13" M1 MBP's have Two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports but 13" Intel MBP's have 4 ThunderBolt 3 USB-C Ports:

[PO2345]

Hi all:

I noticed this difference on the new MBP announced today & wanted to get some thoughts from you guys on this difference.

Why do you all think the M1 notebooks do not have the capacity for 4 & how much of a "negative" is this on usage if any?

Thanks for any response.

 

[rorschach]

I suspect a 4-port model will come out at some point. For my use, it's not a big deal. At most, I use two ports (charging and maybe something plugged in).

 

[PO2345]

I suspect a 4-port model will come out at some point. For my use, it's not a big deal. At most, I use two ports (charging and maybe something plugged in).

Thanks. I plan to buy a new MBP soon & didn't know if the decrease of 2 ports cut down on alot of connectivity and usage since the stand alone ports (USB, SD) etc have been removed for years now.

 

[AppliedMicro]

Why do you all think the M1 notebooks do not have the capacity for 4 & how much of a "negative" is this on usage if any?

Not meaning to crosspost from the other thread but...:

The MacBook Air was as the best-selling notebook on the market (not sure exactly about their wording, but stacking up nicely against PC competition). And that highest-volume product is what they seem to have designed the chip for: 2 ports. And being able to run fanless. They just re-used that design for the Mac mini and low-end 13" Pro.

I wouldn't be surprised if USB 4 took a meaningful size of the die that they wanted to spend for other things (smaller chips, higher yield, all their proprietary "engines", etc.).

For me, it'd be a bummer if I had to get a new Mac mini, since I'm currently using all 6 ports, and that's with an additional 7 port connected. I'm not in a hurry to upgrade though.

 

[bill-p]

They won't decrease anything. If you've used "dongles" for the past... years or so, it's not a big deal to buy a dongle adapter that has a billion other ports that all work at full speed through just one of these ports.

Also battery life in the M1 MacBooks are so good now you likely won't need to keep them charged while having something else plugged in, so that frees up 1 port.

Likely the MacBook Pro 13" will remain with 2 ports now, and the 16" will be the only one with 4 ports. We'll see.

Apple didn't make this decision lightly. They most likely have data that shows 2-port MBP 13" is selling better than 4-port MBP 13".

 

[rorschach]

Apple didn't make this decision lightly. They most likely have data that shows 2-port MBP 13" is selling better than 4-port MBP 13".

This, and I'll bet most of the people who need the extra ports are the same people who also would buy a higher-end configuration, not an entry-level model.

 

[PO2345]

This, and I'll bet most of the people who need the extra ports are the same people who also would buy a higher-end configuration, not an entry-level model.

For me, I like just don't like carrying around the 16 inch, due to its size. The 13 is more mobile for me.
So i almost bought the 13 inch 4 port, but I was waiting for this announcement. Now seeing 2 ports only, I was caught off guard pondering the impact of losing the option to have 4.

 

[bill-p]

For me, I like just don't like carrying around the 16 inch, due to its size. The 13 is more mobile for me.
So i almost bought the 13 inch 4 port, but I was waiting for this announcement. Now seeing 2 ports only, I was caught off guard pondering the impact of losing the option to have 4.

Think of it this way: you're losing 2 ports, but you end up getting far better battery life, more performance, instant on, and... WIFI 6.

Actually, why isn't anyone talking about WIFI 6? This same board exploded when the 2019 16" and 2020 13" were introduced without WIFI 6.

Now that we have WIFI 6, it's like nobody is looking at that as a "feature".

 

[hzadeh]

from today's announcements, i could use some expert feedback here. was waiting for today's news to pull the trigger on a 13" macbook pro and am curious if forum goers here have a recommendation (edu pricing per apple site):

2.3GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
32gb ram
512gb ssd
$2239

-or-

Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU
16gb ram
512gb ssd
$1579

notes:
- i do primarily graphics work
- only need two usb ports
- current 13" mbp is late 2013 w/16gb ram that's served me very well and while i was hoping the new mbp would have the 32gb option, given how much faster/efficient new models are, i may be uneducated/unjustified with my "wants" here.
- are wifi6 / m1 chip / other bells and whistles significant enough over the intel option?

thoughts? looking to make another long-term investment that serves well and am not educated on how the chip and/or other details may affect basic software like adobe cc, office, etc. thanks.

 

[ascender]

I’m guessing the 4 port model will come along at some point, with an M2 (?) and support for more RAM as well as an even more powerful GPU? Same time as the 16” will launch?

If all your software will run on the M1, why would you buy an Intel one at this point if the new ones are as fast as they claim?*


* I know some people just won’t want to buy first-gen M1s, but I’m far less worried about this transition than previous ones given Apple’s experience they’ve built-up with the iPhone & iPad.

 

[hzadeh]

@ascender, i'm not against the gen1 here, just relying on input like yours re: the reality of how the two models i noted compare in performance, bang for buck, questions around ram, etc. thank you.

 

[bill-p]

are wifi6 / m1 chip / other bells and whistles significant enough over the intel option?

I've always gotten just 16GB RAM with all of my Macs for the past 8 years. Each new Mac has been consistently faster than the last one.

Also, is M1/WIFI6/battery life worth it? To me, yes. I have Intel machines for work already, and I just need a computer for personal use that has decent enough performance so Fusion 360 doesn't suck. Apple specifically demo'ed Fusion 360 running just fine during the keynote. That's all I needed to know.

I still have the 2018 13" here... and it's the reason why I got the 16". The graphics performance in the 13" 2018 is just not... enough for Fusion 360, especially at higher resolution. Seeing as M1 is 5x faster, that's probably all I'll need.

 

[Supra Mac]

It does have wi-fi 6. But a heads up, the two port model (if designed unchanged) has 2x2 wifi antennas instead of 3x3 for the four port. Looking forward towards the teardown.

 

[hzadeh]

I've always gotten just 16GB RAM with all of my Macs for the past 8 years. Each new Mac has been consistently faster than the last one.

Also, is M1/WIFI6/battery life worth it? To me, yes. I have Intel machines for work already, and I just need a computer for personal use that has decent enough performance so Fusion 360 doesn't suck. Apple specifically demo'ed Fusion 360 running just fine during the keynote. That's all I needed to know.

I still have the 2018 13" here... and it's the reason why I got the 16". The graphics performance in the 13" 2018 is just not... enough for Fusion 360, especially at higher resolution. Seeing as M1 is 5x faster, that's probably all I'll need.

thanks, bill-p. my late 2013 13" mbp w/16 gb has been great and i do a good job of keeping it clean/lean. i keep all files on an external as well. while i mainly run adobe cc and nothing terribly more intense, i tend to have a lot of files / ftp windows open / email accounts syncing and see my ram tap out regularly. i shut down / restart weekly and primarily use it in clamshell mode connected to a monitor.

i think the new M1 will be fine, it does seem overpriced based on what others are saying and apple does a great job of slow dripping out features and milking things as they do. i suppose i'll wait until more benchmarks come out before pulling a hypothetical trigger too early.

i was willing to spend on a loaded intel one, since this one lasted me so long as well, and am curious to see how the new ones perform/compare. at $660 less, the differences are the intel chips and 16gb of ram i was considering between the two. tbd, thanks.