The strengths of the three previously released M1 Macs undoubtedly include image processing and video editing. This is proven by a number of benchmarks, as well as numerous YouTube videos. However, the speed of operation depends, among other things, on whether apps compiled for Apple Silicon or programs executed on Apple’s new architecture with the help of Rosetta 2 are used. A professional photographer has now determined how big the differences are with a practical test.
MacBook Pro M1 versus AMD Ryzen 9
The for CNET Acting photographer Andrew Hoyle had a MacBook Pro M1 with 16 gigabytes of RAM compete against a high-end Windows PC with AMD’s 16-core Ryzen 9 3950 X, 128 gigabytes of RAM and an RTX Titan graphics card from Nvidia. First, however, he compared the working speed of native M1 apps on the MacBook with their Intel variants. For this, both versions of Photoshop, whose Apple Silicon edition is still in beta, had to align 19 RAW photos and then combine them into one image using focus stacking. According to Hoyle, this process is part of his everyday work, as he mainly takes product photos.
Photoshop for M1 depends on the Intel version
The result: While Photoshop’s M1 beta completed the task in 69.5 seconds, the Intel version of the program executed via Rosetta 2 on the MacBook Pro M1 took more than twice as long with 147.2 seconds. The Windows computer also had to admit defeat, if only just: On the Ryzen PC, the Adobe program finished editing after 73.2 seconds – given the fact that the MacBook Pro M1 is not a high -End notebook acts, a remarkable result.
Windows PC is ahead in video export
The test with Adobe Premiere produced a slightly different result. For the export of a full HD video, the Intel version required 385 seconds, considerably more than the version optimized for the M1. It took 204 seconds to complete the task, so the increase in speed was significantly lower than with image processing. The Windows PC, however, was clearly beaten by the MacBook Pro M1 in this case: The combination of Ryzen CPU and Nvidia graphics card was ready after 80 seconds.
MacBook M1 also keeps up with other apps
Hoyle’s tests with other apps showed that the M1 can keep up with the Windows PC in many cases, even when Rosetta 2 is used. Capture One, for example, not yet available natively for Apple Silicon, was only slightly slower than the Windows version when importing 100 RAW photos on the Mac. DaVinci Resolve Studio’s M1 Beta also ran extremely smoothly. Overall, the professional photographer is therefore very impressed by the performance of the MacBook Pro M1.