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Does the 16” M1 MAX Perform Better Than the 14” M1 MAX MacBook Pro? Thermal Test!

11:36 video

After my 14-inch vs. 16-inch M1 Max comparison, commenters asked about thermal performance, so I ran four quick tests, each about 10 minutes, on both machines. The 14-inch has 64 GB of memory and a 2 TB SSD; the 16-inch has 32 GB and 1 TB. Because of the size difference, I expected a thermal difference.

Setup

I used TG Pro to monitor temperatures and fan speeds and Activity Monitor for CPU, GPU and memory pressure. Both Macs were rebooted about 30 minutes before and sat idle for about 20, in a room at about 68°F (20°C).

Test 1: Cinebench R23 (multi-core)

  • A little over a minute in, the 14-inch was in the mid-to-upper 90s °C, while the 16-inch hovered in the low 80s. The 14-inch’s fans were on (about 2,300 and 2,500 RPM); the 16-inch’s weren’t yet.
  • Around two and a half minutes, the 16-inch’s fans came on (1,500 and 1,600 RPM); the 14-inch’s were at 3,700 and 4,000 RPM and audible from where I sit, and later 4,100 to 4,500 RPM.
  • Max temperature: 100°C on the 14-inch, 96°C on the 16-inch. Zero memory pressure and zero swap on both.
  • Scores: 12,262 (14-inch) vs. 12,285 (16-inch). Essentially no difference even though the 16-inch heated more slowly and ran cooler. The 14-inch’s fans ramp faster and louder.

Test 2: Unigine Heaven (looped, about 10 minutes)

  • The fans: about 4,000 and 4,200 RPM on the 14-inch (audible) vs. 1,500 and 1,600 on the 16-inch (inaudible), later about 4,400 to 4,800 vs. 2,100 and 2,200.
  • Max GPU and CPU temperature: 99°C on the 14-inch vs. 92°C on the 16-inch.
  • Frame rates were about the same (roughly 65 to 69 fps on both), with the same memory results.

Test 3: Final Cut Pro export

I doubled my 14 vs. 16 comparison video into a 34-minute project and added an adjustment layer with a high-contrast color preset on both machines, exporting H.264 4K to the local drive.

  • Max temperature: 85°C (14-inch) vs. 74°C (16-inch).
  • Both finished at pretty much the same time. That’s probably expected with the built-in video encoders on the M1 Pro and Max chips. The 14-inch’s fans never went above about 2,500 RPM, and the 16-inch’s barely came on (1,500 and 1,600 RPM).

Test 4: Blender (classroom scene)

  • About a minute in, the 14-inch hit over 100°C on the CPU, with fans at 2,900 and 3,100 RPM; the 16-inch was at 90 to 91°C without fans.
  • Over 10 minutes, the 14-inch hovered in the high 90s and the 16-inch in the mid-90s.
  • Results: 9:52 on the 14-inch vs. 9:50 on the 16-inch. I also ran the full Blender suite (about 57 minutes), and both finished at basically the same time.

What it means

The machines perform almost exactly the same in these four tests: no meaningful performance difference between the two chassis, even though the 16-inch runs cooler and quieter. The 14-inch’s fans get louder and faster, which is worth considering. Memory pressure was basically zero on both, so if you’re torn between 32 GB and 64 GB, most people should be fine with 32 GB. Apple offloads tasks such as video encoding from the main CPU and GPU, which kept temperatures down in some tests, though that won’t apply to every workload.

In my first few days of use, I only hear a fan on either when I’m benchmarking; regular work, browsing and email produce not a peep. If you have questions about the M1 Max MacBook Pros or my tests, let me know in the comments.

In this video

  • 0:00 intro
  • 0:57 setup and Cinebench
  • 3:55 Heaven
  • 6:17 Final Cut Pro
  • 8:13 Blender + longer test
  • 10:10 what do these tests mean?

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