14 inch MacBook Pro - is it overkill?

[_karrol]

I was in a pretty much the same situation as you. Not a power user as we imagine them to be, I actually use my computer mainly for quite extensive writing, but I also tend to have many tabs and apps open at once. My old 2015 MBP was still fine and I initially planned on holding back until this year to see the new Air, but then went to an Apple Store to check the new MBP out and well, that was a love at first sight. Due to the price I was of course debating whether not to get the previous MBP (the difference was between 500-600€), but then I also tend to hold on to my devices for longer periods of time (in particular computers) and did not want to spend lots of money for not the latest tech (as it would be the case with the 13 MBP). A better display (I totally feel you when it comes to ProMotion - it is almost a dealbreaker for me) and a better (that's very subjective, but that's how I feel about it) keyboard sealed the deal for me. I have been using it for over three months now and could not be happier.

Is it an overkill for my use case? Possibly yes. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. I will be holding on to this computer for the years to come and felt I can justify this expense. In addition, I do not want to imagine the stings of regret I would have when using the 2020 MBP or the Air and seeing someone with the 2021 MBP ??

 

[superprinz]

I just lost a high-specced intel-based MacBook Pro 2019 (keyboard backlight and (later) display died) which I used for my regular office work (nothing special - MS Office, Slack, Teams, Zoom, lots of tabs in Safari). Apple support claims fluid damage, which I am sure did not happen, and rejected repair. Upon protest, support told me "well it's sufficient if you cried while sitting at your MacBook" (no joke!).

Well, to be prepared for any potential future situations involving crying while sitting at my MacBook, I bought an entry level 8GB/512GB MacBook Air M1 for around 1k as a replacement.

Result: it is running circles around my >3k Pro from 2 years ago. Could not be happier, and if my happiness changes and I "cry while sitting at my MacBook", I can just throw it away and buy a new one from the saved money, instead of crying even more over the loss of a precious but delicate & expensive showcase.

Seriously: I have not run into any situation yet doing normal daily work where the M1 Air would feel slow or sluggish. Would therefore recommend copying my strategy (especially if you are prone to crying while sitting at your MacBook).

 

[geta]

People forgetting that the base 14” MBP is much more powerful compared to the strongest Intel MBP’s, even M1 MBA is more powerful…

 

[nfl46]

Overkill. You can get do well with the M1 Air with 8GB for $849.

Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 7‑Core GPU - Space Gray

Originally released November 2020|13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch|8GB unified memory|256GB SSD1|Touch ID sensor|720p FaceTime HD Camera

www.apple.com

But if you think memory will be an issue, get the M1 Air with 16GB for $1,019.

Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 7‑Core GPU - Space Gray

Originally released November 2020|13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch|16GB unified memory|256GB SSD1|Touch ID sensor|720p FaceTime HD Camera

www.apple.com

MacBook Pro 14-inch is going for $1,799 on Best Buy website.

Best Buy: MacBook Pro 14" Laptop Apple M1 Pro chip 16GB Memory 512GB SSD Space Gray MKGP3LL/A

Shop MacBook Pro 14" Laptop Apple M1 Pro chip 16GB Memory 512GB SSD Space Gray at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.

www.bestbuy.com

So, is the Pro worth $800 more for your usage? Probably not.

 

[Billiejoe87]

People forgetting that the base 14” MBP is much more powerful compared to the strongest Intel MBP’s, even M1 MBA is more powerful…

Couldn't agree more. I had a 2019 16" Macbook Pro i9 which was renowned for how fast it was at the time. My wife's M1 Macbook Air 2020 is faster than that was in virtually every benchmark there is.

There is no reason for 99% of the population to worry at all about speed on any of these laptops. They are all some of the fastest and most capable consumer laptops ever made. The differences really come down to whether you value the larger screen sizes, mini led, extra ports etc on the larger models.

Obviously the larger models have better thermals, but the heat output on all these apple silicon mac's is so good to begin with, only very high end users would ever notice throttling. This is not the disastrous situation we had with the 2020 Intel Macbook Air's.

Apple smashed it out of the park with these M1, M1 Pro & M1 Max chips.

 

[chengengaun]

so….overkill, or go for it?? I’m looking at the base model 14” MBP (2021) with 16GB RAM/512GB HDD

Or, is it worth waiting sitting on my hands and waiting for the Apple event (suspected March 8) to see if they release a new 13” MBP?

Technically overkill, yes, and the 14” will give you headroom but may not “future-proof” your needs.[1] But you do get some very nice features that are not available on the 13” MBP e.g. the 1080p webcam, great speakers, the display etc. M1 Pro also features 200GB/s memory bandwidth compared to 70GB/s for M1, and 14 graphics core for the base compared to 7/8. So if you don’t mind paying the price difference then yes, go for it and I think you’d be very happy.

Since you have had your machine for a while, it might be prudent to wait till the March announcement before making your decision.

last question - do i trade in the iPad Pro against it, or do i keep my 12.9IPP? Those of you who have MBP’s and IPP’s - do you still use both?

I use a MBP 14" with an iPP 11". They complement each other. I use the iPP for single or focused tasks, e.g. drafting (writing), calendaring, checklists, taking notes, looking at documentation/guides while coding, etc. It's quite nice to use both MBP and iPP during Zoom meetings with the MBP; I can sketch workflows, etc. on the iPP using notes as the discussion progresses, then share the sketch on the MBP.

[1] By headroom I mean you plan to do more of the same in the future, e.g. working with Excel files with 100,000 rows today but 800,000 in the future. “Future-proof” to me implies something along the line of new chip blocks (e.g. new codec or ML accelerator) or hardware optimization and improvements, resulting in new workflow - not possible by speccing out your machine today and can only be partially achieved with a modular system e.g. Mac Pro with the Afterburner card.

 

[GuruZac]

As long as you keep your computers, get the 14” base model but upgrade RAM to 32GB and keep your iPad Pro 12.9. They work really well together and you’ll miss certain things on the iPad. What year is your iPad Pro?

 

[nquinn]

You can't depend on a rumor. If it does occur its only suppose to be about a updated A15 based iPad Air and a third gen iPhone SE, maybe something AirPods. MacOS 12.3 is early in its beta development, it will not be even close to done until late March thru most of April possibly.

Nah, you can't depend on a rumor, but you CAN look at how long devices have been in their lifecycle. The original M1 Air is now at 467 days, the longest release cycle in 5 years. New Apple Silicon could of course shift things, but between that metric + the flood of new rumors (sheer # of rumors tends to be a good indicator) + the fact that A15 cores have been out for a while = a new air is probably imminent here within 1-6 months max.

The only reason I could see for a delay is if Apple feels these M1 chips are so dominant that they can just do 2 year release cycles. Pressure from intel/AMD catching up though will probably have them continue to release.

I could see the 10core pro/max models ending up on a 2 year cycle though.

 

[kevcube]

It’s probably overkill, but what you mainly need is decent ram. That’s where you’ll see the most benefit for your needs, so in that one area, you may actually want an M1 Pro chip so you can get 32GB of ram. The processor though will be more than capable.

No, you don’t need 32gb ram for your needs. 16gb is plenty for nearly everyone. Everyone on this forum recommends overbuying and with the M1 it just isn’t sensible for this type of consumer to get a M1 pro. As a developer, my 13” M1 16gb has been enough for me since day one, I’ve put it through some intense workloads at times and NEVER has memory been my bottleneck.

 

[kevcube]

Agree with M1 pro chip - but I was thinking 16gb. Do you think I need to step it up to 32gb?

You absolutely do not need to step it up to 32gb.

 

[Jorbanead]

No, you don’t need 32gb ram for your needs. 16gb is plenty for nearly everyone. Everyone on this forum recommends overbuying and with the M1 it just isn’t sensible for this type of consumer to get a M1 pro. As a developer, my 13” M1 16gb has been enough for me since day one, I’ve put it through some intense workloads at times and NEVER has memory been my bottleneck.

They may not need it. Only they will really know. But if they are getting a discount and they seem to not mind getting it, it’s sort of like buying an insurance policy. Likely will never need it, but it’s there just incase.

Again, if OP was worried about money I doubt they’d even get a pro chip.

 

[clevins]

Comments like this drive me insane ??

I have a 2009 iMac in the house - the kids use it for Netflix and Minecraft, I don’t use it unless I’m downloading something large as there’s no way I’d be able to use it for work. It was moreso a point to illustrate that I hold onto my machines.

This is exactly where I’m sitting and why I’m here asking for advice - there’s $500 between the two, I got a bonus from work which covers the cost but it’s whether I spend on it or not. The other consideration is a 2 yo machine vs a 4 month old machine relating to a $500 difference.

Well, we AREN'T you and you don't really tell us anything about what you do or what your current machine is. Until this post, you hadn't made it clear that the 2009 wasn't your computer. You say:

I have a million tabs and a million programs running at the same time, and a pet peeve is when a computer can’t handle multitasking (My work computer sucks at this)

but we don't know what apps, we don't really know what you consider 'a million apps(tabs)' (15? 50? 500?) and you don't tell us what your work computer is.

Given all that, we can't tell you if the 14" MBP is overkill or appropriate. We don't know your finances so we don't know if the extra cost is a lot or a little given your situation.

Is the 14 likely overkill? Yes. Unless it's not. If you want more than that, you have to give us specifics.

PS: I don't intend any of this meanly, but on a performance basis the M1 Air is likely plenty powerful for your needs unless you have special, performance-oriented requirements. The 14 MBP is almost certainly overkill but there could be non-performance reasons to buy it - the presence of an HDMI port, the screen, etc.

But again, unless you tell us details, we can't comment on those. For example, a friend of mine likely doesn't need the MBP's power, but presents at a lot of conferences and the HDMI port is a big deal to her since she doesn't have to carry a dongle (HDMI being a popular way to connect to the AV systems at conferences). For someone like me, the extra ports are irrelevant.

 

[golfnut1982]

What a fantastic MacBook Pro. My wife just go hers (14 inch Pro) and I (16 inch Pro) for about 3 months have one of each now. I gotta say, the 14" is really really nice. Great size, performance, sound and battery life. The 16 inch has more in each category, but for its size, weight components etc, it is one hell of a machine. These Macs will be around for ages. My older MBP is a 15 Inch late 2013 and its still kicking it.

 

[gradi]

This is an interesting video. No one would load their computer down with so many programs, heavy duty programs, running at the same time, but it gives an extreme stress test to see how things work out.

16GB vs 32GB RAM M1 Pro MacBook - Multitasking RAM TEST

In this video, we run various benchmarks like video editing, photo editing, programming, and much more between the 16GB RAM M1 Pro MacBook Pro and the 32GB RAM M1 Pro MacBook Pro!

We run all of these tests to find out if it's actually worth spending the extra $400 on the 32GB of RAM or NOT!

I am thinking of getting a 14" M1 Pro MacBook 16gb/512gb. I use Lightroom Classic, etc., no video editing. It seems to me that you would just be wasting your money getting 32gb. Watch the video.

 

[flapflapflap]

I'd like to connect the MBP 14 to 2 Studio Displays, would you recommend 32GB RAM?

Also, anyone know whether I can connect one cable from MBP 14 to OWC's TB Dock (https://www.owcdigital.com/products/thunderbolt-hub) to support 2 Studio Displays?

 

[jdb8167]

I'd like to connect the MBP 14 to 2 Studio Displays, would you recommend 32GB RAM?

Also, anyone know whether I can connect one cable from MBP 14 to OWC's TB Dock (https://www.owcdigital.com/products/thunderbolt-hub) to support 2 Studio Displays?

From the OWC page you linked,

Through a single Thunderbolt port on your Mac or PC1, you can connect and charge nearly anything with this compact hub. Up to two 4K displays or a single 5K/6K/8K display.

Since the Studio display is 5K you can only connect one.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I wouldn't worry about the chip - it's the architecture that matters.

Perhaps the biggest single reason why Apple silicon is so impressive is that Apple designs the system. It's the speed of the memory, the SSD, the package of a CPU and GPU... Together this makes the computer ridiculously fast, not simply the number or type of cores on the package.

If you're planning for the future then I would suggest the M1 Pro is the sweet spot, but this is only if you plan on doing more intensive things down the line. Very few people outside of creative workflows that are time sensitive need Max or Ultra.