I tested out the new 13-Inch MacBook Pro with the M1 processor in some real-world tasks like using iMovie, Numbers, Safari and Photoshop. Spoiler: It's fast! Check out how you get and run iOS apps and see how they look.
You can also watch this video at YouTube.
Watch more videos about related subjects: Mac Hardware (56 videos).
You can also watch this video at YouTube.
Watch more videos about related subjects: Mac Hardware (56 videos).
Video Transcript
Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let's take a look at the new 13 inch MacBook Pro with the M1 processor.
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So I just, about two hours ago, got my new 13 inch MacBook Pro with the new M1 processor. I took it out of the box immediately and set it up and went about testing it. So one of the first things I wanted to do was run some benchmarks. I'd already run some benchmarks on two other Macs. One is a 2016 Intel i5 MacBook Pro. They look very similar. The same exact body and only slight changes like an actual escape key on the new one. Also my 2019 Mac Pro.
So first I ran GeekBench scores. This tests a variety of different things and gives you a total score. So for single processor use my old MacBook Pro scored 738. My really powerful new MacPro with 12-cores scored 1108. The new 13 inch MacBook Pro with the M1 processor scored 1720. So for single processor use this new MacBook Pro which is supposed to be the low end 13 inch MacBook Pro with only two thunderbolt ports, this one beats the MacPro.
Now multiprocessor scores were a little different. The old 2016 MacBook Pro scored 1660. My new MacBook Pro with its 12-cores scored over 12000. Where did the M1 come in. Well, right in the middle at 7335. Now, of course, I have 12 processors in the Mac Pro so it makes sense it will score higher. Also the tower costs several times what this MacBook Pro costs. So it better beat it. But it didn't really beat it by that much. Okay, so those are just numbers. How about some real world tests.
Well, I put together a few tests. The first one was in iMovie. I took three 4K video clips. Brought them into iMovie. I put two different transitions in there. I put three different filters in place. One on each of these clips. Then I exported it. I exported it at 4K high and better quality. It's about 56 seconds of video in total. It took my 2016 MacBook Pro two minutes and 21 seconds to export this. My Mac Pro not only has the 12 cores but also has a really fast GPU with 16 G of memory in the GPU. So it took only 54 seconds to render it. The new MacBook Pro with the M1 chip tool one minute and 12 seconds. It almost beat my Mac Pro. So the next real world test I did is I created a really complex number spreadsheet. It has a hundred thousand rows and it does a calculation in every cell of each of those rows and a bunch of totals and things like that. I changed one number in it to force it to recalculate everything. On the old MacBook Pro it tool 5.5 seconds for that recalculation. On my Mac Pro it took 3.5 seconds for that recalculation. On the new M1 it took 1.8 seconds. Now to make it more intense I sorted by the text in the second column there. It's a hundred thousand rows getting sorted. After it finished sorting the calculations are complex enough that it needs to recalculate everything. So the times were 22 seconds for the old MacBook Pro, 17 seconds for the Mac Pro, but only 8 seconds for the M1.
So how about the web. I haven't heard that much about the speed of Safari. So I decided to test Safari. But it's really hard to find things that are slow enough to test. So I did find a JAVA script test online that's meant to test JAVAscript browser speed. The test happens really fast but it does gives you an actual number of how long it took. So on the old MacBook Pro it tool 0.022 seconds to run. On my Mac Pro it took 0.013 seconds. It took exactly the same amount of time 0.013 seconds on the new M1. So it tied with Mac Pro for Safari JAVAscript speed.
I did one more test. I brought up Affinity Photo. I wanted to do something that wasn't a Mac app. I tested using a filter that takes a little time to setup. On my Mac Pro, probably because of its GPU it takes 2 seconds to setup this haze removal tool. So I figure it's looking at all the different pixels in the image. Now on my old MacBook Pro it takes a lot longer. It takes 20 seconds while it sets this tool up for you to use it. On the new M1 it fell in the middle there at 12 seconds. So my tests do show what other people are finding. That the new M1 processor is really really fast.
Now all of these apps that I've been using are universal apps. You can tell by getting info on the app and it shows you there that's it's a universal app. So that means it's compatible for both Intel and for the M1 chip. But I wanted to see an app that wasn't compiled for M1. So I used my Creative Cloud account and grabbed PhotoShop. I didn't really have a good way to benchmark things but it seemed pretty responsive and everything worked just fine. Now another thing I wanted to test out was running iOS apps. This is the big new feature that you could run iOS apps on your Mac. Now I was able to go to my own games and pick one out in particular that I was curious to see if it would run and how it would look. It worked great! It works just like it does on the iPad. No problems. But other apps I tested didn't work quite so well. The window was really small so it was hard to play. Like a lot of other developers I'm going to go through some of those apps and make sure I uncheck available for Mac on those.
Now I tried some other games. I was disappointed I couldn't find too many of them. A lot of the most popular games just didn't seem to be available. The way you get to them is you go to the Mac App Store and then you search for a game. Then it will show you Mac Apps but you can switch to looking for iOS and iPad apps. But if you don't see it there it probably means the developer said that, Nope I don't want it available on the Mac. Now I think the main reason for that may be that it doesn't work well on the Mac. Maybe there are issues they need to fix and then they'll make it available on the Mac or maybe it will never be available on the Mac because it uses multi-touch or other things that really need the screen or some other thing that has to do with the iPad or iPhone. I was disappointed to see that apps like Instagram and TikTok are not available as well as some of the top games. But I was able to find some of the games I played and they worked perfectly right there on my Mac. It was kind of bizarre to be playing them there on my Mac screen in a window instead of on my iPad.
That's it. I will continue to test. I do notice that it does wakeup from sleep instantly and everything seems to work just as it normally should. So there's probably not too much to see here except just enjoying the really great performance of the new Apple M1 processor. If you have any questions or want me to try something out ask me in the comments and I'll try it if I can.
Thanks for this post; am thinking of getting this new MacBook Pro. I believe you said MS Office will work with this machine (in another video), correct? Will only 64 bit apps work with this? I plan to (at least temporarily) keep a 2009 and 2014 MB Pro to be sure all my apps run on something! For instance, FileMaker Pro works on my 2009 laptop but nothing else.... I want to be able to use CrossOver to run Lotus Approach (believe it or not) on my MBP 2014 - don’t know if any of these will work.
Ron: Yes, the Office apps are some of the best-updated apps out there. You can even get them from the Mac App Store and then simply sign in with your Microsoft ID to use them (I recommend this). Microsoft has even announced M1-native versions will be coming very soon, but the Intel versions work fine right now (I have tried it). Only 64-bit apps work on Catalina and Big Sur, regardless of whether you are talking about the Intel Macs or M1.
Could you discuss issues you could anticipate when you transition from a lower resolution displays to an M1 Mac with high resolution display? I produce web based size projects with resolution 1920x1080 and have external monitors that display 1920 x 1200 resolution. I have concerns about transition to a 4K display.
Diane: What concerns do you have? A higher resolution display is a GOOD thing, why wouldn't it be? Note that it is still seen as a 1920x1080 but with each pixel a 2x2 matrix of smaller pixels. That's how fonts look so good and images look better too. What will really help you is that so many people are already using retina/UHD displays (both on computers and mobile) that you will see things as they do. You'll begin to see why you need high-resolution images on websites, for instance. It used to be if you had a 300x200 spot for an image that you put a 300x200 image there. Now you put a 600x400 image there (or have both, and let CSS use the correct one for the users' display.
I believe that you bought the MacBook Pro 512gb of storage and 8gb of memory. Can I have your comments on whether or not the 16gb of memory are needed. I am guessing that from your current benchmarks the answer is no. Either way I would be interested in your comments.
Brenda: It depends on your needs and budget. If this were my main computer, I would have gotten 16GB, since this is my job. You have to think about what you use your computer for (work, personal, business, fun, etc) and also what you do with it (writing, browsing articles, video editing, 3D modeling, app development, etc) and then whether the price difference is a problem based on your budget. Lots to consider. There is a reason Apple offers these options, because one size does not fit all.
Gary you touched on RAM size but I’m curious to know how much of your 8 GB was in use during your tests. I ask because the memory options currently on offer (8 or 16 GB only) seem small, at least by classical standards. Has Apple found a way to optimize RAM usage that we haven’t heard about?
Peter: I didn't check that, but it isn't an accurate way to measure anything today. An app is likely to use more memory if more memory is available. The thinking today is to not leave memory just sitting around doing nothing. As got 8GB being small, I think it is fine for most people. I've been living with 8GB on the 2016 MacBook Pro for all these years and have not once ran into a problem. And I have used FCP, Motion, Xcode and other "heavy" apps on it. Maybe they are running a tad slower than if I had 16GB, but that's good for most people -- you don't want to get 16GB if you only use it 1% of the time. It really comes down to money, though. If you can afford it, why wouldn't you go to 16GB? If that hurts your budget and you don't have a compelling reason to go to 16GB, then conversely, why would you?
Gary could you explain why you chose to order the 13" MacBook Pro M1 for testing rather than the 13" MacBook Air M1? I have read other reviewers say that the performance/capabilities difference between the 2 models didn't justify the added expense of going with the MBPro version. I'm on the fence on this myself, and that's why I'm asking. Thanks in advance!
Paul: I chose to get the MacBook Pro over the Air because: TouchBar, fan, larger battery. Note I didn't buy it for testing (I don't have that sort of budget, not even close). I bought it as my new MacBook. The advantage of the Air is the size and weight, but it really sin't that much smaller or lighter than the Pro.
I have an old 2015 MacBook Pro and am looking to buy a new laptop. I can't decide whether to get the current 16" MacBook Pro with the i9 Intel processor, or hold out for a 16" one with the M1. Nothing wrong with my current laptop, just hasn't been updated. I do mainly personal stuff and genealogy research.
Louann: Normally, I usually recommend that people buy when they want/need and not on some rumored "new Mac" schedule. But in this case, the new processors seem like such a leap forward that you should probably wait for an M-class and not bother with Intel ones anymore if you can help it.
Gary, what advantage do you see in them putting iPad apps on the new Macs? I have a MacBookPro and use it all day everyday and have had Macs for many years and when needed I also use Windows with Parallels so I feel like I am a flexible user but I have repeatedly tried to use my girlfriend's iPad and can't stand it, not even with their newest OS. To me it is like just putting an iPhone on a bigger screen. So what do you do with those iPad apps?
Nate: Depends on the app. I have a few games that now work on the new M1 Macs. No need to own or carry an iPad with if you want to play those. Some apps, like Star Walk 2 for instance, behave a lot like Mac apps (full screen, widgets, etc) so the developer can have one app and it will work on both iOS and Mac.