Apple M2 Pro vs. M2 Max

The M2 Pro was not quite as consistent. I exported the same five-minute 4K video a number of times on it and could see a time anywhere from around the two-and-a-half minute mark to over six minutes. The process did not get consistently faster or consistently slower as I went on testing; there was no rhyme or reason for the varying times. What I did notice was that the M2 Pro often got hung up on graphics that the M2 Max was able to breeze right through. Becca Farsace, our senior video producer, had the same experience exporting a different video file.

With that said, the M2 Pro is hardly a slow chip. Adobe Premiere Pro work on it was still quite smooth. The M2 Max was both a bit louder and hotter than the M2 Pro during Premiere work (it has a High Power Mode specifically meant to maximize performance during sustained workloads, which the M2 Pro doesn’t have). Becca’s recommendation in our recent guide to the M2 line was that folks who work with 3D, animation, 8K content, and 4K content over an hour long should seriously consider the M2 Max model. The M2 Pro should be fine for everyone else (unless money is really no object).

The difference was not as stark in Xcode performance. The M2 Max completed the Xcode Benchmark just over three seconds faster than the M2 Pro. That’s a difference, sure, but it’s not nearly as wide as, say, the gap between the M2 Pro and the M1 Max. I would not expect the M2 Max to be a necessity for lighter tasks like web design.

I know there are many, many tasks people might want to use these MacBooks for that are not covered here. In general, the best way to approach this decision is to figure out: A. how much of your workload leverages heavy graphics and B. whether you need to get that work done with every ounce of speed you can get.

Oh, and I don’t imagine that any of you were considering this, but just in case you were — no, it does not make a ton of sense to upgrade to these M2 models from the M1 line. The M1 and M2 MacBook Pros were expensive and fast machines, and they should still have quite a bit of life in them. But if you are still on an Intel MacBook Pro and didn’t spring for the M1 series last time around, either the M2 Pro or Max MacBook Pro will provide a considerable jump up in performance, thermals, and battery life.