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> Do you really need an M3 Max?
I’m considering trading in my MacBook Pro 16–inch M1 Max for its M3 equivalent. Do I need an M3 Max, or would a Pro suffice?
Depending on model and option, you would pay $400–$700 more for an M3 Max. With its extra cores it’s also likely to use significantly more power, resulting in shor ter endurance between recharging.
As you’re already using an Apple silicon Mac, one good way to check whether your new Mac would make good use of those additional cores is to monitor their use with Activity Monitor’s CPU History window while doing your normal work on that Mac. Most user tasks are run preferentially on the Per formance (P) cores; an M1 Max has eight, in two clusters of four. If both clusters are heavily loaded for significant periods when you’re working, that suggests you may benefit from the additional cluster of six CPU cores in an M3 Max.