Should I update my Mac Studio M1 to M4?

All the other replies are completely valid. However, when I ask myself a similar type of question about upgrading Mac hardware (but deep inside I have already made up my mind), and are asking others for their opinions, I'm really looking more for validation than anything else. Don't let this be the driving factor for you!

My 2 cents ... see if this can help:

The "Speeding Train" Analogy

When deciding on waiting for a new release or buying what's available now, see if this Speeding Train analogy can help with your decision making.

• Getting the very latest technology is like standing in front of a speeding train. You will get the very latest, but you may be in for a big surprise as new technology can come with issues that have not been fully worked out yet. When you buy into this technology, think of yourself as being "public beta tester."
• Getting the current technology is like standing along the train tracks. The newer the technology, the closer you are to the front of the train. Where you want to catch that train should depend on the recommended system requirements for all the apps and peripherals that you want to use with this device
• Getting obsolete technology, is like standing on the tracks after the train has already passed. You have to weigh obsolescence/supportability vs. the cost savings.

The question I always ask is, "in what ways does your current machine fall short of your expectations/desires?"

if none, save your money -- for an even bigger jump later.

if you want more bragging rights, that may be on your list of more desires.

I traded in my Mac Studio M1 for a Mac Mini M4 pro. Performance on both were about the same but the Mini had a smaller footprint and had TB5 ports that I wanted to test. There was no other reason I had to make that trade.

You're probably not going to notice much difference in performance unless you are running very CPU-intensive or GPU-intensive stuff. (X-Plane with settings cranked up?!?)

MacTracker shows Geekbench scores for the M1 Max Mac Studio as 2407 / 12479 (10 CPU cores).

For a 14" M4 Max MacBook Pro they are 3830 / 22671 (14 CPU cores) and 3806 / 25678 (16 CPU cores).

If you were waiting on a long CPU-bound batch job that made good use of all CPU cores, the M4 Max Mac Studio might finish the job in about half the time a M1 Max Mac Studio would take. If you frequently had to run such jobs, as part of a professional workflow, that might be good reason to upgrade. But for a lot of interactive work, the M1 Max Mac Studio runs so fast that the CPU is going to be waiting on you.

Apple Silicon Macs are way too fast. Make the "jump" later. When your Mac Studio M1 stops from being supported by the newest version of MacOS, make the change that time.

Just out of interest, I get 4071 single, 23483 multi core and 163638 Metal GPU in Geekbench on my base Mac Studio M4 Max.