Apple 16" M1X MacBook Pro: Can it Beat the 2019 iMac 5K and the 2019 Mac Pro 28-Core for Most Tasks?
Related: 2019 iMac 5K, 2019 Mac Pro, 4K and 5K display, Apple, Apple Silicon, computer display, iMac, iMac 5K, laptop, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro
Consult with Lloyd for any kind of computer purchase, RAID setup, backup strategy, Photoshop optimization, etc.
B&H Photo has graciously agreed to send a loaner 16" MacBook Pro 32GB/1TB/32GPU for review/testing, which will arrive when it becomes available, perhaps in a month or so. Get Apple MacBook Pro M1X/M1Pro at B&H Photo.
As discussed in Apple 16-inch MacBook Pro Coming For Review, within 3-4 weeks I should have the Apple 16" M1X MacBook Pro here for testing, specifically this model, which is everything I’d want were I buying one, except I’d want the 4TB SSD.
The 10-core Apple M1X system-on-a-chip has 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores. As such, it roughly aligns with my 8-core 2019 iMac 5K. And of course the 10-core 2020 iMac 5K is slightly faster than my 2019 model. But might the new MBP show performance superiority over the iMac 5K on real world tasks? I deem it a strong possibility for Photoshop, Lightroom, Zerene Stacker, etc.
OTOH, for just $2869 you can get a maxed-out 2019 iMac 5K with its gorgeous large screen and that’s far better for anyone who works at a desk most of the time.
My main computer on which I do all of my work when not traveling is the 2019 Mac Pro with 28-core CPU and 384GB memory and Vega II video card. The Beast. While I expect it will easily outperform the Apple M1 Max chip in the 2021 Macbook Pro M1X for many-core operations (eg 28 cores vs 8+2 cores), I suspect that the MBP might also trounce the Mac Pro at many tasks, those that can use only a few cores.
Should be really interesting to see how it pans out. Plus, if Apple advances the M1 architecture to an “M2” chip with 16+4 cores and 64 GPU cores, would any Intel-based computer be able to compete with it?
