Which M4 Mac should you get for gaming? M4 vs M4 Pro vs M4 Max benchmarks

[@Andytizer]

Correction: the M4 Max has 16 CPU cores not 14, sorry!

[@AzVfL]

The generational benchmark comparison is so helpful!

[@flammablewater1755]

It's sad seeing my "base" M1 Pro at the bottom of this list.

[@MorganTheGorgon]

Honestly they're way more helpful to me than intragenerational benchmarks, I wish more KZbinrs would compare to older models, especially M series chips because of how long people are holding onto them because of how powerful they are. If I'm on an M1 thinking about upgrading, it's less helpful to learn about how the M4 Max is X% faster than the M4 Pro than it is to learn about how big a jump it'd be from M1 or M2.

[@kowalski864]

Yes, don’t buy a mac for gaming, but which mac to buy if you game 😊 MBP is a much better laptop than any gaming laptop for work and creativity, so being able to game a little is a big thing and much appreciated. Just got the M4 Pro-pro base model, just because of that.

[@MorganTheGorgon]

I knowww every time I've asked about this or researched this I've been hit upside the head with "don't buy a Mac for gaming!" Like I get it's not ideal, but most of the games I enjoy are on MacOS, and these days late model Macs can perform surprisingly well. Macs are easily my preference over windows machines in every other way, so it's hard for me give them up just for better game performance 😭

[@kowalski864]

@@MorganTheGorgon Yeah, sometimes I don't game for weeks or months, so if I got a gaming laptop or console, it would feel like obligation to do it more, to justify having it (I don't like having stuff that I don't use). I use my MBP everyday for other stuff, being able to game on it sometimes is a nice bonus.

[@sumplayzxd6067]

6:35 Correction - the lower-end M4 Pro Chip is priced at $1999 and has 12 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores The version Andrew mentioned is the higher-end one priced at $2499 with 14 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores

[@josephmassamiri9208]

the improvements this year are good

[@lonnygallant827]

As someone who uses and owns both Macs and PCs (Several of each actually). Honestly, if games were written to take advantage of Apple's latest chips the difference would soon be in Apple's favor and you won't need a power sucking space heater to have the best performance. Also, console gaming is starting to show it's age on current gen hardware. So I guess I would have to disagree with your first statement to some degree. We just need more games. That's what holds the Mac platform back for gaming. Then again, most Mac user don't care about games and choose Mac because it's better at everything else. I'm old, so not so much of a gamer, but it's nice to play a game sometimes on our superior Apple hardware. Currently deep into Cyberpunk 2077 and it runs great on my now aging M2 Pro .. and soon natively.

[@Mads_on_YT]

My video game playing habits are a lot like yours. I want to just play the occasional new game, but mostly I'm doing other things on the laptop, or playing an older game. At this stage, the year over year gains for MacBooks are so massive that it's kind of dumb to buy more compute than you need in the moment and in the immediate future. Thus, I'm trying to choose between the base M4 and the M4 Pro binned. I'm honestly leaning towards the base M4, as it seems like it runs games like Cyberpunk just fine on a resolution that is perfectly suitable for a 14.2" laptop's screen. How many FPS do you get on your M2 Pro in Cyberpunk? The truly interesting MacBook Pro upgrade will be the redesigned 2026 models.

[@nickkalister6291]

need to see m1max vs m4 weirdly hard to find comparisons of those

[@monkeyfish227]

Based on your videos I am rather pleased that so many games can be run. As a casual gamer as long as the main games works, I am fine. Luckily I am playing with local llm and got a m4 max, so get the “max” fps with 64gb. Overkill, but look forward to see as much improvements as I have seen in the last years in games.

[@Esokyotoo]

Great video mate! I love the format

[@KingVulpes]

I'm a big suppporter of Mac gaming because I believe people should be able to play how they want

[@EyesOfByes]

Regarding Cyberpunk 2077, the game engine is apparantly scales extremely well with core count on X86. So if they manage make that same optimisation for ARM, the M4 Ultra would use all 32 cpu-cores (if it'll be 2xM4Max)

[@mikey7326]

Thanks for all this comparisons and testing.

[@Aaron_Bleu]

No mention of heat throttling with the 14” vs 16”? I remember seeing videos about the M3 Max 14” frequently throttling and tanking FPS after 20 minutes while the 16” would tank right through

[@OrdinaryOcean2001]

Exactly the video I needed! I am a game artist with a mac-centric workflow - so I want the "gaming" capabilities in my everyday machine

[@gbw4908]

great vid as always, do u have m1 max game numbers?

[@monkeyfish227]

0:05 haha… well done. There you build it up well, dampened the comments.

[@nicktw8688]

But it's true. 😂 Still love Macbooks.

[@Hexxay]

Thank you for setting us straight there at the beginning LOL

[@patrickgaerlan]

Thank you! This is exactly the video I hoped you were going to make! I’ll be replacing my 2013 13” MBP with an M4 MBP, and even though gaming isn’t my primary purpose, I’m still interested in how well games run on the different models 😊

[@MB-nm8tt]

0:05 thanks *moves on to another video*

[@TechGameDev]

0:16 the stroke of genius we can't play on mac and he's right for $250 you can have a console apart with a much better experience and graphics than on the M4 MAX

[@Antieroe97]

Crossover will be in discount?

[@TRDTYukiTV]

I would love to see the M2 max Vs M4 Max gaming benchmark

[@mosheglam18]

For me i prefer the M3 Max with 16CPU and 40GPU 14 inch 64 ram 1TB 14 Inch

[@fernandoferraz4146]

14 inch cant properly cool the max chips, you will be wasting money because it will throtle hard

[@chidorirasenganz]

@@fernandoferraz4146not at all. At most 5-10% worse performance and usually the same as the 16in

[@vlad981]

Had same space gray version, super machine.

[@samplay-h9p]

Please play Minecraft on all M4 FPS test good luck have a peace life ❤❤🎉🎉

[@ncard00]

Just wrote feedback to feral interactive, who are the current publishers of the last 3 tomb raider games, and ask them to optimize the games natively, instead of the games using Rosetta 2, we’ll see what happens.

[@iuliusnecula]

M5 will be starting mass gaming on Macs

[@flowwhite3192]

Is external storage in some way bad? Less loading speed or something? Which one would be best? SD or USB or TB?

[@mf4s]

Andrew please do a video playing one match of Deadlock on M4/M4 pro. I really would like to see the performance and compare to my M1 Pro 10/16. I’m getting some weird stuttering when using Crossover with GPTk (last release)

[@harveysmith4424]

Mac mini/studio will have upgradeable storage, supplier is almost ready for studio drives. buy base storage on those for now with plans to upgrade later on

[@alekseitsibrovskii3857]

What about the difference between m4max 40 vs 32 GPU? Thank you for video.

[@Ibinibus]

Can you please test if stalker 2 works on mac? Thank you.

[@JhonPhatterson]

UE5 bullshit optimisation

[@fernandoferraz4146]

@@JhonPhatterson more like ukraine war bullshit optimisation

[@JhonPhatterson]

@@fernandoferraz4146 Today I heard the patch updates flew out in the form of intercontinental ballistic missiles

[@Ibinibus]

@@JhonPhatterson No chance it will play?

[@JhonPhatterson]

@@Ibinibus r7 7800x3d, 64gb ram, rtx4090, Dlss balance, 4k resolution: 30fps Very often…. Mac doesn't stand a chance…

[@Wunderkinddd]

So for battery life is better, you recommend 12-core pro?

[@Cooper3312000]

I bought the M4 Max 40 core GPU, Yes is expensive but coming from a Asus Zephyrus g16 OLED with a mobile 4090 $3,300 and a few Razer Blades RTX 2080,3080 price is not that bad. Plus this can handle Cyberpunk 2077 on battery mostly high settings no ray tracing at full resolution 70-80 FPS try that on a PC gaming laptop once you unplug it becomes a slide show. You can even comfortably hold it in your lap and not go deaf from the fans. Playing and installing Windows games could be a little more polished though setup with Crossovers, Heroic, and Whisky is a pain.

[@chidorirasenganz]

I would be curious to see how the base M4 holds up against the M1 Pro in 1440p gaming

[@hellfishii]

How does overwatch 2 run? Im looking forward to play it since its the only game Im playing at the moment on my pc

[@zombiehs]

Thank you Andrew! You just saved my wallet!

[@FawnFiction]

If Apple wants to be taken seriously as a gaming platform, they either need to play nice and rebuild bridges with Valve and Epic Games, or go full-on competitive and create their own dedicated gaming launcher and storefront. The App Store is not a good ecosystem for buying games. To me, buying games on the App Store is like buying games at HomeGoods, and cross-device compatibility with the iPhone/iPad is not enticing to me as a gamer. If Apple wants me to break away from Steam to buy the Mac version of Death Stranding, give me a good reason other than "it's on the App Store."

[@AlyxSharkBite-2000]

Thunderbot 5 SSD will ge you full PCIe Gen 4 speed. Which makes a great "Games" drive

[@maunzilla]

I would like to know how these machines compare to windows laptops with low to mid-range Nvidia graphics (i.e. rtx 4050-4070)

[@SlickEdge]

The answer is, wait for the M10 Max in 2030 for an actual Apple gaming laptop.

[@bigjay4164]

What else can you get to play games at that form factor?

[@j340_official]

Another very key and relevant discussion to consider is MacBook Pro Size. The 16” has a much more capable cooling solution and will enable the higher FPS values. The 14” cooling solution cannot keep up with the heat output of the Max chip under a gaming load. So even though you paid for a m4 Max chip, for example, you will get much less performance in the 14” chassis. It’s not worth spending the extra money of the m4 Max (vs the M4 Pro)on the 14” if you intend to game on it, and expect to get the best frame rates Apple has to offer. Don’t do it.

[@chidorirasenganz]

I’m pretty sure the difference in performance is no more than 5-10% and usually less than

[@j340_official]

@ it’s not. It’s way worse. At least 27 percent less FPS. I know because I had and got rid of the 14” max!

[@nicktw8688]

Yes.. more fans and larger thermals in the 16 is a clear winner....

[@chidorirasenganz]

@@j340_official from all the tests I’ve seen that hasn’t been the case

[@j340_official]

@@chidorirasenganz i had the m4 max 14” machine. 40 core GPU. i personally tested it. Real empiricists test. Under a heavy gaming load, like say shadow of the tomb raider, it just doesn’t measure up to the 16”, relative to the cost. The bottom line is For 8% more money, you get 27+% more performance. even the m3 max 16” is faster than m4 max 14” in heavy gaming. Could you link to a review you’ve seen of the 14”M4 max vs 16? That says otherwise. (In actual games not 3Dmark).

[@A.H_610]

None. As the Mac Studio with M4 Max and the roam for an amazing airflow will be the best. Especially I can hook it to whatever mouse, keyboard, and monitor I like.

[@joshbeiny5279]

how does silent hill 2 run on the m4 pro compared to the m4.

[@blazingz]

Can you test how STALKER 2 is performing on M4 chips next time?

[@aalexandrch]

+1 for this

[@TheBadFred]

Gemes got annoying in recent years where the state of most games that are published are not finished like: Steel Rising, Hogwards Legacy, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Stalker 2 etc..

[@chxyz1048]

The Mac Platform needs AAA Games, Apple should convince Rockstar to bring GTA 6 on Mac before it comes to PC.

[@AhmedMo5678]

Is it possible to download FiveM framework for GTA V on Mac ? Any solutions for Mac?

[@yahzeeskellington]

So you ask the question in the title and immediately say “none” and I’m off to another video. Cheers 😛

[@Cosmos-0777]

Mac can be for games! And i do not understand why every one, including Apple, keep deny it! It can run DOta 2, CS GO, LFL and others sports games easy. It can have Total War! It is great!

[@sohamkaul2475]

RDR setup pls

[@d33pakkkk]

Too late, I just got M4 Pro mac :)

[@FaridAbbasbayli]

6:43 You said "20 GPU cores" for both.

[@chrisk.162]

The $ per FPS calculation is missing :)

[@pwningteddybear]

Does anyone know how well games can run from external storage? I'm planning on getting the baseline M4 pro with 512GB SSD and supplementing with external storage. However I'm afraid that if I install games on the external SSD it might lead to performance issues? Thanks!

[@chidorirasenganz]

It should not effect performance. People use external or slower storage all the time for gaming handhelds

[@pwningteddybear]

@@chidorirasenganz That's great to hear. Thanks for the response!

[@FRANKWHITE1996]

I’ve end up wit GeForce Now subscription 😊

[@wiiiiiiihhj]

Maybe at m6 or m7 would be enough

[@tronewsky2]

PLS test Stalker 2

[@Ironboyhight]

If Apple supported epic game I will use their ecosystem

[@Mads_on_YT]

I believe that, since earlier this year, the Unreal Engine now compiles to OSX. But yeah, Apple are being assholes towards Epic.

[@samplay-h9p]

Because i need to now this all M4 is better than Intel core i9 14900K and RTX 4090 or not please test Minecraft FPS test which shader's and whiout shaders and good luck have a peace ✌️✌️❤

[@KevinAroni-uz5rl]

test god of war 3 m4 max pls please 🙏

[@vlassisandriopoulos]

Don't get a mac for gaming. If you are getting a mac though you have a couple of options that could be used to play games.

[@Nsfwstar]

Fair_enough the video xd

[@worldshaking0502]

Mac ≠ Gaming lol

[@EyesOfByes]

And storage: get a USB4 external enclosure and put an 8TB NVMe drive in it. I found a used encloser for 50 Euros.

[@mosesdavid5536]

Last

[@deluxegamer7562]

first

[@Andytizer]

Well done!

[@radence]

14 core cpu doesn’t have a 40 core gpu. Its frustrating to see that KZbinrs cant even do the basic homework of fact checking. Your video shows 14 core cpu and 40 core gpu. No such configuration exists. Please fix your faults

[@binnichtaktiv_]

Bro mad as hell🤣

[@BassNRoll]

No you should not ... Even a 2020 gamer laptop is better for gaming than any macbook pro

[@kyle-t]

2020 nope lmao

[@asjsjsienxjsks673]

My man didn’t even spend 20 seconds watching the video

[@AYAYEET]

5 seconds is all it would have taken…

[@Joao_Humberto]

Yeah, weighting 6 pouds with powerbrick, with 2 hours of battery and losing 50% of power while on battery. Not to mention those horrible VA panel 144hz screens.

[@ncard00]

I’m only gonna buy a base mac mini M4 as my first mac ever to test all the games and software I can, making it better for gaming and increase compability in general for future Mac users, I’ll not be spending any time gaming on a Mac, only testing, cause it’s not ready, neither is Windows 11 ARM until they reach windows level game compatability.