LR Denoise M5 Max vs M1 Max
p.2 #1LR Denoise M5 Max vs M1 Max
schlotz wrote:
FYI, when I throw 30+ 50MP files at LR Denoise, the fan on the M5 Max runs full blast but kind of expected that.
Sure, but have you tried the same with an Intel laptop with an Nvidia mobile GPU? That's what you need to match the speed of the M5 Max. We have a Lenovo here with those specs we use for CAD and 3D rendering work, and when I put LR on there and do the same workload the fan basically constantly runs at a very audible level, and if I throw a pile of DeNoise at it the fans get really loud and the battery basically gets blasted unless you put it in power saving mode and then performance falls off of a cliff.
So some fan running under heavy load and a relatively quiet fan at that I can handle as I get the same performance without throttling while I still get pretty amazing battery life.
FYI, when I throw 30+ 50MP files at LR Denoise, the fan on the M5 Max runs full blast but kind of expected that.
Sure, but have you tried the same with an Intel laptop with an Nvidia mobile GPU? That's what you need to match the speed of the M5 Max. We have a Lenovo here with those specs we use for CAD and 3D rendering work, and when I put LR on there and do the same workload the fan basically constantly runs at a very audible level, and if I throw a pile of DeNoise at it the fans get really loud and the battery basically gets blasted unless you put it in power saving mode and then performance falls off of a cliff.
So some fan running under heavy load and a relatively quiet fan at that I can handle as I get the same performance without throttling while I still get pretty amazing battery life.
Mar 18, 2026 at 08:31 AM
p.2 #2LR Denoise M5 Max vs M1 Max
Yup, not overly bothered by the fan. It reminds me that I'm getting the Denoise job done about 50% faster than the old M1 Max. 
Mar 18, 2026 at 08:47 AM
p.2 #3LR Denoise M5 Max vs M1 Max
Good to hear the comp between M1 vs. M5. My target upgrade cycle when I got my M2 MBP 64GB was slated for 5-8 years (estimated). That target still seems about right, with the 50% diff after 4 years (and double RAM).
Of course, with the MBP ... I have to "repurchase" a perfectly good display, keyboard, storage, RAM, just to get the processing upgrades. Imo, that's a significant amount of wasted components, hence my target upgrade cycle is a bit stretched to help take the sting out of buying all the other components (that don't really benefit much from upgrade of the processing pipeline) twice.
Of course, with the MBP ... I have to "repurchase" a perfectly good display, keyboard, storage, RAM, just to get the processing upgrades. Imo, that's a significant amount of wasted components, hence my target upgrade cycle is a bit stretched to help take the sting out of buying all the other components (that don't really benefit much from upgrade of the processing pipeline) twice.
Mar 19, 2026 at 08:25 PM
p.2 #4LR Denoise M5 Max vs M1 Max
schlotz wrote:
With the new M5 MBP now in hand I've run some simple processing tests against a batch of 10 photos from the Sony A1 & A1-ii.
MBP M1 Max MBP took 5 min < 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU, 32gb ram
MBP M5 Max MBP took 2m34s. < 18 core CPU, 40 core GPU, 64gb ram
Basically a 50% improvement. Definitely worth the upgrade for me since I process field side for submission on a time schedule.
I'm currently considering a 14" MBP with either the M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) or the M5 Max (18 CPU / 40 GPU), both with 48GB RAM.
The figures posted earlier in this thread were measured with an older version of Lightroom, which I believe was before Adobe added/improved acceleration using the ANE.
I recently tested AI Denoise on a 16" MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) using RAW files from my Sony A1 II, and it takes about 10 seconds per file with the latest version of Lightroom.
Can anyone with an M5 Max (18 CPU / 40 GPU) run the same test using today's version of Lightroom and share the result?
Thanks!
With the new M5 MBP now in hand I've run some simple processing tests against a batch of 10 photos from the Sony A1 & A1-ii.
MBP M1 Max MBP took 5 min < 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU, 32gb ram
MBP M5 Max MBP took 2m34s. < 18 core CPU, 40 core GPU, 64gb ram
Basically a 50% improvement. Definitely worth the upgrade for me since I process field side for submission on a time schedule.
I'm currently considering a 14" MBP with either the M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) or the M5 Max (18 CPU / 40 GPU), both with 48GB RAM.
The figures posted earlier in this thread were measured with an older version of Lightroom, which I believe was before Adobe added/improved acceleration using the ANE.
I recently tested AI Denoise on a 16" MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) using RAW files from my Sony A1 II, and it takes about 10 seconds per file with the latest version of Lightroom.
Can anyone with an M5 Max (18 CPU / 40 GPU) run the same test using today's version of Lightroom and share the result?
Thanks!
Aug 24, 2026 at 07:16 PM
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p.2 #5LR Denoise M5 Max vs M1 Max
Fboss wrote:
MBP M1 Max MBP took 5 min < 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU, 32gb ram
MBP M5 Max MBP took 2m34s. < 18 core CPU, 40 core GPU, 64gb ram
Basically a 50% improvement. Definitely worth the upgrade for me since I process field side for submission on a time schedule.I'm currently considering a 14" MBP with either the M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) or the M5 Max (18 CPU / 40 GPU), both with 48GB RAM.
The figures posted earlier in this thread were measured with an older version of Lightroom, which I believe was before Adobe added/improved acceleration using the ANE.
I recently tested AI Denoise on a 16" MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) using RAW files from my Sony A1 II, and it takes about 10 seconds per file with the latest version of Lightroom.
Can anyone with an M5 Max (18 CPU /...Show more →
Data here for both. A 60mp Sony file though
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1946591/2#17062341
schlotz wrote
With the new M5 MBP now in hand I've run some simple processing tests against a batch of 10 photos from the Sony A1 & A1-ii.MBP M1 Max MBP took 5 min < 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU, 32gb ram
MBP M5 Max MBP took 2m34s. < 18 core CPU, 40 core GPU, 64gb ram
Basically a 50% improvement. Definitely worth the upgrade for me since I process field side for submission on a time schedule.
The figures posted earlier in this thread were measured with an older version of Lightroom, which I believe was before Adobe added/improved acceleration using the ANE.
I recently tested AI Denoise on a 16" MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) using RAW files from my Sony A1 II, and it takes about 10 seconds per file with the latest version of Lightroom.
Can anyone with an M5 Max (18 CPU /...Show more →
Data here for both. A 60mp Sony file though
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1946591/2#17062341
Aug 24, 2026 at 07:34 PM
p.2 #6LR Denoise M5 Max vs M1 Max
Fboss wrote:
MBP M1 Max MBP took 5 min < 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU, 32gb ram
MBP M5 Max MBP took 2m34s. < 18 core CPU, 40 core GPU, 64gb ram
Basically a 50% improvement. Definitely worth the upgrade for me since I process field side for submission on a time schedule.I'm currently considering a 14" MBP with either the M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) or the M5 Max (18 CPU / 40 GPU), both with 48GB RAM.
The figures posted earlier in this thread were measured with an older version of Lightroom, which I believe was before Adobe added/improved acceleration using the ANE.
I recently tested AI Denoise on a 16" MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) using RAW files from my Sony A1 II, and it takes about 10 seconds per file with the latest version of Lightroom.
Can anyone with an M5 Max (18 CPU /...Show more →
I am running the MacOS 27 GoldenGate public beta and just ran this for LR 15.5; my MacBook Pro is the M5 Max 18/40/128GB. DeNoising a Sony A1II file takes on average 7.5s.
schlotz wrote
With the new M5 MBP now in hand I've run some simple processing tests against a batch of 10 photos from the Sony A1 & A1-ii.MBP M1 Max MBP took 5 min < 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU, 32gb ram
MBP M5 Max MBP took 2m34s. < 18 core CPU, 40 core GPU, 64gb ram
Basically a 50% improvement. Definitely worth the upgrade for me since I process field side for submission on a time schedule.
The figures posted earlier in this thread were measured with an older version of Lightroom, which I believe was before Adobe added/improved acceleration using the ANE.
I recently tested AI Denoise on a 16" MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) using RAW files from my Sony A1 II, and it takes about 10 seconds per file with the latest version of Lightroom.
Can anyone with an M5 Max (18 CPU /...Show more →
I am running the MacOS 27 GoldenGate public beta and just ran this for LR 15.5; my MacBook Pro is the M5 Max 18/40/128GB. DeNoising a Sony A1II file takes on average 7.5s.
Aug 24, 2026 at 07:48 PM
p.2 #7LR Denoise M5 Max vs M1 Max
For whatever it's worth at this point, my Mac Studio M4 Max (64gb/1tb) runs ACR AI Denoise on a 67mp file in just over 11 seconds.
Aug 24, 2026 at 10:10 PM
p.2 #8LR Denoise M5 Max vs M1 Max
jhapeman wrote:
MBP M1 Max MBP took 5 min < 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU, 32gb ram
MBP M5 Max MBP took 2m34s. < 18 core CPU, 40 core GPU, 64gb ram
Basically a 50% improvement. Definitely worth the upgrade for me since I process field side for submission on a time schedule.I'm currently considering a 14" MBP with either the M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) or the M5 Max (18 CPU / 40 GPU), both with 48GB RAM.
The figures posted earlier in this thread were measured with an older version of Lightroom, which I believe was before Adobe added/improved acceleration using the ANE.
I recently tested AI Denoise on a 16" MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) using RAW files from my Sony A1 II, and it takes about 10 seconds per file with the latest version of Lightroom.
Can anyone with an M5 Max (18 CPU / 40 GPU) run the same test using today's version of Lightroom and share the result?
Thanks!I am running the MacOS 27 GoldenGate public beta and just ran this for LR 15.5; my MacBook Pro is the M5 Max 18/40/128GB. DeNoising a Sony A1II file takes on average 7.5s.
Thanks. Do you have a 14" or 16" MBP ?
I'm buying a 14" and some reviews mention it's too small to fully handle the M5 Max, causing the fans to run more frequently and the CPU and GPU to throttle. That's my main hesitation.
The M5 Ultra is now available for pre-order, that's going to be the next king of DenoiseAI !
Fboss wrote
schlotz wrote
With the new M5 MBP now in hand I've run some simple processing tests against a batch of 10 photos from the Sony A1 & A1-ii.MBP M1 Max MBP took 5 min < 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU, 32gb ram
MBP M5 Max MBP took 2m34s. < 18 core CPU, 40 core GPU, 64gb ram
Basically a 50% improvement. Definitely worth the upgrade for me since I process field side for submission on a time schedule.
The figures posted earlier in this thread were measured with an older version of Lightroom, which I believe was before Adobe added/improved acceleration using the ANE.
I recently tested AI Denoise on a 16" MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18 CPU / 20 GPU) using RAW files from my Sony A1 II, and it takes about 10 seconds per file with the latest version of Lightroom.
Can anyone with an M5 Max (18 CPU / 40 GPU) run the same test using today's version of Lightroom and share the result?
Thanks!
Thanks. Do you have a 14" or 16" MBP ?
I'm buying a 14" and some reviews mention it's too small to fully handle the M5 Max, causing the fans to run more frequently and the CPU and GPU to throttle. That's my main hesitation.
The M5 Ultra is now available for pre-order, that's going to be the next king of DenoiseAI !
Aug 25, 2026 at 09:35 AM