A little bit torn between entry M4 and entry M4 pro

[CaesarXCII]

I have an order for the new MacBook Pro 14” base configuration, at 1599, and I am having a little hesitation with the base “m4 pro” configuration which is “only” 400 more at 1999.

I plan on using the MacBook essentially to do what I usually do on the iPad (so a lot of web browsing, light gaming such as hearthstone etc).
I’m pretty sure the horsepower of the base M4 is enough, but I’m just tempted because the M4 pro seems to be maybe an even better value.

If AAA games keep coming to Mac I’d be glad to be able to run them, if on the move (already got a fully equipped gaming rig), but that’s the only use case and it’s very limited.

TB5 seems nice to have but again no use case of now.

Any thoughts?

 

[DHagan4755]

Well I look at it a few ways:

You already said you have an equipped gaming rig & want to do what you’re doing on the iPad so that tells me the m4 at $1,599 is gonna be just fine.

Thunderbolt 5 is not gonna be really useful to you unless you’re moving a lot of data around like a photographer or video editor would.

This is probably the last iteration of the design before it moves to a new thinner enclosure with a tandem OLED display amongst other notable improvements.

I will agree that the $400 upgrade is a better value with the exception of slightly worse battery life only if you’re looking to make upgrades to that base model

 

[GMShadow]

I think you'll be more than happy with the 'base' model and $400 extra in your pocket.

 

[Guenter]

If you are fine with 16 gig ram then you will probably dont need a m4pro, if you have to go for 24 gig ram the pro costs just 200$, that would be a no brainer for me.
For the mini the same upgrade costs 400$ makes the decision more difficult.

 

[JSRinUK]

I initially thought I would be getting base model and had settled on the £1599 price tag. I thought it might actually be higher than that, so I budgeted a ceiling of £2K.

I pondered increasing the RAM to 24GB & SSD to 1TB, which would hit the £1999 ceiling.

Then I saw the lower M4Pro was also £1999 (already with 24GB, but only 512GB). I almost hit the button on that one, but got distracted by the nano tech option. Had no clue what that was but, by the time I decided it wasn’t for me, I’d prepared to spend the £150 extra. Instead I went for the 1TB SSD and the price went to £2199. At which point, I realised the higher M4Pro (already with 1TB & 24GB) was £2399.

Yep, I’d been “Apple’d” into being tempted by a MacBook that’s likely wayyy too much laptop for my needs.

Be wary of being “Apple’d” like I’ve been.

I’m not unhappy with my choice though.

 

[cjsuk]

I spent ages persuading myself to buy the M4 Pro Mac Mini and ended up ordering the bottom end M4 mini. I get student discount so this works out at £499 which is a good deal. I have a 2TB thunderbolt disk lying around I will plug into it and run my photo library / lightroom off that. I need 1/2 fast single cores and 16Gb of RAM and that's about it so it's perfect.

I have a couple of 14" M1 Pro MBPs (one bought one inherited) and one of them spends the entire time plugged into the studio display so I don't need anything more than that. The other one never gets used.

 

[snipr125]

400 £/$ is a lot of money OP, the base MBP M4 has no compromises this year with 16 GB RAM, 3 TB ports and ability to use 2 external screens with lid open. You could use that 400 saving to buy a PS5 Pro or something and play Elden Ring on full settings.

 

[Onimusha370]

Personally I think the M4 Pro (base) for £1,999 is the best deal in the MBP lineup. Compared to the M4 model you’re getting:

• 2x faster CPU
• 1.6x faster GPU
• 1.5x more RAM
• over 2x increase in memory bandwidth
• 3x faster I/O with Thunderbolt 5 (needed if you ever want to plug into future high res/high refresh monitors)

Appreciate you might not “need” all of these on day 1, but, in my experience with great machines like these, your hobbies tend to grow with time and you end up wanting to do more and more on it. For an extra £400 you’re getting essentially double the computer in many ways. When you come to sell it I reckon the M4 Pro will fetch a good chunk higher than the M4, so you’ll likely get most of that £400 back when you sell anyway.

Just my 2 cents, but if you can stretch to £1,999 then that’s what I’d do!

 

[Fishrrman]

Wait until Black Friday.
There will be sales on both "base models".

Maybe $150-200 off on the m4pro base...

 

[hardtechmac]

hej guys,
this is my first post and i am a bit excited.

i am on mb air m1 2020 with 8/512. completely satisfied. now my gf should get a macbook cause she is unsatisfied with her dell 7400 laptop with 14" and 16/1024. windows s*cks in her eyes. now she could get mine mba and i'm thinking about buying a new macbook with m4. a new m4 macbook air would be great but is not released yet so i need to pick a modell from the pro lineup.

in germany the m4 mbp is on sale, you get it for 1.800 euro (100 euro cheaper).

upgrade features are evident over m3 models:
- 3x tb ports instead of 2x
- more power with m4
- brighter display (1.000 nits instead of 600)
- 12 mp frontcam instead of 1080p (=2,1 mp)
- 16 hrs battery life instead of 15 hrs

of course the mb pro with m4 pro has more power but battery life is weaker (14 hrs = 2 hrs less).
camparing m1 with m4 there is a big step forward:
geekbench single: 2.346 > 3.864 = +65%
cb multi: 8.301 > 15.288 = +84%

compared to m3 macs the m4 is faster than m3 pro in single and similar fast in multi. thats awesome.
when you pick the m4 pro you get 3.921 / 22.088 which is similar single core performance and +45% multicore perf. so single core is still very fast with m4!

all in all:
i could buy the base m4 macbook pro and my tactics would be just to order more often a new macbook, lets say: every 3-4 yrs than 5-6 yrs. saved money could be used for bigger ssds or could be safed for next upgrade.

i am just not sure if 512gb or 1tb ssd is the right choice. this is individual. my synology ds220+ (with 2x 4tb ssd) could handle the data of a macbook with only 512gb. but with 1tb ssd you are more independent. price difference is about 200 euro (1.800 512gb > 2.000 euro 1tb version). unsure now.

what do you say to my way of thinking?

 

[blackberrycubed]

is there a cooling system difference (one fan vs 2 etc) between the m4 and m4 pro chip on the 14"?

 

[DHagan4755]

is there a cooling system difference (one fan vs 2 etc) between the m4 and m4 pro chip on the 14"?

The base M3 had only one fan whereas the M3 Pro/Max models had two fans. Who knows if this has changed with M4.