4 ms·

Apple had the same problem before they launched the M1. Unless your workloads are extremely bursty the i9 MacBook is almost guaranteed to be slower than the bas

Apple had the same problem before they launched the M1. Unless your workloads are extremely bursty the i9 MacBook is almost guaranteed to be slower than the base i7.

ZiiS 9mo ago
Even thier ultra efficent silicon didn't fully solve this; a 16" M4 Pro often outperforms a 14" M4 Max stuck throttling.
- flyinglizard 9mo ago
  Are they throttling with the fan off? Because I don't recall ever hearing the fan on my M3 Max 14" (granted no heavy deliberate computational beyond regular dev work).
  - stefanfisk 9mo ago
    AFAIK it’s only something that happens under sustained heavy load. The 14” Max should still outperform the Pro for shorter tasks but I’d reckon few people buy the most expensive machine for such use cases. Personally I think that Apple should not even be selling the 14” Max when it has this defect.
  - ZiiS 9mo ago
    No this shows up when you really fully load them and the fans can't keep up. Most people never do, but then why buy the Max?
- MBCook 9mo ago
  I can’t comment on that. But at least you always know an A7 is better than an A6 or an A4. The M4 is better than the M3 and M1. The suffixes make it more complicated, but at least within a suffix group the rule still holds.
  - ZiiS 9mo ago
    But if you buy a Mac Studio today, you have to choose a M4 Max or a much faster M3 Ultra.
    - MBCook 9mo ago
      The Ultra isn’t always faster. Apple’s spotty record on the Ultras (they haven’t released one every generation) makes things harder for comparisons without looking at benchmarks.
- zuhsetaqi 9mo ago
  First time I’m hearing this. Do you have any sources on this?
christkv 9mo ago
I still have the i9 macbook pro and its a dog for sure throttles massively
zozbot234 9mo ago
The latest iPhone base model performs better than the iPhone Air despite the latter having a Pro chip, because that Pro is so badly throttled due to the device form factor.

Apple had the same problem before they launched the M1. Unless your workloads are extremely bursty the i9 MacBook is almost guaranteed to be slower than the base i7.

ZiiS 9mo ago

Even thier ultra efficent silicon didn't fully solve this; a 16" M4 Pro often outperforms a 14" M4 Max stuck throttling.

flyinglizard 9mo ago
Are they throttling with the fan off? Because I don't recall ever hearing the fan on my M3 Max 14" (granted no heavy deliberate computational beyond regular dev work).
- stefanfisk 9mo ago
  AFAIK it’s only something that happens under sustained heavy load. The 14” Max should still outperform the Pro for shorter tasks but I’d reckon few people buy the most expensive machine for such use cases. Personally I think that Apple should not even be selling the 14” Max when it has this defect.
- ZiiS 9mo ago
  No this shows up when you really fully load them and the fans can't keep up. Most people never do, but then why buy the Max?
MBCook 9mo ago
I can’t comment on that. But at least you always know an A7 is better than an A6 or an A4. The M4 is better than the M3 and M1. The suffixes make it more complicated, but at least within a suffix group the rule still holds.
- ZiiS 9mo ago
  But if you buy a Mac Studio today, you have to choose a M4 Max or a much faster M3 Ultra.
  - MBCook 9mo ago
    The Ultra isn’t always faster. Apple’s spotty record on the Ultras (they haven’t released one every generation) makes things harder for comparisons without looking at benchmarks.
zuhsetaqi 9mo ago
First time I’m hearing this. Do you have any sources on this?

christkv 9mo ago

I still have the i9 macbook pro and its a dog for sure throttles massively

zozbot234 9mo ago

The latest iPhone base model performs better than the iPhone Air despite the latter having a Pro chip, because that Pro is so badly throttled due to the device form factor.