M1 Pro VS M1 Max which one to buy as a Developer

In Software Development


M1 Pro VS M1 Max which one to buy as a Developer - read the full article about software development 2021, Software Development and from Aivars Meijers on Qualified.One
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Aivars Meijers
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Hey, friend!, after apple MacBook event there is only one question to ask which one to buy.

The answer is always is that depends, depends what you are planning to do with it, but I can share what I ordered for iOS development.

You can max out any of those machines.

So 14 or 16 MacBook do not limit you in any way.

So you can choose whatever size you like.

If you are on tight budgets, then $1999 14 inch MacBook pro cheapest one is great choice, and that will be much better than any of M1 machines.

If every penny counts, I always recommend to wait just a bit and see slightly used M1 MacBooks coming to secondhand market because many of us will upgrade from M1 machine.

If you are picking 14 inch MacBook pro and can afford $500 upgrade, I would choose second base model to get 10 core CPU and one 1TB SSD.

Thats good deal for apple hardware their SSDs are from pure gold, at least looking on prices.

I am going with 16 inch in this year, I had 16 inch Intel MacBook.

It was horrible machine because of our heating and it was twice in warranty repair for main board replacement, probably because I used to many many monitors with it, but screen was nice.

14 inch will be more convenient for traveling, but I do not travel much nowadays.

And the screen will be the best one in my house because that liquid retina XDR or whatever, probably I will use it as my main screen until apple will release more price friendly monitor, or I will become rich and buy pro display XDR.

Okay.

Size and weight.

Very opiniated question 500 grams that is a quite big difference between both machines.

So maybe 16 inches too bulky for you.

But anyways, the next most important question is M1Pro or M1 Max processor.

I am earning money using Xcode.

That is my money printing App on my Mac.

Yes, I do some video and photo editing, but revenue from that can cover, I dont know, maybe my electricity bill only.

So that is more like hobby.

So I care about performance from programming perspective M1 Max and M1 Pro has exactly the same performance working in Xcode, accordingly information from apple.

It will be the same for any other programming IDE.

M1 Max clearly wins in photo and video editing apps, maybe we will need more GPU power someday later for virtual reality development.

But that is not the case today.

You need M1 Max as a developer only if you like to connect more than two external monitors or like to have 64GB of Ram.

Otherwise I do not see a reason to upgrade to that m1 Max I was thinking about that M1 Max processor..

Uh, currently we have three base options available and I was looking on most expensive one because if I would like to connect more than two monitors.

So this M1 Max could help.

Also, maybe that could be nice to go extra power for video editing.

And 32 gigabytes of Ram also is nice to have option.

I almost ordered it that machine, but then I started to thinking about those.

Nice to have features versus real life needs and price for them.

Price difference between base 16 inch and third option is thousand dollars in U S and thousand and hundred euros in Europe.

So I do not see myself using more than two external monitors.

Also.

I do not need the GPU power in M1 Max currently Im editing my videos on M1 MacBook pro M1 Pro will be huge improvement already.

So Im getting M1 Pro.

Uh, next in my list is Ram.

34GB of Ram is nice amount to have, but how much it costs $400 in US.

460 euros in Europe.

460 euros for me is a little bit too much for just in case.

Currently I have 16 gigabytes of Ram in my M one MacBook pro, and that is enough for comfortable work.

In my use cases.

I am planning to keep that 16 inch MacBook pro for about two years and do not expect the during the time I will need more.

Um, you know, your use case better.

If you are planning to keep that machine for more than two years, then probably that will be wise to operate around first.

But for most developers, 16 gigabytes of Ram will be enough.

But do not expect that this new unified memory is the same, like old 32 gigabytes or I dont know, even more sure it is faster, but if you like to fit 30 gigabytes of, I dont know, Photoshop image layers in 16 gigabytes of Ram, you will fail..

I see that Xcode on its own can take about seven gigabytes of Ram when Im working.

So your 16 gigabytes of Ram is, must have for development and based 16 inch MacBook pro with M1 Pro processor is right choice for me.

Only upgrade that I added is 1TD SSD.

200 is a bit pricey for 512 GB of SSD, and any external SSD will be cheaper, but I see that Im close to limit on my current 521 gigabytes in my MacBook pro.

So I upgraded that.

Other than that, all the other base configuration, I already ordered machine and expecting to get to deliver it in middle of November.

Current delivery date is 12th of November, but you know, delays are everywhere.

I do not expect to see it faster.

You will see definitely follow up videos and tests.

And if you have anything specific that you would like see tested , let me know most likely I will gladly do that.

Okay.

Thank you for watching.

See you on the next one.

Aivars Meijers: M1 Pro VS M1 Max which one to buy as a Developer - Software Development