

16” MacBook Pro w/ M1 Max: Real-time playback, 23.976 fps.14” MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro: No real-time playback, 15-16 fps.


There are no optimizations at all with no render cache or proxy mode. Essentially, all the clips and timeline work is in 4K with H.264 compression. Jumping almost directly into some tests, Jordan does lay out the basic parameters of the footage. He even includes the original 13” MacBook Pro with base M1 chip to see if that is good enough for most. If you are big on color grading in DaVinci Resolve, then some good real-world testing of the new MacBooks was done by Alex Jordan from Learn Color Grading. Then you have to consider your own budget and what may be worth investing in and what you can live without. The problem is deciding which configuration to get and whether you absolutely need the extra performance of the M1 Max over the M1 Pro. Deciding whether you want the new 14” and 16” MacBook Pros is easy – the answer is yes, obviously.
