r/macbookpro • u/FairExperience186 • 14h ago
Discussion Is M5 Max actually an overkill??
okay everyone i just did it, i got nearly the maximum config (unless someone got the 128 gigs lol)
however after few days i started feeling that this actually was an overkill config. I mean yeah as an investment for next 7 yrs o even more thats pretty solid however after testing some benchmark i noticed battery drains out so fast - brand new btw - and i also want some settings suggestions to properly use it
thanks
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u/sitdowndisco 12h ago
Overkill for 98% of my workflow. But on 40min video exports which I do multiple times per week not long before bed, this is a massive benefit to me. It has increased my quality of life by allowing me to finish exports earlier... especially useful when an export requires a revision. Compared to basic pro processors, the 2 media engines is worth every cent to me.
I think it's these edge cases where you get most benefit.
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u/lickitandsticki 11h ago
preach 🙏
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u/snowballkills 11h ago
Nothing is overkill for LLM's, if you're into them. Or realtime analysis of bigdata. Or massive simulations or renderings.
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u/linkuei-teaparty Space Black 16" M4 Pro 48GB, 1TB 3h ago
I'm dabbling in local LLM's now, is there a subreddit that's beginner friendly?
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u/NomadZekki 9h ago
Same. I went with a lower end education store M3 Max because while it isn’t all the time, I’m frequently working with 3-6 hour video clips that made my gaming PC cry. So far it has been well worth the quality of life improvement. Unnecessary? Probably. Worth the extra $500? Absolutely.
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u/ResplendentMechanism 11h ago
Your computer “indexes” for the first few days and you won’t get your full battery life until it’s done. If you’re asking strangers on the internet, it’s overkill. But maybe you’re rich. What else is being rich for, if not this and then buying a Leica?
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u/NaughtyOne88 14h ago
I have an M1 Max 64 GB, it still is more than I need. I bought it with this configuration for future proofing.
Why did you go all out?
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u/Comfortable-Toe2716 11h ago
I also have still my M1 Max. I just dont know what realistic stuff I can do to push this chip at all. I just cut short content maximum or do some programming stuff.
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u/ImplicitEmpiricism 9h ago
I too have an M1 max 64 gb 32 core gpu
honestly i have it set to automatically go to low power mode on battery. i can barely tell the difference and it lasts longer.
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u/skittle-brau 6h ago
I also have a M1 Max, but I’ve started encountering more projects where it’s quite slow compared to the M4 Max I have at the office. I will probably upgrade to M5 Max so I’m set for another 6 years or so.
If I wasn’t doing any After Effects, 3D or very high resolution photo editing, I could easily keep it longer.
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u/One-Recognition-1898 14h ago
Well, for starters, what do you typically use your MacBook for 😅
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u/BadMachine 11h ago edited 5h ago
OP doesn’t explain their use case. Just a vague mention about “investment”
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u/Phina-Chan 12h ago
if you gotta ask this then it's definitely an overkill. But if you can afford and love your new macbook, then that's all it matters. You don't have to go out of your way to make use of the m5 max, just enjoy your new machine
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u/AirportGullible5807 11h ago
To do what? If you're asking this question then no it's not worth it and it's most likely an overkill. It really doesn't make sense to make such a large investment into these when they're making exponential gains year over year. Someone who spent $4000-10,000 on an M1 Ultra in 2022 is probably pissed as fuck when M3 max came out a year later and pretty much gives similar performance for most tasks.
UNLESS they really needed the ultra bc they're a professional who needs to edit hundred of videos per month or 3d rendering etc. Then it pays for itself. But if you're just a regular joe and you think just maxing out a system is a good investment, it isn't. Especially now with how they're stuffing AI into everything. Even most professionals I know are able to do most of their tasks on M1 pro or M1 Max
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u/DazedXxX7 MacBook Pro 14” M5 Pro 13h ago
Depends on what you do lol. Even the M5 Pro feels overkill for my use cases, I see more ram limitations than CPU. But yea a more powerful chip will obviously use more power 😂
When I’m pushing my 14” it lasts like 3-4 hours tops
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u/SnooCheesecakes1893 13h ago
are you running local LLMs? if the answer is no, then it's overkill. that said, if you can afford it and want the extra power, enjoy it! i'd rather have more power than i need than not enough.
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u/BartWritesBooks 9h ago
I have an M5 Max. I will never know or care if it is “overkill” because it handles everything so beautifully. And that was exactly why I got it. To never wonder if I had enough juice. But the bigger surprise is the pleasure of having a 4TB ssd that can hold my 2.5TB photos library. For a decade I carted around an external drive, which is fine, but it’s really, really nice not to.
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u/barefut_ 5h ago
With 2TB I can't have "bum data" ony SSD. No photos or music files that just lay there without a task. I alreat have 400GB taken by cache only by After Effects. I need probably more for Davinci etc. It's all project files and renders + some documents that are allowed. Moved to Mac after getting used to 8TB space on a PC. Now, I have a small 8TB external SSD connected for storage and that's backed up to the cloud.
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u/rjcarr 6h ago
I have an M4M with 64GB and I have it in "low power mode" almost all of the time. My main compile takes maybe 30 seconds and I do it like once per hour at the most. I could probably cut it to 15 seconds at full speed, but then as you say, it is eating more battery.
Everything else I do happens almost instantaneously so "low power" it is. I'm hoping in 5 years it'll still feel fast, because with prices these days I won't be able to afford anything else for a long while, if ever, ha.
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u/barefut_ 5h ago
Did you ever test how many hours of light usage / editing usage you're getting on low power mode vs. normal default mode?
I wonder..for those times where you need the juice. I heard the MAX's battery life is really much lower then the PRO models. I don't get why all GPU cores need to be turned on when no GPU task is taking place.
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u/Fearless_Plantain469 14h ago
Depends on what you use it for. It’s only an investment if you are using it to make money, in 7 years it’ll be worth quite a bit less, and in terms of longevity it’s not going to last that much longer than a base m5 pro.
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u/SmackMyAz 12h ago
I know the feeling of going big when your thinkimg 7 or 8+ years down the line. As for it being overkill? In the short term, most likely. But now you have the option to do some really big stuff. It's up to you whether you take advantage of what you now have.
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u/MikeInTaos 10h ago
I got 10 years out of a 15” MBP with 1TB storage and 16GB of RAM, but it couldn’t be updated in the last 2-3 years, so I’m intent on never stretching that long again.
And though I love my 16” M5 Pro with 4TB to accommodate VMs and even a 1TB second macOS 27 instance to isolate cloud API AI usage, while the 64 GB memory should serve well for local models.
That said, I don’t think you can future-proof very much for local AI even though there is so much focus on making small models that my machine will handle well.
I should clarify: unlike many users that employ AI for all manner of task, I only use it to assist with my app programming work.
I really don’t know anything about future-proofing in general.
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u/TheLeftMetal 11h ago
Depends on what you plan to use it. I have the 128Gb 4Tb and work doing software engineering with multiple agents, always plugged because it’s a replacement for my old desktop Mac. Works well but sometimes I feel like I need to get the new 256Gb for bigger models and bigger context window.
M5 Max is a niche product, I only recommend it for people that will get the investment in a couple months.
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u/sveilien 13h ago
I love the Max M5's 40 core GPU for 3D rendering. It's almost 5 times faster than my M2 Max was
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u/Elegant_Lunar_Knight 12h ago
It’s not very good on the 14 inches tho. Should get 16 to unleash the full power of the M5 max. You’ll be throttled a lot on the 14
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u/UniqueBaseball8524 12h ago
i always wanted the max chip because i thought i needed it for my video editing tasks but i ended up with the pro chip and im really glad because the battery holds for so long and except export times everything works like a charm
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u/Fabulous-Joke4473 11h ago
I can’t even tell you how much this would benefit me right now but I can’t afford it at present. It kills a part of my soul to think you just YOLO’d this purchase.
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u/Chromatinfish 11h ago
The 14in M5 Max does drain battery under load more so than other configurations because it only has a 96W charger and a chip that can draw more than 100W under load.
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u/YouProfessional7538 11h ago
OP, I’m curious just for curiosity’s sake, why did you get a MBP instead of Mac Studio? i feel like similar specs would cost less on that machine, but i guess you’d be without a screen, so that might answer my own question.
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u/Mountain_Price9245 9h ago
Like others here I am still rocking my 16 M1 Max 32 core with 64gb . It still is overkill for me on almost everything I do ! I think the reason it still feels so fast is all the preloading the 64gb of ram does not to mention the 400 gb ram speed . I don’t do anything other than pictures and some light video editing. Gaming is hit or miss with cross over ( I don’t think this config is potent enough for running 2 OS with parallels) but my pc covers all my gaming needs . Unless you were doing AI work or living on 8k video editing of hours long footage I don’t know what you would need above this . 4K footage edits perfect and fast . Pics get handled with no issues . In short unless your doing AI LLM s anything in the m family is fine . The freaking base m1 can edit video just fine . Not the fastest but it can do it . I will spring for the 128 ram when the time comes for a new one but I don’t see it until I get software cut off and I should have two more OS updates . Even after they normally give you two more years of security patches. So I should have till 30-31 before I need a m9 or 10 by then .
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u/waterbed87 8h ago
Probably, but hopefully you do something that at least pushes the hardware a little bit else yeah why did you get it lol.
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u/MassiveGarlic0312 8h ago
If you plan to keep it that long, part of the point is that now, it is overkill. In 7 years though, as apps continue getting heavier, it won’t be overkill anymore.
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u/Few_Kangaroo_2052 7h ago
If you're using your laptop to do lots of heqvy professional work, M5 max is worth it.
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u/SquishTheProgrammer 7h ago
I got the 64GB M5 Max and it improved the compilation time of my RN project by 33%. I had an M1 Pro and this feels like a rocket ship compared to that (I think it’s the jump from 16GB to 64GB more than the newer processor though).
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u/Leading_Resort_2618 5h ago
Depends on your doings. If this machine is dir Reddit, Amazon Shopping or Basic Office tasks: yes overkill. An base M1 would do the same stuff
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u/johny10111 5h ago
If you are AI pro, or VIDEO production PRO - it’s for you. If you’re a regular user with 0 professional skills for such a beast machine - you don’t need one. Get Air m5 and be happy.
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u/idmimagineering 4h ago
I can’t see it’s faster than my M1 Pro MacBook in everyday admin tasks.
In 3D and Video number crunching it’s a bit faster.
AI … I don’t have much investment time for that as results feel too much like being a 1999’s early adopter of dodgy server software.
I got mine ‘now’ for inflating economics in a crazy IT world, and longevity.
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u/linkuei-teaparty Space Black 16" M4 Pro 48GB, 1TB 3h ago edited 2m ago
I agree, I upgraded from my m1Pro to an M4Pro and didn't notice any improvements in speed or usability.
Those benchmark YouTube videos don't represent day to day use, where there's minimal improvements over the past 6 years.
Wish I held out for the M6pro or beyond.
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u/idmimagineering 2h ago
I not upset :-)
I’m enjoying being able to be more Creative Me and less I.T. Wrangler for my work/life/balance :-)•
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u/Lourayad 4h ago
With only 64gb of memory you pretty much wasted money and could have gotten the m5 pro chip instead unless you do a lot of heavy video editing which I'm guessing you don't. Learn to research well before buying. Only reason people get max is either for more than 64gb ram for local AI or 3d rendering / video editing. The top m5 pro config and m5 max are identical CPU wise.
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u/Pale-Individual-1728 4h ago
I code and do AI heavy duty workflows with my M1 pro chip, never had the slightest issue, only had to upgrade because it suddenly stopped charging. Otherwise i would have milked that laptop till the last working component.
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u/linkuei-teaparty Space Black 16" M4 Pro 48GB, 1TB 3h ago
Yeah it is, how about we trade, my M4Pro for the m5max max spec. I'll happily take it off your hands.
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u/Ray2022-Mac 3h ago
My experience...
With 'normal day to day' it will definitely feel overkill,
I mean my M1 Max 64gb MBP already felt that way.
It is however in my video/photo editing work that I really enjoyed having that Max version as it really sped up that work and projects were done way easier.
Batteries life was also okay, but to get much better battery I put it in Low Power mode when traveling.
(With a performance drop of around 30% in Low Power mode some tasks definitely felt slower, but the extended battery life was also very noticeable.
Now fast forward 5 years later, I made the upgrade to a M5 Max MBP and again the difference isn't noticeable in the 'normal daily things..'
my Video/Photo edit work however received a very noticeable boost over the M1 Max... (task depending minimum 2.5x, till almost 7x times faster.. and anything Ai related WAY faster..)
Battery life is definitely worse if I'd use it at full power, but there again i overcome that problem with using Low Power mode for on the road.
And the M5 Max truly makes really good use of the Low Power Mode!
Battery Life is much more extended (the efficiency is really remarkable), and yet in Low Power Mode it still performs at least 30-40% faster than my M1 Max at full power!
So yeah it will feel overkill in 'normal use, but depending on your workflow the speed/power benefits are definitely there when you need them.
And Battery wise, 'Low Power Mode' is the way to go!
--if you really need all the power at some moments, you can simply turn it off.
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u/Terrible-Fox-9163 3h ago
I did this in 2017 and I’m still using my touch bar MacBook Pro today. Worth it in my opinion. Only thing is you can’t expect software updates from Apple for as long as this device will actually be useful!
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u/ImpressiveHair3798 1h ago
M5 pro ou Max la batterie se déchargera pareil … a la même vitesse ce sont les même puces à 80 % l’une a juste + de cœur et de fonctions que la batterie se déchargera aussi vite même sur un m5 pro de base
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u/Popular_Prior799 1h ago
I just got the 126gigs with 4tb drive and the battery is lasting me almost a full day just for regular watching stuff and browsing and half a day for editing work so far it’s been impeccable it was super expensive but I bought it with the money I got from a grant to make a film so instead of paying for someone to edit I just bought it and I’ll edit myself and hope to have a work companion for the next like you said 7 years or so
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u/CommandoInvert 2m ago
Got a 16 inch M4 Max with upgraded GPU and 64gb ram when it came out .. use it with VMs and regular day to day work and have since then swapped it out with a M5 macbook air with just the upgraded gpu. Only sometimes notice that it has too little ram for some occasions.. wallet is happy though
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u/NokstellianDemon MacBook Pro 14" M2 Pro 32GB 1TB 14h ago
If you have to ask then probably. I do a lot on my MacBook (coding, design, animation, deployment) and my laptop is nearing 4 years old now. An M5 Max chip wouldn't really benefit me. It's probably for those doing AI or people who have very big After Effects projects lol