 MacBook Pro ran rings around any Intel based PC I ever used when working Lightroom and Photoshop.

Since then I have added a base level Mac Studio M2 for which I paid slightly under $2 grand. I later added a MacBook Pro 16 M3 open box item that also cost just at $2k.

In the above tests the reviewer was picking the most demanding and impossible tasks to perform and comparing the performance. Things most of us will never do.

About the only conclusion I reached was that the $8-12,000 Studio choice was still faster than the $4k MacBook Pro M4 in performing exotic processing I will likely never do.

Meanwhile my Mac Studio can handle two monitors (5k and 4k) plus the Epson P900 printer, a dedicated scanner and a second printer, multiple external drives, and every other peripheral I have thrown at it. All with no lag time whatsoever.

The $2000 MacBook Pro is a great general service field laptop that has a bonus of a gorgeous high dynamic range Retina screen that is among the best I have ever seen in a laptop. It also whips through my catalog smoothly with no lag.


For normal photo processing in Lightroom/photoshop you do not need one of these high end devices.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

I agree with your points that these were demanding tests and for those not doing that demanding of a task you don't need top end.
I did find the relative times to be of value.
I concluded I don't need to be in a rush to change my M1 laptop so to me that was useful. He mentioned that in the video.
I also concluded that buying a higher spec prior chip is also a good strategy.

 

[wotan1]

I agree with your points that these were demanding tests and for those not doing that demanding of a task you don't need top end.
I did find the relative times to be of value.
I concluded I don't need to be in a rush to change my M1 laptop so to me that was useful. He mentioned that in the video.
I also concluded that buying a higher spec prior chip is also a good strategy.

In buying a higher spec "prior chip" (presumably anything M1-3) I think it depends on whether you are buying something that is still current, or something that is being discontinued or is reconditioned.

From what I observed in pricing, if it is still a current model they don't discount much on price. For instance, the Mac Studio M2 Ultra is still the current top of the line Studio. If they are asking close to $6 grand for it you are not likely to see it discounted very far if at all.

On the other hand, if you are interested in picking up a M1 Max MacBook Pro, you probably can find a significant discount somewhere in the reconditioned bin. Yet even there they can keep those higher end chips and higher memory relatively high compared to the base units so you could still; spend $3k plus for one of those.

You can really save money on the base level units. The question for me is whether I can do what I want with the base level unit or do I need something more. If I can do it all with the base level unit, as I have been able to do to this point, I can save my money to spend on lenses and other photo gear.

I also need to look to the future. Are the photo processing programs suddenly going to require more capacity to work correctly?

Also none of this applies to someone who is going to get heavily into video.

I took a look at video and that whole subject is way more complicated than still photography. I am both intimidated and engaged enough with still photography and I am not ready to start down the video trail. I guess when and if I ever get there I may have to make some new choices.

I would say, if you are seriously into video or thinking about getting into video the review we are talking about would be very informative for you.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

Million dollar question - how much GPU cores are enough. I did not buy the base for my M1 in 2021 and I am glad I didn't. I think I have three more years out of it. I am not sure I will need to do that again with the M4 but you ask the right question about looking to the future.

 

[wotan1]

The question for me is whether it will be worth it to upgrade to the M4 Studio when it comes out next year.

One potential issue is future proofing these units for connections. I noted the MacBook Pro M3 now provides USB 4 connectivity. Generally the Studio computers tend to do really well with connectivity so there might be future proofing to consider then.

 

[jeffnles1]

I have a 1st generation M1 MacBook Pro. I will be upgrading to a M4Pro MacBook Pro later this year. Probably going to max it out on memory to buy a little more time before needing to upgrade. I believe operating systems and software will continue to become more RAM hungry and with the Mac SoC one cannot add more memory later since it is part of the chip.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

I have a 1st generation M1 MacBook Pro. I will be upgrading to a M4Pro MacBook Pro later this year. Probably going to max it out on memory to buy a little more time before needing to upgrade. I believe operating systems and software will continue to become more RAM hungry and with the Mac SoC one cannot add more memory later since it is part of the chip.

Why not max out the GPU unless you are doing video. 32MB is ok for images especially if not doing the extensive things in the video.

 

[jeffnles1]

Why not max out the GPU unless you are doing video. 32MB is ok for images especially if not doing the extensive things in the video.

Well, with the M4 Pro, we have a choice between 24gb and 48gb ram. 32 would be fine but that is not an option. The M4 has a 10 core GPU. The M4 Pro has a 16 Core GPU.

I'm strongly considering the M4 Pro with 16 core GPU and 48gb RAM.

I do not do a lot of video and what I do is typically short form (less than 5 minute) segments. sometimes I will piece together multiple segments for a 15 minute video. My M1 MacBook Pro handles these OK but one needs to be patient while it works.

My main logic (which could be flawed) in maxing out the RAM, at least on the middle level M4 Pro, would be operating systems and other software are going to continue to get more RAM hungry. I like to keep my computers 4-5 years and maxing out RAM would offer a little future protection. On the Apple ecosystem one cannot add RAM later so Max it out now. Again, that logic could be flawed.

Jeff

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

@jeffnles1 I guess I am out of date. The options have changed and there isn't 32 as a choice for the MBP 16.
36 or 48 or more on the M4 Pro - 20 core GPU
48 or 64 or more on the M4 Max - 32 or 40 GPU

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

Well, with the M4 Pro, we have a choice between 24gb and 48gb ram. 32 would be fine but that is not an option. The M4 has a 10 core GPU. The M4 Pro has a 16 Core GPU.

I'm strongly considering the M4 Pro with 16 core GPU and 48gb RAM.

I do not do a lot of video and what I do is typically short form (less than 5 minute) segments. sometimes I will piece together multiple segments for a 15 minute video. My M1 MacBook Pro handles these OK but one needs to be patient while it works.

My main logic (which could be flawed) in maxing out the RAM, at least on the middle level M4 Pro, would be operating systems and other software are going to continue to get more RAM hungry. I like to keep my computers 4-5 years and maxing out RAM would offer a little future protection. On the Apple ecosystem one cannot add RAM later so Max it out now. Again, that logic could be flawed.

Jeff

Are you looking at the 14? I would consider more GPU as well. That is what future proofs things now especially with short videos.

 

[jeffnles1]

@jeffnles1 I guess I am out of date. The options have changed and there isn't 32 as a choice for the MBP 16.
36 or 48 or more on the M4 Pro - 20 core GPU
48 or 64 or more on the M4 Max - 32 or 40 GPU

OK, I see where our differences are. I am looking at the 14" MacBook Pro not the 16". I do think there are different options on the larger screen. I currently have a 13" MacBook Pro and a 27" external monitor. I like the smaller size laptop for travel.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

OK, I see where our differences are. I am looking at the 14" MacBook Pro not the 16". I do think there are different options on the larger screen. I currently have a 13" MacBook Pro and a 27" external monitor. I like the smaller size laptop for travel.

Yes I see you were looking at 14 - my 2021 MBP has Apple M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine.
The GPU is why I think it handles the newer LR and PS features better and I can keep it a few more years.
I don't see a memory to be an issue. I do have some PS images that end up over 2GB as well.

 

[jeffnles1]

Yes I see you were looking at 14 - my 2021 MBP has Apple M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine.
The GPU is why I think it handles the newer LR and PS features better and I can keep it a few more years.
I don't see a memory to be an issue. I do have some PS images that end up over 2GB as well.

Great perspective. Thanks.
Jeff

 

[Lee R]

I have two Mac’s, one is the most basic M1 with 8GB of ram and the other is a mb pro M3 with 18 GB.

Both will do any edits in Lightroom/DXO8 or NX Studio with zero issues and without any pinwheel waiting. The M3 is only a little faster at rendering Denoise images. I’ve also edited 900mb pixel shift raw images with the basic M1.

The only thing with the M1 is keeping the other apps closed like safari and RAM has been no issue.

So if the base M1 8GB is handling things just fine I don’t see how you can go wrong with any of them. It was a $599 computer I bought in 2020.

Now 4k video or something is another matter but for stills you really don’t need to go overboard.

I edit on 4k monitor with both for what it’s worth.

I’m the type who is allergic to buying more computer than is needed but won’t hesitate to buy more if it’s actually needed. I don’t do the future proof thing as the $599 m7 or whatever 4 years from now will mean I spent 1200 on two in a decade vs 4K on one now. That’s money better spent on lenses or a higher quality monitor. My monitor is more expensive than either of the Mac’s.

 

[Anjin San]

I found that review both interesting and sufficiently removed from my experience that it did not in the end provide me much useful information

While he did a whole bunch of very high end tasks…bottom line is for stills the M4 Max is 30-50% faster than an M1 Max…and the improvement over an M1 Pro is likely a little better. I have am M1 Pro MBP and an M1 Max Studio…and the latter is about 10-15% faster for the same tasks.

So…while both re plenty fast enough for stills…that’s still a decent improvement…and if I upgraded the MBP I would get the Max chip for the extra RAM and GPU cores…and I would likely in that case shift the Studio to file/print/scanner hosting and do all PP on the faster laptop combined with shifting the LrC catalog to the 4TB internal instead of the TB external with current year/trip images on the internal and older images (or earlier current year) moved to the TB external. That would let me travel with just the laptop and a couple of Samsung T7s for image backup and lighter is better. Still thinking on it though…that’s about $2300 after trade in and there is something to be said for the potential tariff issues with the new administration. And it seems a waste to reduce the Studio to simply home server status…but tech marches on, we are 70 and well off, and you can’t take it with you So who knows.