Apple Silicon - Third Party Software: M1 vs. M1 Pro/Max

Not really. Just more CPU cores, but that is something the operating system deals with. Just more graphics cores, but again that is something the operating system, and Metal graphics interface handles.

It would only be an issue if some developer attempted to program the hardware directory and not use the macOS frameworks, which is highly unlikely.

Would like to piggy-back off this thread and ask another question please ...

The M1 does not support AVX, so games like the new Age of Empires 4 do not work running windows under parallels. Do you perhaps know if this was addressed with the new M1Pro/Max chips?

ARM version of Windows under Parallels ... correct, but I don't think there is an ARM version of AOE? Trying to install AOE 4 under steam but then it fails immediately stating an incompatibility due to lack of avx support.

I understand (from some google searches) the M1 runs on ARMv8 and that the new M1 Pro/Max chips will run on ARMv9 architecture. Will ARMv9 be able to support avx?

Cederico thank you for pointing that out. Another big issue with not supporting AVX is Native Instruments "Massive" is not supported. Like you, I am not bashing Apple here, it is just a fact. It is important for gamers and musicians to know these facts before they upgrade to a new machine. With that said, a lot of programs for musicians will run using Rosetta, and the M1 is quite an achievement. Thank you Apple.

It does not seem like the new M1Pro/Max addressed this issue. It is a bummer. It is thought that if Native Instruments rewrites the code for Massive to us the MX architecture, it would run very slow, so it is a bit of a bump in the road for musicians, as Rosetta does not resolve this issue. I don't know if ARM will help resolve this.

Are you running the ARM version of Windows under Parallels with an ARM version of Age of Empires? As far as I know, that is the biggest hangup.