Side by side
Apple M1 Max vs MacBook Air M5
Apple M1 Max
39 positive (93%) · 2 mixed (5%) · 1 negative (2%)
Trust + time weighted: +92%
AI summary — not a quote
The Apple M1 Max is widely regarded by users as a high-performance 'beast' that maintains its relevance years after its initial release. It is particularly praised for its longevity and the value it offers on the used or refurbished market, where it often outperforms newer base-model chips in tasks requiring high RAM and GPU cores. Users transitioning from Intel-based Macs describe the performance jump as 'night and day,' highlighting its efficiency in video editing and software development.
Pros
- Exceptional longevity with users reporting it still feels 'snappy' and powerful years later
- Fast video export times thanks to dedicated built-in encoders
- Excellent performance-to-price ratio when purchased used or refurbished
- Quiet operation; fans often remain off even during demanding tasks like software compilation
Cons
- The 16-inch MacBook Pro model is noted for being heavy and less portable
- Specific GPU-intensive tasks like noise reduction may be slower than some dedicated PC GPUs
- RAM and storage are not upgradeable, necessitating high initial specs
Top excerpts
Yes. It’s still a beast. For non-programming/engineering work, this machine will give you many years of snappy service still.
I bought my used, but absolutely mint condition M1 Max MBP 16 for around $1500 USD a year ago
I have a 16" M1 Max and while it is a massive quality of life upgrade over my old Razer with an RTX 2080, the Razer still ran GPU intensive video workloads like noise reduction a bit quicker. Export times are way faster overall though due to the M1's built in encoders tho.
If you value high RAM, high storage, or high GPU performance, get a refurbished/used M1 Max or M2 Max. ... I recently upgraded from a base M1 Pro to a fully loaded M1 Max that was cheaper than buying the base M5 Pro and I’m glad I did. It has 64GB ram and 4TB storage which feels amazing.
M1 Max/Pro still goes super strong.
MacBook Air M5
53 positive (93%) · 3 mixed (5%) · 1 negative (2%)
Trust + time weighted: +88%
Top excerpts
I wouldn't buy anything below the Air M5 24GB/1TB. Ideally the 32GB/1TB version.
That’s a lot of money for the specs and a limited OS
If you need portability macbook air m5 is good. If possible get with 24GB ram
Get the macbook. ... windows laptops are really behind macbooks these days and the gap is growing with the ram crisis. As much as I love Zenbooks, you really can't justify the added cost over macbooks (with the latest models), given the many advantages of a macbook over a windows laptop.
Double the storage definitely is.