M4 Pro or M4 Max for AI/ML

[crimson ridge]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently workng on my masters degree in CS and looking to buy a new MacBook Pro for school. I'm torn between M4 Pro with 48GB and M4 Max with 36GB.

I do a lot of video editing and some photo editing too in addition to using this laptop for coursework. Some of the courses that I plan on taking involve AI/ML. I currently have an M1 Mac with 16GB memory so either would be an upgrade.

What's more beneficial, higher memory or more GPU cores? I could also go for the full M4 Max MBP with 48GB memory but it is a bit out of my price range.

[rain hamlet]

Could fit slightly larger models with more memory if that matters to you

[flint karma]

I don't you will need the max chip for school at all but the memory can be really usefull for ai and video editing, How is your video editing performance with your current laptop?

[compact plover]

Higher memory

The neural engine is the same between the two if I recall correctly and that typically has more weight than the GPU, and more memory is always better

and yeah, if you can shoot for the M4 Max w/ 48 that is the golden goal

but between those two I’m taking the M4 Pro… maybe wait for M5 Pro/Max if possible? They both will be big upgrades

I don’t doubt the M5 Pro will match or sometimes even beat the current M4 Max in AI/ML just because of the neural accelerators

[crimson ridge]

It’s not an urgent matter I’m honestly thinking of even waiting till the OLED refresh

But for the M4 models I can probably find one on swappa or eBay with the Max chip and 48GB

[crimson ridge]

works fine when using capcut to edit short form vidoes, long form using FCPX with effects it does show a bit of lag

[compact plover]

Oh then for sure wait for the upper M5 chips

They’ll provide an incredible difference with AI capabilities over even M4