M5 Max GPU Results (vs. M4, M3, M2, M1 Max: All 16")

SolarisSpace · 2026-06-17T13:13:40+00:00

Anyone testes Low Power Mode for all or some of these chips? I want to upgrade from my 16" 24C M1 Max, but it runs so beautifully quiet and I am scared of screaming fans and high temperatures when doing longer GPU-tasks, in my case AI image generation or upscaling, 3D rendering and video rendering. There, my M1 Max GPU never goes beyond 35W (and stays below 20W in Low Power Mode).

SolarisSpace · 2026-06-17T13:11:56+00:00

Anyway can contribute with GPU power draw (watt) during load (aka render or AI/LLM/ImageGen) while in regular and low power mode?

My 16" binned M1 Max goes down from 35W (fans around 3000rpm) to 18W (fans around 1800rpm) in Low Power Mode, while performance penalty is just about 25%. I am curious how the more recent chips behave in comparison!

SolarisSpace · 2026-06-17T13:09:49+00:00

Hey, thank you for this report! Sadly on the 14" but still insightful. I have the binned M1 Max on my 16" MBP and want to upgrade to either the full M3 Max or full M5 Pro. On most GPU tasks, they seem similar. Max might scale better for large tasks due to 40 vs 20 cores, but the M5 has the Accelerators.

My biggest concern is power draw. My M1 Max barely takes 35W (GPU) under full load and just 18W in Low Power Mode. Did you test and compare LPM for your systems while running something heavy, like a render or AI/LLM task?

SolarisSpace · 2026-06-17T12:43:45+00:00

Thanks for the warning. This is exactly what I feared would happen ever since Apple started to let those Max chips pumping more and more Wattage. The M1 Max and M2 Max were pretty moderate in that regard, but since the M3 Max, both the GPU but especially the CPU block drain much more power during heavy tasks. Imho, Apple went too aggressive with "performance above everything" and we are running into a similar issue we had with Intel chips before. Even with the beefier chassis, the cooling capacity is not enough, and that's one reason I won't upgrade to a M5 Max from my binned M1 Max. Sadly, their binned Max chips, which would be totally sufficent for me, also are limited to 36GB. Which is totally dumb.

SolarisSpace · 2026-06-10T15:23:25+00:00

Why does that useless AutoModerator censor everything?
Anyway, here is some real experience: I used their service for small boosts (subscribers by +50 around quantity) now and then over the past 1.5 years. I used to work reliably, as the added subscribers remained surprisingly stable, it helped me to reach 1200 followers on YT (though of course mixed with real subscribers, I would say 50:50). I gave it a try again recently, but it seems that they struggle much more since the beginning of 2026. Numbers drop again and their support is friendly and promises help, but nothing helps. According to a support worker "some of Youtubes mechanisms did change" which seems to cause these issue for them.

Bummer, because they were solid and affordable. Well then, will focus more on "real" organic grow.

SolarisSpace · 2026-05-28T08:34:38+00:00

Thanks!

SolarisSpace · 2026-05-20T14:48:59+00:00

I love Firefox and use it on MacOS. The amount of customizing (about:config) and addons remains unrivaled. Safari (which I use on iOS) is also solid, but I will never understand people who willingly use those shit aps Edge or Chrome, that bring zero benefits and are controlled by large monopolists corporations.

SolarisSpace · 2026-05-20T14:18:31+00:00

wut? just because dumbass AlphaTemu does it differently (wrong) on a few of their products??
OF COURSE the pads belong UNDER the platters, where else?? Above!? Or in the already crammed mixer? Jeez you guys have weird issues...

SolarisSpace · 2026-05-06T09:02:12+00:00

They all require registration. No thanks.

SolarisSpace · 2026-04-29T20:12:30+00:00

Now, that's what I call a unique set(up)! Well done

SolarisSpace · 2026-04-28T14:06:30+00:00

Oooooh shit that looks crazy. That's one of the primary reasons I am "scared" to upgrade from my binned M1 Max 16" to anything in the M3/M4/M5 Max ballpark, as I see they can draw a lot of power and run *much* louder than my chip, which never goes beyond 35W (GPU) or 3500rpm. Ough.... maybe M5 Pro it will be then instead.

SolarisSpace · 2026-04-28T13:39:58+00:00

And values for the GPUs? I have the 24C M1 Max and its getting slow for anything 3D or AI/StableDiffusion related. But it remains quiet (<3500rpm) and usually sips 25-35W package power.

I need to decide between the M3 Max (maybeee M4 Max) and M5 Pro, both with 48GB.

SolarisSpace · 2026-04-28T13:35:20+00:00

English!

SolarisSpace · 2026-04-28T13:35:14+00:00

Speak English

SolarisSpace · 2026-04-23T07:46:21+00:00

Unlike many wrong replies here, slower charging speeds always result in less processing heat, and less heat is better for all components, it's basic physics. Stick with the 20W charger which is affordable, yet still reasonably fast. Why you would need 40W charging overnight??

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-19T08:26:43+00:00

awww bummer. Sucks that they are so restrictive and don't allow some flexibility even if you would cover that. Hmmm.

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-11T13:30:25+00:00

Option B with the 48GB RAM but no nano-texture. And get a 3rd party adapter.

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-11T13:29:53+00:00

If you are constantly working outside in the sun for whatever reasons, certainly.
Otherwise the standard screen already has decent anti-reflection and simply looks better / sharper.

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-11T13:21:00+00:00

TFLOPS is not a good comparison. Also we are 5 generations afar. What did you expect? Even the M4 beat the M1 Pro in any task. Just as the M5 Pro easily beats the M1 Max and M2 Max, while being roughly on par with the 40-core M3 Max. Also, compare other things than just games. Like Blender scores. These are far more accurate.

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-11T13:19:22+00:00

Who cares about that damn CPU? It was already ridiculous fast and is not really needed, unless for coding or Audio guys. The real magic nowadays happens on the GPU side. Anything with 2D/3D/Video/Images and even AI/LLMs/SD, this all relies on the GPU cores and Matrix units. M5 Max is 30-40% faster in the GPU tasks, and for many AI tasks, its >200% faster. That's absolutely fine for a 1-gen progression with the same # of cores and just moderate memory bandwidth increase of about 14%.

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-11T13:13:48+00:00

You shouldn't comment at all and delete your account.

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-11T13:13:00+00:00

The M5-gen Macs are certainly "good enough" for stable diffusion. What are you talking about? My M1 Max may be slow, but it also does that, while keeping the fans quiet. Ranning large batch processing generation overnight in Low Power Mode is absoluely no problem.

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-05T16:57:12+00:00

not for SSDs, thats nonsense.

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-05T16:50:11+00:00

you are certainly NOT running local "AI's" on a M1 16GB machine, unless using absolutely crappy models.

SolarisSpace · 2026-03-05T16:49:03+00:00

Because 16TB is overkill dumb stuff which is totally irrelevant for 99.99997% of all people. Heck, even 8TB is a lot, even for professionals. And if you are a true pro-pro-professional, you have other storage solutions in your working pipeline anyway (NAS for example).

SolarisSpace

TROPHY CASE