13 M1 MBP in store tomorrow?

[bill-p]

Specifically I’m talking about writing software and compiling it. So between builds, there is plenty of time for the CPU to cool off. I don’t like waiting for a compile and want really quick turn around. But I love the MacBook Air form factor and I’ve used one for years until around 2018 when I settled for a MacBook Pro.

We can already see that the M1 isn’t throttling in the various Geekbench results so that gives me hope that this will work out for my purposes.

That's assuming you really aren't doing anything else but just writing code, and I mean... strictly just that.

Typically, I'd have a browser tab or two open. Maybe play some music, or make the computer read a book for me because... well, it is a computer after all.

Even if you don't do anything, Spotlight indexing and other services will still be running in the background. There is honestly a very good reason why the last few MacBook Air have throttled so badly. If CPU usage was kept low, you wouldn't see them throttle at all aside from when they are stressed, but this is not realistic with a desktop OS.

After 3 generations of a fanless MacBook (12"), and having had first-hand experience with how the iPad Pro, supposedly having a much less powerful chip, has thermal-throttled (plug it in to charge and start editing 40MP photos or play Fortnite at 120fps), I would never ever go for a MacBook without a fan. But maybe that's just me.

 

[dennisroethig]

To answer the OP's main question, yes, some stores will have the MBP in stock today (Tuesday). Some Melbourne stores have the base configurations in stock to pick up, although bumping the RAM up makes it become unavailable...

Depends on the SSD you're after - I ordered the MBA with 16GB RAM/1GB SSD this morning for pickup tomorrow in Melbourne.

 

[surroundfan]

That's assuming you really aren't doing anything else but just writing code, and I mean... strictly just that.

Typically, I'd have a browser tab or two open. Maybe play some music, or make the computer read a book for me because... well, it is a computer after all.

Even if you don't do anything, Spotlight indexing and other services will still be running in the background. There is honestly a very good reason why the last few MacBook Air have throttled so badly. If CPU usage was kept low, you wouldn't see them throttle at all aside from when they are stressed, but this is not realistic with a desktop OS.

After 3 generations of a fanless MacBook (12"), and having had first-hand experience with how the iPad Pro, supposedly having a much less powerful chip, has thermal-throttled (plug it in to charge and start editing 40MP photos or play Fortnite at 120fps), I would never ever go for a MacBook without a fan. But maybe that's just me.

I'm in the same boat - I've gone for a MBP this time solely because it has a fan; I remain wary of the MBA and its fanless design, having experienced a fanless Mac already.

I'm moving from a 2017 i7 12" MacBook. I love its portability and lightness, but anything more than light web browsing, music and video playback or word processing drives the temperature through the roof and, in short order, the performance into the floor. Heck, Big Sur was throwing up lots of temperature notifications from Firefox yesterday.

I hope the reports are that the M1 MBA works well, but I'll let others test this before I leap in...

 

[bill-p]

Yeah, even on my 16" MacBook, Safari very regularly throws the "this website is using significant resource" notification at me.

And also at the end of the day, it's a computer... so I'd expect to be able to multitask properly on it. That means... I'd expect that I can just throw my photos on to a batch process, listen to music, and at the same time run local CI server while I code. This is a realistic usage scenario of a "Pro" notebook.

If I'm just getting this for light text editing and maybe browse some static websites... while knowing that I'll carefully close all of the dynamic tabs after I've finished viewing them, then... forget it. I'd just use an iPad for that.

 

[jdb8167]

That's assuming you really aren't doing anything else but just writing code, and I mean... strictly just that.

Typically, I'd have a browser tab or two open. Maybe play some music, or make the computer read a book for me because... well, it is a computer after all.

Even if you don't do anything, Spotlight indexing and other services will still be running in the background. There is honestly a very good reason why the last few MacBook Air have throttled so badly. If CPU usage was kept low, you wouldn't see them throttle at all aside from when they are stressed, but this is not realistic with a desktop OS.

After 3 generations of a fanless MacBook (12"), and having had first-hand experience with how the iPad Pro, supposedly having a much less powerful chip, has thermal-throttled (plug it in to charge and start editing 40MP photos or play Fortnite at 120fps), I would never ever go for a MacBook without a fan. But maybe that's just me.

Most of those tasks aren’t particularly CPU intensive. Indexing is but it doesn’t usually continue much more than a few hours with a new OS install. Playing music for example is something that I would assume runs on a high efficiency core. Browser tabs in Safari generally are not doing much in the background.

The only thing that concerns me is my primary use case which is software development. If that doesn’t throttle (much) then I prefer the Air.

 

[Fthree]

Yeah, even on my 16" MacBook, Safari very regularly throws the "this website is using significant resource" notification at me.

And also at the end of the day, it's a computer... so I'd expect to be able to multitask properly on it. That means... I'd expect that I can just throw my photos on to a batch process, listen to music, and at the same time run local CI server while I code. This is a realistic usage scenario of a "Pro" notebook.

If I'm just getting this for light text editing and maybe browse some static websites... while knowing that I'll carefully close all of the dynamic tabs after I've finished viewing them, then... forget it. I'd just use an iPad for that.

Do you notice the fans coming on at times when you would think they shouldn’t? Like opening emails, sending texts, YouTube, basic stuff?

 

[bill-p]

Do you notice the fans coming on at times when you would think they shouldn’t? Like opening emails, sending texts, YouTube, basic stuff?

I think you should rephrase the question: do I notice the fans ever turning off during normal operation?

And the answer is... well, only when I only have Safari running. In all other times, the fans are constantly on. When editing photos and such, the fans get loud.

 

[cmhsam]

Then it will be there. No ambiguity with them.

I have mine slated for pickup tomorrow at BB

 

[Fthree]

I think you should rephrase the question: do I notice the fans ever turning off during normal operation?

And the answer is... well, only when I only have Safari running. In all other times, the fans are constantly on. When editing photos and such, the fans get loud.

Thanks. I have a 2015 15 that the fans aren’t on all the time but they do fire up a little bit when I have safari, email, and texts open

 

[bill-p]

Thanks. I have a 2015 15 that the fans aren’t on all the time but they do fire up a little bit when I have safari, email, and texts open

Yeah, to be fair... the 16" is currently the most powerful portable Mac I have (remains to be seen if the M1 MacBook Pro I have on order will supplant it). But its fans do run pretty liberally.

 

[stgall]

To answer the OP's main question, yes, some stores will have the MBP in stock today (Tuesday). Some Melbourne stores have the base configurations in stock to pick up, although bumping the RAM up makes it become unavailable...

Can confirm that this is the case in Singapore too. It's nearly 10am here and the stores open at 11am. The base configs of both the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro in all colours are currently available from all of our stores. But if you bump up RAM, change keyboards or want more SSD storage, it's unavailable.

The Mac Mini isn't available for in-store pickup here yet...

EDIT: Great spot from @dennisroethig - the only upgraded MBA config which is available is the 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD, 8-core variant.

 

[thingstoponder]

Ok, if you think Apple has told us, how long do I get the full unthrottled maximum performance from a M1 MacBook Air? Does it throttle after 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds or more? The answer is we don’t know because no one has tested it yet and Apple didn’t tell us. All it would take is a simple graph. For me, I need sustained performance for usually around 30-60 seconds at a time. If it can do that, then I’m good to go. But does it? We don’t know despite your claim to the contrary.

Does any company give numbers like this? They’re not objective anyways because people live in different climates and have different workloads. Ordering day 1 is for people who don’t want to wait for reviews, it’s always been this way. Just be patient.

if I had to guess it would be that the fan gives about 15-20% for sustained multicore workloads. These chips do not ramp up like x86 and they consume just a small handful of watts per core. You’re not gonna see crazy throttling more than likely. Of course every chip throttles to some extent, but I bet even the air outperforms every Intel chip in single core performance when throttled.

 

[Fthree]

Just ordered a M1 MBP 16r 1tb for pickup at noonish today from the local apple store. They had them in stock

 

[cmhsam]

Just ordered a M1 MBP 16r 1tb for pickup at noonish today from the local apple store. They had them in stock

Same. Pickup later today. Cancelled my bestbuy order for 13" Pro, 8gb RAM. Would prefer to have the beefier system.

 

[jdb8167]

Not seeing any 16 GB configurations available in Massachusetts.

 

[Lucifer666]

They are in stores everywhere. Glad I ordered online though. Save me a trip ?

 

[Fthree]

Just out of curiosity how much did yall pay for them with apple care and taxes? (M1 1ram 1Tb) I got mine with a military discount for a total of $2,130

 

[cmhsam]

Not seeing any 16 GB configurations available in Massachusetts.

13" Pro, M1, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD...that seems to be the one in store. Maybe your location hasnt updated yet?

 

[UltimateSyn]

Not seeing any 16 GB configurations available in Massachusetts.

It’s because you’re looking at Silver. Space Grey is available at least in Malrborough and probably elsewhere.

 

[jdb8167]

It’s because you’re looking at Silver. Space Grey is available at least in Malrborough and probably elsewhere.

Thank you. You were exactly correct. Weird and I wanted silver but don’t care all that much. So Space Gray it is ( again).

And I decided on the Air to save a few bucks on what will almost certainly be a very short lived timeframe. Next year when the 4 port Pros come out I’ll be upgrading anyway. Had to get the 1TB too since the 512 wasn’t available.

 

[UltimateSyn]

Thank you. You were exactly correct. Weird and I wanted silver but don’t care all that much. So Space Gray it is ( again).

And I decided on the Air to save a few bucks on what will almost certainly be a very short lived timeframe. Next year when the 4 port Pros come out I’ll be upgrading anyway. Had to get the 1TB too since the 512 wasn’t available.

I'm dead set on Silver (even though I too will likely be upgrading to a 16" with next year's redesign) so I'm a little peeved. They have the 16GB / 1TB combos in Space Grey for the Pro, and for the Air they have Space Grey and Gold. No Silvers for either in that higher-end config. Boo!

Glad you were able to get a config you will be happy with today, that's awesome.

 

[pshifrin]

My wife is on her way home now with a pro 16/1tb for me since i’m unable to drive due to surgery recovery. Love her!

 

[Fthree]

My wife is on her way home now with a pro 16/1tb for me since i’m unable to drive due to surgery recovery. Love her!

Sounds like you have the second best wife ever... ?