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UnderTheStairs
Known Participant
March 20, 2025
Question

Mac Studio M3 Ultra 28/60 96GB RAM or M4 Max 16/40 128GB RAM for AE?

  • March 20, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 3162 views

Hi

 

Any advice please on which will be the best performing for my AE workflow.

 

I spend most of my time on a job animating, tweaking, RAM previewing, tweaking, RAM previewing, tweaking etc. Some jobs are light, others can be heavy with many 2D layers, large 3D bitmap layers, cameras and effects. I mostly still work at 1080p 25fps. The machine needs to be future proof and last for many years.

 

I'm considering either a Mac Studio M3 Ultra 28/60 96GB RAM or an M4 Max 16/40 with 128GB RAM.

 

My first priority is a machine that builds RAM previews the fastest (afaik a multi core task), second priority is a reponsive UI (single core task). So I'm confused as I know the M4 Max is faster on single core tasks and the Ultra is faster on multi core tasks - but in the tests I've seen, the multi core on the M3 Ultra isn't hugely faster than the M4 Max. But maybe someone can offer some insight that I've not gained yet. 

 

Thanks.

3 replies

Warren Heaton
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 20, 2025

I'm pretty sure the M3 Ultra will still outperform the M4 Max, but I don't have one to test firsthand.

Here are some results for the After Effects Pulse Benchmark project that you might find helpful:

  • 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB
    2 minutes 50 seconds
  • AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990Xv 64-Core Processor 2.90 GHz, 128GB RAM
    3 minutes 56 seconds
  • 2019 Mac Pro 3.2 GHz 16-Core Intel Xeon W, 192GB of RAM
    5 minutes 51 seconds
  • M1 Max, 32GB
    6 minutes and 44 seconds
  • M1, 16GB
    14 minutes 5 seconds

 

Other results can be found here:  https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-beta-discussions/multi-frame-rendering-is-here-aka-the-multithreading-you-ve-been-asking-for/m-p/15199765/page/5#M3953



UnderTheStairs
Known Participant
March 20, 2025

Thanks for the link and the info Warren, appreciated. 

 

I'll keep an eye on that thread for the Ultra results when they appear.

Peru Bob
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 20, 2025
nishu_kush
Community Manager
Community Manager
March 20, 2025

Moving your post to the Video Hardware community.


Thanks,
Nishu

UnderTheStairs
Known Participant
March 20, 2025

Thank you.