M4 Max beats M5 Pro for local LLMs

Newer isn't always better when your primary bottleneck is memory bandwidth — the M4 Max is still the superior "inference engine" for most developer workloads.

• –Memory bandwidth is the lifeblood of LLM token generation; the M4 Max (546 GB/s) crushes the M5 Pro (307 GB/s) for text completion tasks.
• –M5 Pro's new Neural Accelerators provide a massive boost to "time-to-first-token" (prompt processing), making it better for long-context RAG applications.
• –Refurbished M4 Max units offer better value for developers needing high-capacity unified memory (up to 128GB) for 70B+ parameter models.
• –GPU core count remains a major differentiator for training and fine-tuning, where the M4 Max's 40-core option doubles the M5 Pro's ceiling.
• –Neural accelerators in the M5 series signal Apple's shift toward per-core matrix math, potentially making future mid-tier chips more viable for AI-heavy workloads.