M1 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Max MacBook Pro

M1 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Max MacBook Pro | The Same?

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Күн бұрын

Are the M1 Max Mac Studio vs M1 Max MacBook Pro the same? In this ongoing review of the base model M1 Max Mac Studio I bring you behind the scenes with the 14-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro and discuss how similar these two devices are when it comes to performance in my use case with video editing and Blender as an example. When it comes to making that buying decision, this really does come down to whether portability is important because the performance is so close.
Apple silicon is really exciting, hands down, but we’re still waiting on continued optimization when it comes to software being able to use this hardware.
Thanks to Brett Jordan for the wallpaper image: unsplash.com/s/photos/brett-j...
M1 Pro and M1 Max Related Hardware:
14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro: geni.us/7HlAh (Amazon)
M1 Macbook Air: geni.us/aB6N (Amazon)
M1 Mac Mini: geni.us/pDK2b (Amazon)
The SSD Drives I’ve Been Testing:
Acasis Direct: geni.us/Acasis
Acasis: geni.us/1vu6Jqc (Amazon)
Fledging TB3 Enclosure: geni.us/flJqziY (Amazon)
Samsung SSD (970): geni.us/yRA8d3R (Amazon)
Samsung 980 PRO: geni.us/AZkwLl (Amazon)
SanDisk Extreme (T00-G25): geni.us/n0B9Q (Amazon)
On My Desk:
Desktop Accessories (Use KEVINROSS for 10% off): geni.us/OxWta
INNOCN 4K Monitor: geni.us/INNOCN27 (Amazon)
Ultrawide Monitor: geni.us/un9I (Amazon)
Monitor Arm: geni.us/7j1xeS (Amazon)
CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Dock: geni.us/CalDigitTS4 (Amazon)
Anker Mini Dock: geni.us/ACcOo (Amazon)
Thunderbolt 3 Dock: geni.us/ATbaAjc (Amazon)
MX Master 3: geni.us/pfEgz (Amazon)
MX Keys: geni.us/4wiTh (Amazon)
Audio Gear:
Overhead Microphone: bit.ly/DeityS2SMic
Overhead Mic on Amazon: geni.us/s1A9eNK (Amazon)
Broadcast Microphone (Q9U): geni.us/QkBCC (Amazon)
Handheld Recorder: geni.us/MTyrz (Amazon)
MOTU Interface: geni.us/NMoYwcJ (Amazon)
ATR Dynamic Microphone: geni.us/0V4K0Rk (Amazon)
Samson Dynamic Microphone Choice: geni.us/fVng5fM (Amazon)
Studio Headphones (250 Ohms): geni.us/BuzD (Amazon)
Yamaha Monitors (single): geni.us/MbemtUC (Amazon)
Studio Monitor Stands: geni.us/MiBAiE6 (Amazon)
What I use to Film:
My Primary Camera: geni.us/gQQxjr3 (Amazon)
Prime Lens 16mm: geni.us/BlBd9 (Amazon)
Sony 18-105: geni.us/Jb3O0 (Amazon)
SanDisk Extreme: geni.us/9MHZlT (Amazon)
Manfrotto Tripod (for vlogging): geni.us/0SYQD (Amazon)
Light Dome: geni.us/TzffFw (Amazon)
Key Light: geni.us/n2kAe (Amazon)
Stay in touch:
/ kevinrossrn
/ kevinrossrn
Send Mail & Packages to:
Kevin Ross
4845 Pearl E. Cir. STE 101
Boulder, CO 80301
I'm a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Context & What We’re Doing: 0:00
4K Multicam Timeline: 01:40
Blender Animation: 05:32
The Buying Decision: 11:24

Пікірлер: 88

@KiaraHargrove 2 жыл бұрын

I really enjoyed this one Kevin, awesome video!!! 👊🏾🔥🔥🔥💯

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

You’re too kind. Always honored, and a pleasure to see you over here. 🤘💯

@KiaraHargrove 2 жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN 🙏🏾👊🏾🔥💯

@WillKlein 2 жыл бұрын

Love your videos. When the latest Apple event happened, YOUR channel is the one I wanted to follow like a hawk. Solid, solid, advice. The most practical comparisons. And enjoy that Dyson! I have three and they’re great!!

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

I love the Dyson. I can’t believe I waited this long. Seriously. And, great to have you here. Just trying to bring a little balance where I can.

@Trusteft 2 жыл бұрын

I like you man. Informative and fun to watch your videos.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

I appreciate that my friend. Means a lot to have you here.

@dproulx222 2 жыл бұрын

You do really awesome reviews... I really need to pull the trigger and get one of these machines....

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Just trying my best. These are really fun devices. Feel free to let me know if you make the investment.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Who remembers having "desktop" level work and then reserving the lighter tasks for your laptop? Are they the same? Not really, but sort of. But not really. If you're on the fence, then how much are you leaving that fence? 😉 Hope you're all doing well.

@CyrilJap 2 жыл бұрын

I already made my purchase decision before watching this video (I ordered a M1 Max Mac Studio), but I still really enjoyed it. It was so much enjoyable than watching graphs based on mark bench. Great video.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

And hey, it’s a great machine. Really. I think it’ll sell pretty well, honestly.

@Andreas_Kolbe 2 жыл бұрын

Your findings are in-line with what other people have found out In essence, the cooling solution of the Mac Studio is much better then on the MacBooks, which is no surprise. However, I don't understand why the fans are not adjusted accordingly: They could easily spin down the fans when he machine I under low workload and just spin them up when he system is under heavy workload for extended period of time. This would then bring back a noise similar to previous Macs, where the fans were literally silent under normal/low workload and just audible when workload increases. The new Mac Studios, on the other hand, have audible fans irrespective of the workload, which doesn't make any sense to me. Adjusting the fan speed, and resultantly the noise level, according to the workload would be expected and make the system much more user friendly, especially in a music studio where noise should be avoided...

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, the fact that these MBPs can do so much without the fans spinning up, especially the 16 inch, it’s amazing that with that headroom in the studio that apple just doesn’t keep them off, although I know that idle can stay ahead of those thermals, however trying to get the CPU and GPU over 60C is actually kind of hard. But I agree. As far as a music/sound studio, this would be nice to have these off, especially if the software is efficient enough that thermals aren’t going to even sustain 70-80C. Although I need to run some additional tests for audio workflows.

@BleiteTV Жыл бұрын

great review

@BleiteTV Жыл бұрын

I ended up buying the macbook pro m1 max 16", the screen is gorgeous

@KevinRossRN Жыл бұрын

Big congrats on the investment. Glad you popped by here.

@BleiteTV Жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN thanks!

@nabeelbastaki3677 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, need your advice, MacBook m1 max 16 or studio max, for daily used continues more that 8 hours daily connected to 4 monitors .

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Honestly if it’s mostly docked, then the Studio is going to be the better deal. I’d choose that all day.

@Paul-sx4bz 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Kevin I have watched a few of your recent videos about the Max Studio and you make some relevant points. I am a graphic designer using Adobe InDesign (main app), Photoshop, Illustrator, Capture One and a few smaller apps for font management, Barcodes and so on. I have being using Macs since the Performa days and have had a few since then, but this new Studio Max (base model) is something else. Boots in around 3 seconds, InDedsign, Photoshop are there in a blink of an eye, its actually frightening how fast this machine is. Most of the KZfaqrs emphasise on video work, I don't do that, but I tell you what, the Max base model is a bargain for the price, especially with the ports that Apple finally give you. I have bought an external Thunderbolt 3 housing and stuck a 1 Tb NVME drive in it and that is more than what I need for just under £125, whereas if I went for the 1tb apple upgrade it was £400 for the extra 512 gb which to me was a no brainer. Anyway thanks for the info, keep up the good work and all the best for you and your family for the future.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Paul, I appreciate your perspective here and I really appreciate you sharing your workflow. I meant to run some tests with Capture One, but will do so. And yes, I do think for these types of workflows that the base is more than plenty, will serve you for years and those TB enclosures are really awesome. Yeah just love being able to swap out SSDs. Thanks so much for the well wishes and sending you my best right back. 🤘

@ST-fl5fy Жыл бұрын

This is good info. I’m a designer also but musician that pushes the limits of plugins. My fear is fan noise. I heard the mbp m1 takes a lot to turn on.

@KevinRossRN Жыл бұрын

It does take quite a bit before those ramp up. I think because of the thermal headroom that the mini is even quieter. I never hear that fan. Are you looking for portability?

@ST-fl5fy Жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN Possibly... I record music mainly at home but possibility to record vocals in other areas where there is quiet. I am also going to doing a lot more editing video and light fx. Not major. When I compare it comes down to a $1000 difference between the 2. So you feel I can get away with 32GB ram for this?

@KevinRossRN Жыл бұрын

Well and I should clarify about whether you’re referring to the M1 Pro or Max because if this is the case then yes, it’ll take quite a bit to ramp up those fans. As far as the 32GBs of RAM, I do think it’s plenty.

@AlexGTech 2 жыл бұрын

Came here for the M1 Max. Stayed for the inch perfect aesthetics 🥰

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Always great to have you here. My ❤️ is full. 🤗

@StefanUrkel Жыл бұрын

@Kevin Ross what do you think about 14" M1 Pro (base model) + M1 Max Studio - to address portability and power(and semi-portability) vs a 16" M1 Max 24 core for about a few hundred less?

@KevinRossRN Жыл бұрын

Honestly, for creative work, I just solely stick to my M1 Max MBP. The studio ended up at another location because I was finding that I really just wanted to just work on the one machine, and so there’s no question that can connect it to an external display and disconnect (one cable) very easily to take it on the go.

@StefanUrkel Жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN That's a good point. More machines means more to manage and maintain. 2 separate drives, app isntalls, etc.

@KevinRossRN Жыл бұрын

Exactly. 🫵🤘

@cathychats 2 жыл бұрын

I've cancelled my studio max and replaced it with a macbook max. I've merged my desktop and laptop work.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

No joke, I’ve tested the studio and pushed it as hard as I can. So, I’m performing real world tests. However, I keep using my MBP to edit these videos for YT. It’s really awesome, but for whatever reason I just love these MBPs. I hear you.

@TheCameraProject 2 жыл бұрын

Any chance you can run premiere and premiere beta tests? Thank you.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I’ll try to do more of those, but Adobe needs to really step it up because it just crashes more often than I’d like…however I might be using it wrong 😉 Don’t get me wrong though. I think Premiere is great and I have it on my PCs without any issues. But let me see what I can do.

@TheCameraProject 2 жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN what version you trying on the M1?

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Not near the machine at the moment, but I believe it’s 15.4 (for M1). I have a legacy version on one PC, an updated one on another and the optimized for M1. But again, I’m certainly not trying to bash someone’s workflow. I’ve seen other creators use it successfully, but I just know that I’ve dealt with beach balling and crashes, which when that starts costing me time, then I’m out. It’s a great suite. But just as I was saying in the video. If I needed Blender professionally or even used it often, then I’m on a PC for that as well. It’s nice to see Metal and optimization occurring, but I’ve built my workflow around this particular ecosystem. But I keep in touch with creators that have found a workflow with MacOS that works, while others have completely switched to FCPX or Resolve because it was non-negotiable that they wanted to be on a Mac 🤷‍♂️

@TheCameraProject 2 жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN I hear you man. I've heard good things about performance on FCPX in recent years. I was a Final Cut 7 user as a full time editor, then when FCPX, the "pro" world was really taken aback by the loss of "pro" features at the time and the total departure in workflow. At this point, I'm sure 99% of those things are in there and there probably many things that are way better than Premiere and other pieces of software. That said, in the New York advertising world, most shops that were FCP7 shops, switched to Premiere and are still there. So it's not quite as simple as KZfaqrs (which I am as well, not knocking it) who can use whatever piece of software they want, sometimes you need to work in what your shop or client requests. I am still in the Premiere world, and don't find it lacking in features or workflow, but performance on an iMac 2019 for certain codecs isn't the best. Prores stuff is fine, but let's say XAVC h264 4k 422 at 60 from a sony A7SIII, it won't even really play. 24 yes, 60 no. Anyway, very curious to see performance on the latest ship and beta versions of Premiere and After Effects with both the max and ultra to help inform those decisions. That said, part of me wants to give FCPX a try again, but also, Resolve...which sees a bit more use in the advertising space I typically occupy.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I hear that. One of the reasons I keep Premiere around is for certain clients that may have an internal creative team that also uses it. As far as the codec, I use XAVC often and HEVC is also awesome on these chips. Also to mention that I think Resolve, in some ways (not just better grading) is even more efficient than FCPX. That’s why I figured Adobe could just get it together here because if Resolve can make it work then Adobe should be able to as well, although I know it’s quite a bit more nuanced. But yeah, for YT, it’s just easier. For other stuff though, I’m fine to pivot outside of Final Cut. Either way, I do know that there is some success with it for others out there.

@JasonsLabVideos Жыл бұрын

I'm thinking about the Mac studio for xmas with 1tb storage 64gigs ram. Currently i have a MPB m1 14" but thought about buying a dock to go 3 1440P monitors, maybe save 3k$ by just using a docking station ?

@KevinRossRN Жыл бұрын

Yeah I mean if you’re often docked or want to mostly be portable then a dock can really help. I still use my MBP as my primary.

@JasonsLabVideos Жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN I'm torn because i have 3 x 1440p monitors that i sit at, but also use my main pc right now with the monitors and the laptop to the side for extra surfing. I think the Studio is what i will end up with.

@brianginn1993 2 жыл бұрын

Good content.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Many thanks. 👍

@jmsobe 2 жыл бұрын

Another terrific video. I believe Apple might be taking a conservative approach to this machine. Not giving it any more juice to elevate it above the MacBook Pro. Difference in speed might be the SSDs, slightly slower SSD speed since the chips are not directly on the cpu board.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! And yes, I do believe Apple is really focused on keeping these the “same” while differentiating more in regards to desktop vs portable. When you think about it though it may just be us in the tech community (enthusiasts) that might be setting our own expectations based on what we think (theoretically) what these SoCs can really do, especially if they were clocked higher. 🤷‍♂️

@EasyyokeFilms 2 жыл бұрын

The difference in speed is actually the GPU core count.

@TheKayakCrew 2 жыл бұрын

From what I gather, an M1X MacBook Pro will perform the same as an equivalent M1X Mac Studio. The MacBook is about 1000 £/$ more so it boils down to whether you need to use it as a laptop for at least some of the time in order to justify the extra cost.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Apologies on the spam reply. Anyway, yes, that is correct. It comes down to whether you need to be on the move, even for just the occasional use. However, for those that just need a desktop, then I’d save the cash.

@Tigerex966 2 жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN or like many buy a refurbished 16 GB Air and a studio for the same price of the MacBook pro all the performance and portability.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

You got it. That’s actually a recommendation in one of my recent videos. A deadly combination 😉

@FinalElements Жыл бұрын

@@Tigerex966 Don't forget that for Studio needs also the monitor.

@cheesun124 2 жыл бұрын

I would have preferred the Mac Studio since I don't need the portability - However, the brilliant people at Apple decided to release the MacBook Pro first...and I bought one. Funny enough, the MBP arrived the same day the MS was announced. I didn't want to wait another two months to order/receive the MS while I could start making use of the device I already had in hand. We'll see what happens in a Years time.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Well as much as I really like the studio, I do still use the MBP more often. But that’s just me. And I think it’s also a consideration that I can walk into an Apple store and more easily pick up a device, but I know that many out there are waiting for months for their devices, and really, time lost is a no go for me, so I’d say if you can get that work done then I’d say keep moving forward. Appreciate your time here. 🤘

@cheesun124 2 жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN It was to be a desktop replacement for my Mac Pro. I don’t really like using the MBP in clamshell. But as a consolation, when doing technical training, I can use the two screen easily.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Gotcha. Well hopefully you can take advantage of that second screen. I certainly like having it as a reference, but totally understand that it’s hard to pay for a portability premium for a device that’s mostly on the desk. I hear you.

@Tigerex966 2 жыл бұрын

Is there an app that can overclock these chips within thermal limitation range can it be hacked at all like amd Intel?

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

I have fun overclocking the AMD chips. Was just tweaking one the other day. To my knowledge, I haven’t found a way to do this for these Macs.

@havok3344 2 жыл бұрын

Nobody’s comparing the base w/32 core GPU to the MBPs. Are these still not shipping yet?

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Haven’t seen too many of those in the wild yet.

@nyambe 2 жыл бұрын

I do think Apple went conservative on the tuning on the Mac Studio or.....Maybe, these are not the chips that where supposed to me in these machines. Last minute change of mind? was that going to be the m2 reveal but current events change that? But then, why would apple put all those graphs on the presentation if these mac studios underperform over the laptops?

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Well, I do think this is a design we will see for awhile, and it makes sense from a manufacturing standpoint to just use the same chassis for all of these chips, including the future ones. I do think we’ll see the M2 mini, but likely not until later this year.

@acaiv1797 2 жыл бұрын

If I Have a 14 inch MacBook Pro with the 24 core gpu would their be a difference enough to justify for me to get the max studio with 32 core as my desktop? Also, I have 16 ga ram on my laptop and I will be getting 64 on my max studio.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Honestly I think you’d see a difference in the RAM over the extra Cores, although that will depend on your particular use case. What is your primary use?

@acaiv1797 2 жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN thanks for the reply. video editing and special effects/ color grading. Also plugins for audio recording.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

So, I think the 32 GBs would be fine on the memory, although I will say that for any audio work I’ve done that those programs are definitely hungry for the RAM. And although I don’t yet have the 32-Core in my possession, however I think those extra cores may only provide a slight advantage for transcoding media (if you need to transcode), but generally speaking I think you’d barely notice anything if at all.

@mcronfpv8736 Жыл бұрын

My thinking was : ok I need to invest in a new editing machine, i do most of the editing at my desk. What is the wiser investment ? Mac studio because I know in 5 years it will still be in perfect shape, won't be stollen, broken, damaged from transport... It will probably still be very relevant for video editing then, but even if I want to upgrade for some reason, it will have a resell value.

@KevinRossRN Жыл бұрын

This is definitely a good point, and especially if you’re primarily at your desk.

@EasyyokeFilms 2 жыл бұрын

The real test here is to test a 32core GPU Mac Studio M1 Max vs a 32core GPU MBP M1 Max. This is where we get to know if the thermals headroom on the MacStudio is actually doing anything. Why can’t I find this test. Why is everybody using the 24core GPU macstudio to compare with another 32core GPU machine?

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Because they’re still hard to come by 🤷‍♂️ Those tests will occur though.

@logandaniels5 2 жыл бұрын

Everyone really needs to push out updates for their software to take advantage of the Studio, including Apple..

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, we’re at the mercy of developers at this point. This device could easily be overclocked, but that’ll likely never happen. Still fun though, and I’m always amazed on what it can actually do.

@davidpringuer 2 жыл бұрын

Bit confused here. You are evaluating a 24 core vs 32 core architecture and surprised that the 32 is faster? What am I missing?

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Well, as these series of tests that have occurred over the last few videos, there was only one scenario where the 32-Core in the MBP was faster, and that of course is Blender. In this video (and the previous) I’ve showed that the GPU really isn’t being utilized as it could be. Whether that’s Apple’s 1.3GHz limitation, thermals (which we saw with the MBP that it just kept going even though it was 40C higher than the studio), but really the software is more optimized than Apple developed apps. Apple has invested in the Blender community, which based on these preliminary results, this is one of the few programs (right now) that’s even taking advantage of those extra cores. But with everything else I’m doing, aside from portability, the performance has been the same. Not to mention the fact that there is so much headroom to play with here and the thought that Apple would even consider overclocking these in a OS update is really, just a thought.

@davidpringuer 2 жыл бұрын

@@KevinRossRN thanks

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

You bet.

@bambu8 2 жыл бұрын

Can I ask? Does the studio really need that much cooling? Feels like this design was a cooling solution for when the Mac ran on Intel. I am starting to feel like Apple is losing its edge when it comes to designing products. I even feel the same exact same thing with the MacBook. It does not make sense for it to be that thick.

@KevinRossRN 2 жыл бұрын

Well I think they wanted to simplify their manufacturing to keep those profit margins, so I believe they’ve designed a chassis that will work for upcoming chips, but again to your point, they could allow these to push up a little higher. It’s a lot of headroom that eventually the Ultra might take advantage of, but I see this as a design they may keep for a bit. I hear you though.

@user-si7tp6it9v Жыл бұрын

Are you really can use laptop as permanent computer. I mean can you keep it plugged all the time? I use my old iMac for 12 years and it is still good. But my Mac book pro is dead long time ago. So I think it is not a choice if you use it at work. Even more it is a benefit…. I mean do not bring your work at home, but spend some time with kids 😊

@KevinRossRN Жыл бұрын

You could keep it plugged in all the time and many do. I still use the laptop as a portable device and take it with me wherever I go. For the price, especially if you’re just docking it all the time, it’s tough to justify the price since part of it is paying for portability.