{"id":78445,"date":"2021-11-04T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=78445"},"modified":"2021-11-04T10:39:36","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T15:39:36","slug":"m1pro-m1max-creatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/78445-m1pro-m1max-creatives\/","title":{"rendered":"What the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBooks Mean for Creatives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Max is the new pro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Apple\u2019s new Macbook Pro was released to near universal praise. The new M1 Pro and M1Max chips are the main attraction. It now looks like Apple labels their top-of-line \u201cmax,\u201d as in Airpods Max being higher than the Airpods Pro. And \u201cpro\u201d represents the middle-of-the-line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But seasoned professionals know that with \u201cnew and shiny\u201d usually comes a series of gotchas that can be a total buzzkill when your new kit meets the real world. So let\u2019s dive into the exciting new stuff, and take note about why it might be wise to wait a moment before hopping on board with the new Macbook Pros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performance at a price<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The M1 Pro chip features up to a 10 core CPU and a 16 core GPU. The M1 Max sports up to a 32 core GPU. Both chips come with oodles of memory and blazing fast storage. Fully specced, you\u2019ll spend over $6,000. Top performance, but just 2TB of storage runs $4,299. At 14\u201d I\u2019m guessing the sweet spot is around $3,299 (10 core CPU\/32 Core GPU\/32GB RAM\/1TB storage). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any way you look at it, these are expensive machines. These are expensive 1st generation<\/em> machines. And there\u2019s the rub. New platforms are always exciting. But sometimes they can make you feel like a beta tester. Here\u2019s an example<\/a> of a video editor struggling with artifacts on his exports with his M1. Those are the kind of things that you\u2019ll most likely avoid on the latest Intel chips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gauging Mac vs PC just got harder<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your team works on things like 3D graphics or color grading, you\u2019re probably accustomed to trying to weigh the latest offerings from Apple against NVIDIA graphics-powered PC machines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DaVinci
Source: Apple<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

These kinds of comparisons just got harder with the debut of Apple\u2019s system-on-a-chip designs. It becomes more difficult because you are asking questions like, \u201cHave the software developers optimized their apps for Apple?\u201d You might wonder if they are using Metal or OpenCL? How does NVIDIA\u2019s CUDA performance compare to Apple\u2019s graphics? What about Apple\u2019s chips vs the AMD GPUs in Apple\u2019s Mac Pro? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Apple's
Source: Apple<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, there are sites like BareFeats.com<\/a>, GFX Bench<\/a>, and GeekBench<\/a> to help you try to weigh the performance of these different systems against one another. You really have to find the apps that you use the most and look for specific benchmarks to help you make a purchase decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, in Apple\u2019s keynote, they demonstrated that the M1 Max outperformed a new Mac Pro with 28 cores and an afterburner card (a card optimized for ProRes), but they didn\u2019t mention the GPU. BareFeats showed a bit of a different story<\/a>\u2014they said the \u201cM1 Max MacBook Pro only beat the 2019 Mac Pro in 1 out of 8 tests we ran using the newest, fastest Apple GPUs.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it\u2019s important to recognize that there\u2019s still a gap between desktop and mobile performance. I know that seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes it\u2019s hard to cut through the marketing speak and get to the facts. When compared to Windows laptops with top-level GPUs, the M1 Max appears to keep pace<\/a>, and it doesn\u2019t quite destroy them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro motion and calibrated displays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Apple made some interesting points about their new displays. They seemed to recommend that video editors turn off \u201cpro motion\u201d in order to achieve the proper refresh rate in their NLE\u2019s viewers. I can\u2019t help but think that this is akin to turning off \u201csoap-opera mode\u201d on TVs from Best Buy (but hey, some people<\/a> like it). Personally, I love pro motion on my iPhone 13 Pro Max. I wish the viewer of an NLE would not utilize it, but the UI could. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new displays also tout new methods of calibration<\/a>. If you happen to have a $16K scope<\/a> kicking around, it looks like you can dial in<\/a> your (at least previous-gen) MacBook Pro display.  So it looks like the consensus is that the display is fantastic, but the calibration isn\u2019t precisely spot on out-of-the-box. But you can get it dialed in nicely, if your work demands that level of precision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

App optimization <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

New hardware is great, but if software makers don\u2019t utilize it, you can feel let down. We all know that Apple\u2019s Final Cut Pro will be optimized to playback ProRes footage on the new machines. But once you step outside of that things are less clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Source: Apple<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Will Resolve and Premiere really milk this hardware for all that it is worth? Will raw codecs like 8K REDCODE play back substantially better? Will After Effects be able to use more than 1 CPU core? (hehe – I kid, Adobe is working<\/a> on it, but don\u2019t expect miracles right away). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this sounds like you, my advice is to keep an eye on YouTube for people using your preferred app and the specs that you are considering. Wait for those tests to come out before pulling the trigger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honestly, it takes time for the plugin makers, NLE developers, and Apple themselves to work out compatibility. Once the bugs get smashed, then they start optimizing for performance. If you are using this machine to make money, and you buy a first-gen, expect to navigate some uncharted waters while things settle down. Even Dropbox<\/a> has been trying to figure things out! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Redshift
Source: Apple<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Deprecated Kernel extensions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I want to include this section because I feel like there isn\u2019t much written on it. Apple is in the process of deprecating \u201ckernel extensions.\u201d These extensions allow for things like fiber cards, audio interfaces, and file system interfaces<\/a> to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of pros rely on hardware and software that utilizes these .kext files without even knowing it. Each new iteration of Apple\u2019s operating system increases the security of the system. One of these security measures is to deprecate kernel extensions in favor of system extensions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a messy process. These new macs will ship with Monterey, so before you pull the trigger, make sure that your critical tools will be compatible. For instance, at our shop, we use Postlab Drive<\/a>. It is dependent on macFuse<\/a>. MacFuse isn\u2019t compatible with Monterey, so that means we will hold off on purchasing a new Macbook Pro. So dig into your workflow before making the switch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lots more could be said about these powerful Macs. But I hope that we\u2019ve touched on some of the issues that are core to professional users who really push their workflows to the limit every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s an exciting time to be a mac user, but sometimes it’s tough to keep a clear head and make wise purchase decisions. This is a seismic shift for pro users. What issues are you factoring in before making the switch to Apple silicon?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our resident filmmaker Jon takes us back to that big day Apple announced these new computers and gives us his take on if these are ideal for creatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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