popular Posted by Dr.W • Yesterday
Jul 7, 2025 2:32 PM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
popular Posted by Dr.W • Yesterday
Jul 7, 2025 2:32 PM
Apple MacBook Pro (Refurb): 16", M1 Max, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Silver $1388.99 at Tek Deals Store via eBay
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank LavenderPickle7682
Let me break it down:
- the M1 Max single core is slightly slower than the base M4, but it's so close, you'd be hard-pressed to see the difference in real life use.
- the M1 Max multi-core is just as good & better than the M4 (depending on the benchmark test being used). If you're in a real life usage scenario that uses the M1 Max's extra video encoders, you will see a very sizable performance gain over the M4.
- The M1 Max is inside a large 16" Macbook Pro chassis, which has active cooling (fans). This means it can sustain these levels of equivalent (or better) performance near indefinitely. The M4 base in a smaller/thinner non-cooled chassis (M4 Air 13" or 15", for example) gets heat-soaked really quickly, leading to thermally throttling the performance. It happens really fast with multi-core performance, but a little slower with single core. In short, M4 Airs will experience thermal throttling under heavy loads.
- This is a 16" Macbook Pro with enhanced screen, speakers, and microphone + a larger trackpad. The Pro screen is absolutely gorgeous, and the speakers are probably best-in-class for ANY laptop. A 13/15" M4 Air will be smaller, and they don't have those premium tier components. Don't get me wrong, the Air isn't a slouch -- it's some of the best ultraportable hardware to be had at the $850-1000 pricetag. But the MBP is in an entirely different quality class.
- Last but not least -- you're getting a 1tb drive and 64gb of ram. That's a massive upgrade to the base specs of the M4 Air -- which you can only max out to 32gb of ram. The extra ram will help performance in a variety of high-stress applications. What Apple charges for extra storage in a new machine is almost criminal.
The closest machine to the specs of the deal above is the 15" M4 Air w/ 32gb ram + 1tb ssd, which will run you $2000.
Simply put, this is an excellent value at sub-$1400, and it will outperform any M4 Air. I'd suggest going with an M4 Air only if you are on a strict $1000 budget or absolutely need the weight + size reduction instead of performance.
Personally I'd prefer a 14" because the screen is plenty big and the weight is better.
Similar CPU speed to an M4, faster GPU.
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The M1 Max is far superior to the base M1, and in many ways, it's pretty much just as good (if not significantly better in some tests) than the M4 base chip.
1. Single core performance is ~50% faster on M4 vs M1 Max.
2. Multi core performance is generally similar to, albeit slightly higher on M4.
3. M1 Max has 2 media engines so video work that can take advantage of that will be faster.
4. MBA will thermal throttle under constant load but the impact is workload dependent.
5. MBP chassis is nicer but, especially in the 16" config, it's also much larger and heavier.
6. More storage and RAM is always nice, but 64GB is well past the point of diminishing returns for most people.
I'd also add a few things you didn't mention:
The M4 MBA has:
A. A 2-3x faster Neural Engine for many ML tasks (AI denoising, transcription, etc), and a GPU with support for mesh shading and ray tracing.
B. An actual warranty from Apple so you can get service anywhere without having to deal with being reimbursed, and you're also AppleCare+ eligible.
C. A longer software support window from Apple
D. Some newer tech like Wi-FI6E.
The M1 Max MBP has:
A much faster GPU; around 2x as fast as an actively cooled M4, and could be ~3x+ the sustained performance of a fan-less MBA (in games.)
64GB of RAM which is indeed very nice if you have a use for it.
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