Apple’s recent M1 Pro and M1 Max are amazing, so how do they compare to the original M1? Apple M1 vs. M1 Pro vs. M1 Max: How fast is Apple’s new chip?
After Apple announced the launch of M1 chip, the heat swept the world. Previously, the desktop chip market was dominated by x86 chip makers, particularly Intel and AMD, while ARM chips were mostly considered “mobile” chips. So Apple’s decision to use ARM chips in its Mac, and the first chip that resulted, was particularly groundbreaking. The M1 can compete with the best cpus from Intel and AMD.
With the M1 Pro and M1 Max, Apple showed its confidence in chips and products, but how fast are they, and how do they compare to the regular Apple M1?
Hardware differences between Apple M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max
Before we talk about the differences between the new generation and Apple’s older M1 chips, we need to briefly list the differences between the M1 Pro and the M1 Max.
First, the so-called M1 Pro is actually two chips.
First, 8-core chips with 14-core Gpus, then 10-core chips with 16-core Gpus. This means that not every M1 Pro is the same, despite what the name might suggest.
For the original Apple M1, the company offered a choice between 7-core and 8-core Gpus, but the CPU itself remained the same throughout all demos. In this case, we have two different cpus, which is a little misleading to some customers because they share a name.
The difference between the M1 Pro 8 core and THE M1 Pro 10 core was also very large, with significant improvement in multi-core performance, although there was almost no difference in single-core.
The M1 Max is also a 10-core chip, but it packs a bigger punch than the M1 Pro, scoring slightly higher in benchmark tests. The M1 Max contains 57 billion transistors, while the M1 Pro has 33.7 billion. Of course, the Apple M1 Max also comes with a more powerful GPU, offering users 24 – and 32-core options in the M1 Pro’s 14 – and 16-core demos.
Apple M1 vs. M1 Pro vs. M1 Max
So how does this differ from Apple’s first M1 processor?
Launched last year, the Apple M1 is an eight-core chip made using the same 5nm process as the M1 Pro and Max, but on a much smaller chip. So with 16 billion transistors compared to the 33.7 billion transistors of the M1 Pro, it’s an overall lower performance chip.
On average, single-core performance between the four chips appears to be about the same, while the M1 Pro and M1 Max are being equipped with more expensive computers. But that may not be the kind of improvement Apple is after with these chips. Instead, multicore performance is where we see significant differences.
The AVERAGE score for the M1 Pro 8-core was 9,933, higher than the 7,669 for the regular M1. Even though the two chips have the same number of cores (eight), that’s a 30% increase, meaning that even on the low-end version of the chip, Apple’s claimed performance improvements are actually being validated. Further improvements can be seen in the M1 Pro 10 core, which manages to increase by another 20% all the way to 12,061.
Then again, Apple’s flagship chip, the M1 Max, was the absolute performance winner — but not by much. It scored an average of 12,711, just 5% better than the M1 Pro 10 core performance. Then again, the M1 Max is also powered by a larger 24 – or 32-core GPU, which should perform much better than the M1 Pro’s 16-core GPU.
Which Apple CPU should you buy?
So which one suits you better? The answer depends entirely on your needs, but unless you really need the performance offered by the new MacBook Pro, you’re probably happy with the plain M1.
While both new chips are substantial improvements over the old ones, for now, they’re only available in the new MacBook Pro’s 14-inch and 16-inch models. If you start looking for more powerful models with better cpus, more storage, and more RAM, they can quickly become expensive.
The M1, on the other hand, has more affordable specs. Last year’s MacBook Air, for example, started at $999, and if you don’t need a laptop, the Mac Mini, with the same CPU, costs $699.
There’s a reason you might want a more expensive MacBook. For example, if you’re going to do heavy design work, or you’re going to do anything CPU – or GPU-intensive, you might want to use a premium MacBook Pro or M1 Max with an M1. But if all you have to do is search the Internet, run some programs, send some emails and be more casual with your computer, then the M1-equipped machine is still worth having.
M1 Pro/Max for professionals, M1 for everyone else
The M1 is still perfect for most people, but the M1 Pro and M1 Max go one step further.