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Badly Drawn Boy
Inspiring
October 31, 2021
Answered

Apple M1 Pro vs Max for Photoshop?

  • October 31, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 13533 views

I'm deciding between a new Macbook M1 Pro or M1 Max. I don't do any video editing or other GPU-intensive tasks, but I do edit photos in Lightroom Classic and Photoshop. Would I notice any difference in Photoshop or Lr Classic between the Pro or Max configurations? Would these Adobe apps take advantage of the extra GPU cores with the Max? 

 

Another question is RAM. I've read that memory is far more efficient with Apple silicon, and for most users, 16 GB will be plenty. Is that right? I'm trying to decide between 16 & 32 GB of RAM.  

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer gener7

Here are some YouTube videos that go into the subject comparing M1 models and Ram.

32 GB would be good future proofing, if you plan to stay with your purchase for years.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=m1max+photoshop

2 replies

thatsmauri
Community Expert
thatsmauriCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 31, 2021

The M1 Max has indeed a more powerful GPU. If you can afford it, go with that one.

 

Regarding RAM: the more, the better. 16GB is considered minimum nowadays and Adobe does recommend to have at least 16GB or more in the system requirements. One thing to keep in mind: The Pro variant can only be upgraded up to 32GB, whereas the Max variant can be upgraded up to 64GB. Those are numbers that you may likely never hit, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

gener7
Community Expert
gener7Community ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
October 31, 2021

Here are some YouTube videos that go into the subject comparing M1 models and Ram.

32 GB would be good future proofing, if you plan to stay with your purchase for years.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=m1max+photoshop

    B
    Badly Drawn BoyAuthor
    Inspiring
    November 1, 2021

    I watched a few of the videos you linked to—thanks for that. 

    The takeaway, almost universally, is that the Pro is very close in performance to the Max, and that 16 GB is very close to 32 GB. The reviewers said that the upgrade from Pro to Max and from 16 to 32 GB is not going to be worth it for all but a few people with highly intensive workflows. That doesn't include me. 

      gener7
      Community Expert
      gener7Community Expert
      Community Expert
      November 1, 2021

      I'm glad they did help. "What should I get?" questions ultimately depend on others' workflow questions I'm usually not in a good position to evaluate.

       

      Gene

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