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This is not a M1 -- it's a M1 Max. It's far superior to the base M1, and in many ways, it's pretty much just as good (if not significantly better in some tests) than the M4 base chip.
Let me break it down:
- the M1 Max single core is slightly slower than the M4, but it's so close, you'd be hard-pressed to see the difference in real life use.
- the M1 Max multi-core is just as good & better than the M4 (depending on the benchmark test being used). If you're in a real life usage scenario that uses the extra video encoders, you will see a performance gain over the M4.
- The M1 Max is inside a Macbook Pro chassis, which has active cooling (fans). This means it can sustain these levels of equivalent (or better) performance near indefinitely. The M4 base in a non-cooled chassis (M4 Air 13" or 15", for example) gets heat-soaked really quickly, leading to thermally throttling the performance. It happens really fast with multi-core performance, but a little slower with single core. In short, M4 Airs will experience thermal throttling under heavy loads.
- This is a 16" Macbook Pro with enhanced screen, speakers, and microphone + a larger trackpad. A 13/15" M4 Air will be smaller, and they don't have those premium tier components. Don't get me wrong, the Air isn't a slouch -- it's some of the best ultraportable hardware to be had at the $1000 pricetag. But the MBP is in an entirely different quality class.
- Last but not least -- you're getting a 1tb drive and 64gb of ram. That's a massive upgrade to the base specs of the M4 Air -- which you can only max out to 32gb of ram. The extra ram will help performance in a variety of high-stress applications. What Apple charges for extra storage in a new machine is almost criminal.
The closest machine to the specs of the deal above is the 15" M4 Air w/ 32gb ram + 1tb ssd, which will run you $2000.
Simply put, this is an excellent value at sub-$1500, and it will outperform any M4 Air. I'd suggest going with an M4 Air only if you are on a strict $1000 budget or absolutely need the weight + size reduction instead of performance.
I am using a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch, M1 Pro chip with 10โcore CPU and 16โcore GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, with 25 tabs open, and it is still rock solid.
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I would thumb up on this deal. I'm a software developer at one of the big tech. This is exactly model is my dev machine at work in the past 3 years and it's reliable as rock. On daily basis I use 3 IDEs, some times compiles 2 big projects with millions of lines of code at the same time, several dozen of browser taps, and connect 2 4k monitors at 60hz, with all that the machine is still smooth.
This is not a M1 -- it's a M1 Max. It's far superior to the base M1, and in many ways, it's pretty much just as good (if not significantly better in some tests) than the M4 base chip.Let me break it down:- the M1 Max single core is slightly slower than the M4, but it's so close, you'd be hard-pressed to see the difference in real life use.- the M1 Max multi-core is just as good & better than the M4 (depending on the benchmark test being used). If you're in a real life usage scenario that uses the extra video encoders, you will see a performance gain over the M4.- The M1 Max is inside a Macbook Pro chassis, which has active cooling (fans). This means it can sustain these levels of equivalent (or better) performance near indefinitely. The M4 base in a non-cooled chassis (M4 Air 13" or 15", for example) gets heat-soaked really quickly, leading to thermally throttling the performance. It happens really fast with multi-core performance, but a little slower with single core. In short, M4 Airs will experience thermal throttling under heavy loads.- This is a 16" Macbook Pro with enhanced screen, speakers, and microphone + a larger trackpad. A 13/15" M4 Air will be smaller, and they don't have those premium tier components. Don't get me wrong, the Air isn't a slouch -- it's some of the best ultraportable hardware to be had at the $1000 pricetag. But the MBP is in an entirely different quality class.- Last but not least -- you're getting a 1tb drive and 64gb of ram. That's a massive upgrade to the base specs of the M4 Air -- which you can only max out to 32gb of ram. The extra ram will help performance in a variety of high-stress applications. What Apple charges for extra storage in a new machine is almost criminal.The closest machine to the specs of the deal above is the 15" M4 Air w/ 32gb ram + 1tb ssd, which will run you $2000. Simply put, this is an excellent value at sub-$1500, and it will outperform any M4 Air. I'd suggest going with an M4 Air only if you are on a strict $1000 budget or absolutely need the weight + size reduction instead of performance.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank
Let me break it down:
- the M1 Max single core is slightly slower than the M4, but it's so close, you'd be hard-pressed to see the difference in real life use.
- the M1 Max multi-core is just as good & better than the M4 (depending on the benchmark test being used). If you're in a real life usage scenario that uses the extra video encoders, you will see a performance gain over the M4.
- The M1 Max is inside a Macbook Pro chassis, which has active cooling (fans). This means it can sustain these levels of equivalent (or better) performance near indefinitely. The M4 base in a non-cooled chassis (M4 Air 13" or 15", for example) gets heat-soaked really quickly, leading to thermally throttling the performance. It happens really fast with multi-core performance, but a little slower with single core. In short, M4 Airs will experience thermal throttling under heavy loads.
- This is a 16" Macbook Pro with enhanced screen, speakers, and microphone + a larger trackpad. A 13/15" M4 Air will be smaller, and they don't have those premium tier components. Don't get me wrong, the Air isn't a slouch -- it's some of the best ultraportable hardware to be had at the $1000 pricetag. But the MBP is in an entirely different quality class.
- Last but not least -- you're getting a 1tb drive and 64gb of ram. That's a massive upgrade to the base specs of the M4 Air -- which you can only max out to 32gb of ram. The extra ram will help performance in a variety of high-stress applications. What Apple charges for extra storage in a new machine is almost criminal.
The closest machine to the specs of the deal above is the 15" M4 Air w/ 32gb ram + 1tb ssd, which will run you $2000.
Simply put, this is an excellent value at sub-$1500, and it will outperform any M4 Air. I'd suggest going with an M4 Air only if you are on a strict $1000 budget or absolutely need the weight + size reduction instead of performance.
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Join The Conversation
Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
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