Hey folks! Seen a lot of comparisons for high intensity work like Lightroom, Video exporting etc. However nothing on everyday tasks. I know that it's overkill but I'm also curious if things feel faster. I notice that my 14" M3 Pro (16gb of ram) feels a lot faster than my M2 MBA. And so I'm curious if the M3 Max would feel even faster? I'm also worried about worse battery life but curious about anecdotal experiences of the speed!
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M3 Pro vs M3 Max in everyday tasks - speed difference?
- Thread starter Nrwrit3r
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I'm assuming by everyday tasks you are talking about emails, web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, etc.. For those tasks, I doubt you are going to see any benefit by going to the Max. The bump you are seeing over your M2 Air are likely due to the gains in single core performance on the M3 generation and the extra RAM you have in your new machine. There may be actual downsides if you go to the Max for just light workloads. The M3 Pro has 6 efficiency cores vs only 4 on the Max chip. If all you are doing is light tasks, you are going to see better battery life on the Pro chip this generation, and you won't benefit from any of the extra performance cores on the Max.
Seriously, enjoy your new computer. There has been a lot of negative press around the M3 Pro specifically due to it being a bit of a side-grade from the M2 Pro. But, it is still a nice step up from the base M2. And the efficiency gains from M3 plus the six efficiency core configuration mean you will get great performance for your usage while also enjoying really good battery life.
Seriously, enjoy your new computer. There has been a lot of negative press around the M3 Pro specifically due to it being a bit of a side-grade from the M2 Pro. But, it is still a nice step up from the base M2. And the efficiency gains from M3 plus the six efficiency core configuration mean you will get great performance for your usage while also enjoying really good battery life.
Everyday tasks are typically only single threaded. There will be no difference. Like the person above said, the M3 Pro will be more power efficient. I probably would've gotten it if it was available with even 48GB of memory because of the cost savings and battery life. Considering I had to bump up to the M3 Max 16/40 just to get 48GB, I figured an extra $200 for 64GB was worth it for a machine that I'll be using for 6-7 years. But even if you get a Max, the battery life should still be quite good because all of Apple Silicon is good compared to anything else on the market.
You won't notice a difference in day to day use, that doesn't use apps that would take advantage of the Max chip.
Most of the YouTube videos on the new Macs are nothing more than clickbait drivel meant to spurn people to the Max chip. Often times, the same rhetoric is repeated here by those who have convinced themselves that they need the Max chip with max RAM and max storage and everything else won't do.
Most of the YouTube videos on the new Macs are nothing more than clickbait drivel meant to spurn people to the Max chip. Often times, the same rhetoric is repeated here by those who have convinced themselves that they need the Max chip with max RAM and max storage and everything else won't do.
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After long considerations I will head for an M3 Max cause I want to play Baldurs Gate 3 the best way there is.
I am still torn between 48 and 64 Gb of Ram, like macduke I want to use the machine for 6 to 7 years
I am still torn between 48 and 64 Gb of Ram, like macduke I want to use the machine for 6 to 7 years
I’m keeping my M3 Pro, because it’s plenty for email and light video editing, and I plan to get the new M5 CPU with WiFi 7 in a year or 2. Also 18GB of RAM is shared with the GPU as VRAM so my next one should be 48GB or 36GB of RAM. Also a new OLED Display. Also by then we should have Thunderbolt 5 at 80Gbps.
So the M3 Pro should easily be a 2 year machine. And I’ll get $800 resale, plus 20% off .Edu discount on the M5 Max in 2026.
It's very doubtful that you would really notice any difference in everyday tasks. These aren't the kinds of tasks that can really max out these chips, so adding more cores isn't going to make much of a difference.
(There are memory bandwidth and cache size differences also, but the memory bandwidth is going to be much more beneficial for GPU intensive workloads. Typical CPU workloads generally don't use as much memory bandwidth as graphics-centered workloads do.)
(There are memory bandwidth and cache size differences also, but the memory bandwidth is going to be much more beneficial for GPU intensive workloads. Typical CPU workloads generally don't use as much memory bandwidth as graphics-centered workloads do.)
I have both M3 Pro 18/12/1TB and M3 Max 48/16/1TB. I see absolutely no difference in everyday tasks, namely web browsing, e-mail, and MS office. In my opinion, the best way to assess workaday performance on these things is speedometer 2.1 speed test. It does a good job of measuring browser performance and overall alacrity of a machine. Test results on both are identical.
It feels faster to you because of M3's improved single core performance. M3Max is only more performant than M3 Pro in multicore and graphics-intensive application. For everyday use, e.g., web browsing and MS office work, you will not feel any difference.
And that is the key for me. 6 efficiency cores over 4 for the other systems, which makes the computer more snappy. that is a route I’m going to take after some consideration between the pro max or the pro. 👌
I just bought the minimum spec Max MacBook Pro (Max), at a Black Friday Price Match discount (in Australia).
My reasoning is straightforward:
Easier to sell should I require an upgrade.
Speed differentials between Pro and Maxx may increase when software catches up.
In Australia special prices for the Pro (16") only included 512 GB, which is a bad joke. The Max had 1 TB (barely enough IMO). The upgrade to 2TB is expensive, and when one does so, the discount at the moment is lost. So the 1TB is the current "sweet spot".
16" Pro's discounted machines only had 18MB memory, and while 16MB memory seemed to be enough for the M1 Pro when it came out, but maybe now more memory is a benefit.
I have a lot of video work to do and maybe some 3D work (renovation planning for a property (I'm retired but I do have a lot to do).
The video work includes a lot of upscaling from low res to 4k using Topaz software. It takes many hours to do on my 2017 - I am hoping this Max will be quicker.
The MacPro takes more and more time to support so I am hoping this notebook will do the job.
The base Mac Max I felt is the sweet spot in value at the moment, in a confusing line up. Although one pays more than the 14", one does get a bigger charger, a bigger battery, more cooling and a bigger screen, and I sure value the screen.
My mid 2017 front touch pad 15.4" is getting flakey and I'm going to install Win 10 on it, I reckon Windows will be stable on it, and its better than the crap trade in Apple is now offering for mine.
If it all works well, I could sell my RAID card with its 4TB of cards (or is it 6 TB?) and put that amount into a bigger drive Max. I can return MacBook Pro Max up to January 8, so I still have options.
My reasoning is straightforward:
Easier to sell should I require an upgrade.
Speed differentials between Pro and Maxx may increase when software catches up.
In Australia special prices for the Pro (16") only included 512 GB, which is a bad joke. The Max had 1 TB (barely enough IMO). The upgrade to 2TB is expensive, and when one does so, the discount at the moment is lost. So the 1TB is the current "sweet spot".
16" Pro's discounted machines only had 18MB memory, and while 16MB memory seemed to be enough for the M1 Pro when it came out, but maybe now more memory is a benefit.
I have a lot of video work to do and maybe some 3D work (renovation planning for a property (I'm retired but I do have a lot to do).
The video work includes a lot of upscaling from low res to 4k using Topaz software. It takes many hours to do on my 2017 - I am hoping this Max will be quicker.
The MacPro takes more and more time to support so I am hoping this notebook will do the job.
The base Mac Max I felt is the sweet spot in value at the moment, in a confusing line up. Although one pays more than the 14", one does get a bigger charger, a bigger battery, more cooling and a bigger screen, and I sure value the screen.
My mid 2017 front touch pad 15.4" is getting flakey and I'm going to install Win 10 on it, I reckon Windows will be stable on it, and its better than the crap trade in Apple is now offering for mine.
If it all works well, I could sell my RAID card with its 4TB of cards (or is it 6 TB?) and put that amount into a bigger drive Max. I can return MacBook Pro Max up to January 8, so I still have options.
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I got the base 16" M3 Pro today and love it. I also was considering upgrading to the M3 Max but..., I also just use for email, web browsing and writing my journal. Even the Pro is overkill for me but I wanted the larger screen (coming from the 14" M1). Great thread and explanations of the Pro vs Max.
How's it been running? I'm trying to decide between M3 Pro and Max myself, and BG3 is something I want to be able to play.