M5 Pro vs M5 Max ? Need help deciding !

paulofromyork wrote:

My workflow:

• DaVinci Resolve / Final Cut Pro (short form + longer timelines, up to ~30–45 min)

• Heavy Lightroom Classic catalogs (large 45MP RAW files) + Photoshop running at the same time

• Fast turnaround video for social media (around 1–2 hours), with longer-form content typically delivered within 1–2 days

• Dual 4K monitors at my desk, with about 50% of my work on the go (laptop only) and 50% at a desk setup

I’m not worried about whether it can run the workload, I know both can. I’m more concerned about how it feels during real editing sessions and whether I’ll notice the difference long term.

Appreciate any real-world experiences!

Your stated workload actually isn't all that heavy. I do very similar work on my 7 year old 3.6Ghz Intel i9 iMac (except for its single display) and I have never felt it was underpowered ... even handling 150MB RAW HDR merge images in Photoshop and CaptureOne. W/R/T longterm use, RAM & SSD will make more of a difference than M5Pro vs M5Max.

Last year I purchased an M4 Pro MBPro and it runs like lightning compared to the i9. If you read technical reviews of the M5Pro vs. M5 Max the differences are not really meaningful except for the very most processor intensive work. But as you know there is a very big difference in price.

In my experience it has never been a good buy to purchase either the low end or the high end. There is an M5 available in 14", which is the low end. The 16" M5Max is the high end. The M5Pro fits nicely between those two extremes.

paulofromyork wrote:

M5 Pro vs M5 Max ? Need help deciding !

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While there are many people on this forum which may use DaVinci Resolve, you will likely get more responses on the DaVinci Resolve forums since everyone there is using the app.

https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com

For Final Cut Pro questions, you may want to ask in the Final Cut Pro forum here:

Final Cut Pro - Apple Community

Pro offers better battery performance. ←🔋

Max offers faster performance. →🪫

I don’t regret buying a Pro.

Ultimately, shopping advice is a tricky subject because it’s going to be a personal decision.

I would simply advise to pick a day of the week or weekend that works for you, then visit your local Apple Retail Store.

No one (especially a stranger on the Internet) can tell you what would be a perfect fit.

Good luck! 👋🏼😉

Smiliñ 😎 Brian

The performance pinch-point for Macs for more than the last two decades has seldom been multi- Processing Power.

Drive speeds and RAM memory sizes and speeds have been much more constricting for all but the most processor-intensive work such as complex simulations or using Compressor.

one smaller difference between the PRO and The MAX is that the MAX has:

• Two video encode engines
• Two ProRes encode and decode engines

TWO hardware assists may slightly improve the speed of Video processing.