13" M1 Pro to 14" M1 Pro

[AroundTheFur922]

Greetings all. I came across a 13" M1 MBP 8GB/512 a few weeks back for $400. It still has a month left of warranty on it as well and I got the Touch Bar/keyboard/battery replaced for free last week. Just out of curiosity I looked up it's trade-in value on Apple's website and they would offer $500+ for a trade-in on it. I started eyeballing the 14" M1 Pro and have developed a mild interest in it mostly due to the refresh rate and deeper black levels of the screen. I like the thinner body and better battery life of the 13" Pro though and am having a hard time deciding on whether the better screen quality and other bells and whistles (speakers, ports, power etc.) would justify the $1300 upgrade. I do some work in FCPX and LR/PS but nothing to a major scale and all of my projects have run like a dream on the M1. Has anybody made a similar jump in models and been blown away or even perhaps regretted it?

 

[wilberforce]

Your sig says you have both an M1 MBA and an M1 MBP, both 8GB. Do you actually need/want both?
If not, just sell or trade-in one for an Apple gift card and keep the card/cash until you are ready to upgrade.

If your MBA and MBP are working OK for you now, there is a good chance you will spend $1300 and find the 14" MBP is not really much different for you. I have a 14" MBP and I like the features, but in the end it is just a computer and next year there will be another one.

 

[rodrigezlopez]

I made a jump from 13" Pro Intel (basically the same chassis as of 13" M1 except notoriously known batterfly keyboard) to Air M1 and then to Pro 16" but also ordered Pro 14" and used it for two months along with 16" to decide which one to keep (because 16" seemed too heavy at the beginning, but then I get used to it, so then I sold 14").
I'm not a native, so sorry for my english, I'll just leave my impressions to help you make right decision:
Regarding higher refresh rate - I just didn't feel any difference, It's just absolutely wasn't noticeable in my experience (unlike iPad Air vs iPad Pro screens where I clearly see the difference in a store) - reviewers say it's because of relatively slow panels on Macbooks.
Regarding deeper black - it's true. 14" just doesn't light zones with black pixels, so they're absolutely black. It's noticeable on watching movies in dark environments but I cannot say that it is critical for me because 13" macbooks also have quite deep black, so it wasn't problem for me, just a nice bonus on 14"/16" models and it makes notch look like part of screen frame cause it doesn't glow in the dart that's fine. HDR is also almost useless for now because of almost no HDR movies on Netflix and similar services. So the most noticeable difference between the screens is in size - but this is slight difference, 14" almost doesn't add screen real estate after 13" - that's why I choose 16" because I needed more screen.
Regarding speakers - they're much better. It is big step forward and they're much closer to 16" model than 13"...
But basically 14" felt significantly heavier than 13" and I didn't like it because I didn't use all this power but clearly felt increased weight and for me It was hard to justify upgrade from 13" Air M1 - I just didn't feel that 14" is ultimately better - it rather reminded old thick and heavy laptops that I almost forgotten... and It also worked less from the battery that also was strange in comparison with much slimmer Air. I can justify this compromise in weight and thickness with 16" model though because of larger screen that I needed and battery life similar to 13" models, but I wish they make Air 15" someday - it would be ideal laptop for me except the sound quality that would be worse in a thinner laptop.

 

[AroundTheFur922]

Your sig says you have both an M1 MBA and an M1 MBP, both 8GB. Do you actually need/want both?
If not, just sell or trade-in one for an Apple gift card and keep the card/cash until you are ready to upgrade.

If your MBA and MBP are working OK for you now, there is a good chance you will spend $1300 and find the 14" MBP is not really much different for you. I have a 14" MBP and I like the features, but in the end it is just a computer and next year there will be another one.

The M1 Air was originally mine but was given to my 8-year-old son as his first computer. I had the intention of getting him a used, likely old and worn out 2015-ish Air for around $250-$300 but found the M1 Pro and pulled the trigger as it seemed like a pretty good deal. Ended up handing down the M1 Air to him and keeping the M1 Pro for myself.

 

[AroundTheFur922]

I made a jump from 13" Pro Intel (basically the same chassis as of 13" M1 except notoriously known batterfly keyboard) to Air M1 and then to Pro 16" but also ordered Pro 14" and used it for two months along with 16" to decide which one to keep (because 16" seemed too heavy at the beginning, but then I get used to it, so then I sold 14").
I'm not a native, so sorry for my english, I'll just leave my impressions to help you make right decision:
Regarding higher refresh rate - I just didn't feel any difference, It's just absolutely wasn't noticeable in my experience (unlike iPad Air vs iPad Pro screens where I clearly see the difference in a store) - reviewers say it's because of relatively slow panels on Macbooks.
Regarding deeper black - it's true. 14" just doesn't light zones with black pixels, so they're absolutely black. It's noticeable on watching movies in dark environments but I cannot say that it is critical for me because 13" macbooks also have quite deep black, so it wasn't problem for me, just a nice bonus on 14"/16" models and it makes notch look like part of screen frame cause it doesn't glow in the dart that's fine. HDR is also almost useless for now because of almost no HDR movies on Netflix and similar services. So the most noticeable difference between the screens is in size - but this is slight difference, 14" almost doesn't add screen real estate after 13" - that's why I choose 16" because I needed more screen.
Regarding speakers - they're much better. It is big step forward and they're much closer to 16" model than 13"...
But basically 14" felt significantly heavier than 13" and I didn't like it because I didn't use all this power but clearly felt increased weight and for me It was hard to justify upgrade from 13" Air M1 - I just didn't feel that 14" is ultimately better - it rather reminded old thick and heavy laptops that I almost forgotten... and It also worked less from the battery that also was strange in comparison with much slimmer Air. I can justify this compromise in weight and thickness with 16" model though because of larger screen that I needed and battery life similar to 13" models, but I wish they make Air 15" someday - it would be ideal laptop for me except the sound quality that would be worse in a thinner laptop.

Thank you for the very detailed response and you make some very valid points regarding the slight difference in screen real estate between 13" and 14" models. It would be a bigger screen in a literal sense but now I'm wondering if I'd really feel the difference between the two that drastically. Your English is perfectly fine btw.

 

[zackkmac]

I had an M2 MBP 8GB/512GB (also an M2 Air and M1 MBA briefly) and recently upgraded to the 14" Pro, which is actually what I started with originally in October.

Screen difference is almost night and day to me. It definitely feels larger, brighter and nicer. The 14" chassis does feel chunkier of course, but still very portable.

However, I paid $1300 for the M2 and $1600 for the M1 Pro, so it was only a $300 difference which made sense. My opinion for your situation - save the $1300 and get an extended warranty on the M1 for much less. I'm not sure you'll see enough of a speed difference in FCPX to justify that big of a price jump when you got such a great deal on the M1.

You might also look into selling the M1 for $800-$900 to help lessen the upgrade cost, but even then, unless this machine generates income for you and you'd earn that difference back in more income, I would not really bother. The battery life is greater and it is still a fantastic machine, and doesn't seem to be hindering you. If you're looking to pay full price at Apple for the M1 Pro, might as well hold on and wait for M2 Pro, because your current M1 will definitely not lose the extra equity in value before that happens.