# M1 Pro vs Max -- how much memory do I need for Apple Silicon?



## Al Maurice (Nov 5, 2021)

*M1 Pro vs Max -- is there any conceivable difference in real world applications?*

*I thought it would be interesting if we could share our experience in terms of ...*

Apple Silicon now uses unified memory, also many of the machines have higher bandwidth (200-400GB/s). With the efficiency cores does that mean we no longer need as much memory?

Where is the sweet spot for large orchestral templates?

Where is the sweet spot for mixed templates with synths, sound effects some orchestral parts?

How does the equation change now that more DAWs allow for tracks with multiple articulations and with many libraries optimised for performance playing instead relying more on CPU?

How much impact do the performance cores add?

Is there a point where it doesn't matter any more even with more performance cores, considering Apple Silicon is optimised for Video particularly Prores encoding?


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## Van (Nov 5, 2021)

(Looking forward to some reports on this. . .)


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## Technostica (Nov 5, 2021)

It’s not called M1X Pro, just M1 Pro and similarly for the Max version.


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## Al Maurice (Nov 6, 2021)

OK -- here goes -- I've reframed the question in terms of memory usage. It seems that's on everybody's mind right now that Apple Silicon uses unified memory and has higer memory bandwidth on the bus.


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## pixel (Nov 6, 2021)

I'm also curious. Currently, I'm a PC user with 32GB RAM (I don't need massive templates with thousands of tracks). I wonder if 16GB on those Macs would be good enough for me.
32GB MAX version has a pretty high price for someone like me who is building DIY PCs. Internal SSD is microscopic too, but it's another story.


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## Chritha (Nov 6, 2021)

After watching lots of youtube and reading many articles I am about to buy a new Macbook pro M1 pro 16"
With the price difference being 400€ plus I am having a hard time deciding on 16GB or 32GB RAM.
I use Kontakt and various libraries, but do not need to load tons of different string articulations and I dońt score Marvel movies...


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## Vik (Nov 6, 2021)

On Intel Macs, there's a very noticeable difference between having 32gb and 64gb – even for user who don't plan to make full orchestral mockups – these guys often have 128 gb, and some have a lot more.

And: so far, I haven't seen anyone document eg. that 32 gb on an ARM Mac equals 64gb on an Intel Mac, or that 16gb/ARM equals 32gb/Intel.

These Macs are pricey, but if you'll keep it for, say, 5 years, 400€ equals less than €7/month. Buying such a powerful computer, my guess is that many users will regret that they didn't go for at leas 32 gb as a minimum. Having said that, there's of course other good stuff you could get for 400€ as well!


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## rnb_2 (Nov 6, 2021)

Chritha said:


> After watching lots of youtube and reading many articles I am about to buy a new Macbook pro M1 pro 16"
> With the price difference being 400€ plus I am having a hard time deciding on 16GB or 32GB RAM.
> I use Kontakt and various libraries, but do not need to load tons of different string articulations and I dońt score Marvel movies...


I would not generally advise buying an M1 Pro or Max machine with less than 32GB - that's really what the M1s are for. However, if you want this mainly for the larger/nicer screen vs the 13" M1s, I could see a case for going with the least expensive option. If you were looking at the 14", I'd even go with the 8c/14c base model, but that doesn't exist for the 16".

That said, it's still an expensive purchase, so if you can swing the 32GB RAM upgrade, I'd do it. Software is generally not getting less RAM-hungry, so having more might delay your next upgrade, possibly by a lot. More RAM would probably also make it more attractive on the used market in a couple years.


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## easyrider (Nov 6, 2021)

I’m not very experienced with Macs but if I was buying a Mac Book M1 pro and I was laying out $1999 for a 16GB pro I would defo spend $2399 to get the 32GB version.

Your already in $2000 if you can’t afford $2399 considering the Book can’t be upgraded….then cut your losses and Get a Windows Laptop….😂

32GB is the Minimum IMHO….why scrimp on a major purchase ? Ram is one of the most important parts of computing…

And If I was spending Money on the M1 Max then I would get 64GB without hesitation.


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## pixel (Nov 7, 2021)

easyrider said:


> I’m not very experienced with Macs but if I was buying a Mac Book M1 pro and I was laying out $1999 for a 16GB pro I would defo spend $2399 to get the 32GB version.
> 
> Your already in $2000 if you can’t afford $2399 considering the Book can’t be upgraded….then cut your losses and Get a Windows Laptop….😂
> 
> ...


Do you mean 14" version? Here in France 16" 32GB RAM is €3000. 
Yes I agree that it's better to go for the higher model. It's unfortunate that it can't be upgraded later.


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## typewriter (Nov 7, 2021)

There were several reviews stating that there is no real difference between 32 and 64gb of Ram in real live usage. Seems that the machine "swaps" to the ssd anyway. There is a measurable difference from 8 to 16gb and from 16 to 32gb but not really from 32 to 64gb. Recommendation was to save the money from a memory upgrade to 64gb and go for a bigger internal ssd instead. To my knowledge the 64gb Ram are only available for the m1 Pro max. For musicians this cpu might be pretty useless since the additional power of this one comes mainly though its additional graphics cores. For musicians the m1 pro with 32gb ram and a bigger ssd seems to be the sweet spot. What prevents me from getting one of these machines is the networking. Integrated 10gb networking or at least a working 10gb USB/thunderbolt adapter would offer the possibility to work with files over the network. But no offering from Apple. This is a real miss. I am wondering that all the video people are not complaining about this.


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## pixel (Nov 7, 2021)

YouTube is starting to fill my recomm3nded videos with m1 Mac videos


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## khollister (Nov 7, 2021)

typewriter said:


> There were several reviews stating that there is no real difference between 32 and 64gb of Ram in real live usage. Seems that the machine "swaps" to the ssd anyway. There is a measurable difference from 8 to 16gb and from 16 to 32gb but not really from 32 to 64gb. Recommendation was to save the money from a memory upgrade to 64gb and go for a bigger internal ssd instead. To my knowledge the 64gb Ram are only available for the m1 Pro max. For musicians this cpu might be pretty useless since the additional power of this one comes mainly though its additional graphics cores. For musicians the m1 pro with 32gb ram and a bigger ssd seems to be the sweet spot. What prevents me from getting one of these machines is the networking. Integrated 10gb networking or at least a working 10gb USB/thunderbolt adapter would offer the possibility to work with files over the network. But no offering from Apple. This is a real miss. I am wondering that all the video people are not complaining about this.


Everything I have seen indicates the Sonnet or Akitia 10Gbps TB adapters work fine. Apple doesn’t make a GigE adapter either - they sell the Belkin one in the store.


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## Vik (Nov 7, 2021)

typewriter said:


> There were several reviews stating that there is no real difference between 32 and 64gb of Ram in real live usage.


Did they document that this also is true for users with hundreds or thousands if gigabytes of deep sampled virtual instruments?


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## Sovereign (Nov 7, 2021)

typewriter said:


> There were several reviews stating that there is no real difference between 32 and 64gb of Ram in real live usage. Seems that the machine "swaps" to the ssd anyway. There is a measurable difference from 8 to 16gb and from 16 to 32gb but not really from 32 to 64gb.


With a couple of orchestral libraries loaded I am easily using more than 32gb. I have yet to see my M1 Max with 64 GB use the swap though.


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## davidson (Nov 7, 2021)

Sovereign said:


> With a couple of orchestral libraries loaded I am easily using more than 32gb. I have yet to see my M1 Max with 64 GB use the swap though.


Could you elaborate on 'a couple of orchestral libraries'? 40gb of ram used would indicate a pretty large template? Not zimmer sized maybe, but for the average user.


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## easyrider (Nov 7, 2021)

typewriter said:


> There were several reviews stating that there is no real difference between 32 and 64gb of Ram in real live usage. Seems that the machine "swaps" to the ssd anyway. There is a measurable difference from 8 to 16gb and from 16 to 32gb but not really from 32 to 64gb. Recommendation was to save the money from a memory upgrade to 64gb and go for a bigger internal ssd instead. To my knowledge the 64gb Ram are only available for the m1 Pro max. For musicians this cpu might be pretty useless since the additional power of this one comes mainly though its additional graphics cores. For musicians the m1 pro with 32gb ram and a bigger ssd seems to be the sweet spot. What prevents me from getting one of these machines is the networking. Integrated 10gb networking or at least a working 10gb USB/thunderbolt adapter would offer the possibility to work with files over the network. But no offering from Apple. This is a real miss. I am wondering that all the video people are not complaining about this.


10GB Networking is coming to the M1 Pro Plus and M1 Max Plus in Q4 2022…..

😂


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## Nimrod7 (Nov 7, 2021)

typewriter said:


> What prevents me from getting one of these machines is the networking. Integrated 10gb networking or at least a working 10gb USB/thunderbolt adapter would offer the possibility to work with files over the network. But no offering from Apple. This is a real miss. I am wondering that all the video people are not complaining about this.


I was disappointed by this myself. I was expecting a brick similar to the iMac 24" with an option for 1GbE or 10Gbe.

I can speculate that the reasoning at Apple could be the option to offer a redesigned MagSafe, vs a designing new connector that offers data like the iMac 24.

I ended up purchasing a Sonnet Solo10G SFP+, which will consume a valuable thunderbolt port, but on the other hand I was able to get SFP+ connectivity which the rest of my network is, and avoid the copper transceiver.


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## Al Maurice (Nov 8, 2021)

Sovereign said:


> With a couple of orchestral libraries loaded I am easily using more than 32gb. I have yet to see my M1 Max with 64 GB use the swap though.


M1 uses unified memory -- so it's likely it grabs everything the OS needs up front.

Everything is in that 32GB, OS, disk cache, GPU cache (dependent on screen mode and application usage). Some of the Intel chips does this too, so Apple is not alone in this.

Thus the question still comes down to: how does the OS optimise graphics against application usage?

As a user can I tweak the caches to gain optimal usage for any given scenario?

How best can I monitor memory usage or network usage like I can using the performance tool on Windows 10?


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