Did that too but switched back, I still prefer multiple matching monitors when I'm working.
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Any Downsides To Switching from Intel to ARM?
- Thread starter Vlad Soare
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It gives you far more flexibility. Eventually I will move to macOS with this setup and Spaces works far better with several monitors than one big one as you can keep two programs that you always want displayed while flipping between virtual desktops on the other one.
Not sure. The pixel pitch on a 43 inch 4K is very low, as low as a 24 inch 1080P. The display is big, but text doesn't look "sharper". And you are always trying to cut the display in half with two apps or even in four ... Physical displays > logical displays to me.
Purchased my M1 MBP (1 TB/16 GB RAM) this past Saturday when I looked on the Apple store site and saw that my local store actually had inventory of that model. An hour and a half later the courier was at the door. I'm very happy with my new machine! This is not serving as my primary computer, it is an adjunct to my 15" 2018 MBP (1 TB/32 GB RAM/Vega 20), which is plugged into an LG 4K Thunderbolt 3 monitor. The new machine is not plugged into a monitor, will not need to do much with external drives on a regular basis, etc.
The two ports are a step up from the one lone port on my 12" MacBook and when I need to plug in two external drives simultaneously to swap data back-and-forth, I will continue to use my primary machine. I anticipate that at some point in 2021 MBPs with the M1 (or whatever number it will have) processor, four ports and additional RAM will become available, and whenever that happens, my 2018 Intel machine will no longer be handling the tasks it does now.
So far I have had no issues with BT, WiFi, peripherals or software. Battery life is excellent so the machine's second port doesn't have to be occupied all the time by the charging cable. She runs cool and stays cool, no issues with getting overheated. I haven't finished installing software yet, but the non-native software that I've got in the new machine has been working fine with Rosetta and I hardly notice a difference in performance between it and the older Intel machine. Although I don't plan to do much image editing in the new machine, just for fun I experimented with a few files and was surprised at how quickly and seemingly effortlessly the M1 handled the tasks.
For me, this new M1 MBP is a keeper!
The two ports are a step up from the one lone port on my 12" MacBook and when I need to plug in two external drives simultaneously to swap data back-and-forth, I will continue to use my primary machine. I anticipate that at some point in 2021 MBPs with the M1 (or whatever number it will have) processor, four ports and additional RAM will become available, and whenever that happens, my 2018 Intel machine will no longer be handling the tasks it does now.
So far I have had no issues with BT, WiFi, peripherals or software. Battery life is excellent so the machine's second port doesn't have to be occupied all the time by the charging cable. She runs cool and stays cool, no issues with getting overheated. I haven't finished installing software yet, but the non-native software that I've got in the new machine has been working fine with Rosetta and I hardly notice a difference in performance between it and the older Intel machine. Although I don't plan to do much image editing in the new machine, just for fun I experimented with a few files and was surprised at how quickly and seemingly effortlessly the M1 handled the tasks.
For me, this new M1 MBP is a keeper!
Do you need to use Boot Camp? Do you need to virtualize x86 operating systems including x86 versions of Windows, Linux, or macOS? Do you need more than 16GB of RAM? Are you bothered by the fact that there are only two Thunderbolt ports (no different than the 8th Generation Intel model it replaces)? Are there apps that you need to run that likely won't run in Rosetta 2 for any reason? Do you need to connect to more than one external display? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then, you shouldn't buy the M1 version and should instead try to find either a refurbished version of the 2-port Intel model that the M1 model replaced on the Apple Certified Refurbished Mac section of the Apple Online Store or you should buy the 2020 4-port Ice Lake Intel MacBook Pro that is still on sale. If you answered "no" to all of those questions, then get the M1 MacBook Pro.
Get either dongles or a Thunderbolt Hub (yes they exist and yes the M1 Mac will support it). Or wait for the current 4-port Intel 13" MacBook Pro to make the jump to Apple Silicon, give or take in the form of a 14" MacBook Pro (which it will do sometime around the middle of 2021).
x86 Virtualization apps seem to be the only hard incompatibilities. Older games might be an issue. Otherwise, so far, it seems the answer is no.
On the 2-port 13" MacBook Pro? Compared to its direct predecessor? Nope. At least, not barring what I've listed above in question form. It's otherwise an obvious upgrade.
You got it wrong. Apple didn't launch a refresh of the Intel 13" MacBook Pro, save for maybe preloading them with Big Sur instead of Catalina. They kept the May 2020 4-port Intel Ice Lake model around while discontinuing the May 2020 2-port Intel Coffee Lake ULV based model and replacing it with the M1 model. No other Intel Macs came out alongside the M1 Macs.
There's no HARDWARE roadmap for Intel on the Mac, but that doesn't mean it's dead. Software developers will keep producing app updates so long as the OS still runs on it. It just means there will be no NEW Intel Macs. And it's only categorically better if everything you did on an Intel Mac can be done on an M1 Mac. I guarantee you that every sale of Intel Macs from here on in are from people for whom that is not currently the case. Hell, I'm about to buy an Intel Mac because what I do will never be doable on an Apple Silicon Mac.
...Or if your apps aren't yet performing well and you need something now? Don't forget, most people upgrade their Macs after five years, on average. The hardware end of this transition will take another year and a half at least. Most apps will take even longer.
I just checked that is apple silicon ready.com and my two primary programs aren't listed. I did a little googling and haven't found verification that either runs on AS. I read that Think or Swim development is currently halted with Charles Schwab buying out Ameritrade. I also read that Active Trader Pro doesn't run on Big Sur yet. So no Apple Silicon for me for a while.
Excellent. Thanks for that. Perhaps you could update that website indicating whether or not things run on M1 or not.
If I'm not mistaken, there were two versions of the 13" Macbook Pro before the M1 came out. A low-end one, which had a row of buttons at the top of the keyboard and two USB-C ports, and a high-end one, which had a touch bar and four USB-C ports. Since the M1 has a touchbar, I assumed that it was supposed to replace the high-end one. Maybe my assumption was incorrect. If that's the case, then maybe we can expect an M1 with four ports in the near future?
It's not necessarily about need, because the need can be fulfilled with the help of a USB hub. It's more about comfort. The comfort of being able to charge it from either side. Or the comfort of not having to use a USB hub. Let's not forget that there aren't actually two ports, since one of them will be occupied by the charger most of the time. So for all practical purposes it's as if it only had one.
I can live with that if I have to, but it would be nice if the M1 was an upgrade from all points of view, rather than an upgrade in some respects and a downgrade in others.
I see. Our local Apple retailer is marketing the Intel 13" Macbooks as a 2020 model, hence my assumption that it was a refresh.
Thank you for the comprehensive reply. That answers all my questions.
The 4 USB-C port Intel 13" Macbook is a 2020 model. As mentioned, it was released in May of 2020 with the 10 gen Intel mobile CPUs (Apple released a few new Intel Macs this year including the 2020 27" iMac, the first (and probably last) regular iMac with a T2 coprocessor). The lower end two port model was replaced with the M1 Macbook.
The low-end 13" MacBook Pro without a touchbar was discontinued some time ago.
Apple still sells the $1799 Intel four-port 13" MBP. There is little doubt that it will be replaced by a more powerful M1X (or whatever it will be called), which is most likely be faster than the current 16" MBP.
You're not mistaken, just operating on outdated info.
For the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro releases, there were two versions. A two-port version with actual function keys that ran 2011-2017 MacBook Air CPUs (ULV U series Intel CPUs) and a four-port version with the touch bar that ran the kinds of CPUs that the 13" MacBook Pro had been running up to that point.
In 2018, the four port model got a refresh to 8th Gen Quad-core standard U series, where the 2017 two-port model remained on sale.
In 2019, the four port model got a minor bump (still 8th Gen Quad-Core U-series CPUs), while the the two port model got a refresh that gave it the T2 chip, the Touch Bar and 8th Gen Quad-Core ULV U-series CPUs).
In 2020, the 4-port model jumped to 10th Generation Intel and ditched the butterfly keyboard while the 2-port model kept the exact same CPUs as the 2019 model, but also got the improved keyboard.
The M1 13" MacBook Pro replaced that 2020 2-port model with the updated keyboard rocking 8th Gen ULV U-series CPUs, NOT the 4-port 10th Generation Intel based model, and in the exact same fashion that the M1 MacBook Air replaced the 2020 Intel model.
The M1 13" MacBook Pro is pretty much an upgrade in all respects from the 2020 2-port model. The only exceptions are with (a) your ability to run Windows on the Mac and (b) with the amount of external displays you can have. Otherwise, it's absolutely a MASSIVE improvement over the 2020 2-port 13" MacBook Pro all over (but running 1-2 year old CPUs at launch will make it easy to beat out even before you factor in M1's performance).
For sure, and if they're referring to the 4-port model, that is still being sold today. I'm VERY likely going to buy one in the not too distant future. There are clearance sales going on to try to sell off remaining stock of the 2020 2-port Intel 13" MacBook Pro. I'm not sure how good of a buy that is at this point.
I have both a $1799 Intel MBP 2020 and a base M1 MBP. For most uses they are identical.
The M1 still has random Bluetooth issues, a couple of docking station oddities (random reboots) and only 2 ports, but otherwise works well and is fast. I’m sure most of this is due to software that will be fixed.
For office work 8GB/256GB is sufficient. Hardly ever see the fan turn on and it’s never audible. I run 1 32” 4K monitor and for the M1 aren’t running VMs.
The M1 still has random Bluetooth issues, a couple of docking station oddities (random reboots) and only 2 ports, but otherwise works well and is fast. I’m sure most of this is due to software that will be fixed.
For office work 8GB/256GB is sufficient. Hardly ever see the fan turn on and it’s never audible. I run 1 32” 4K monitor and for the M1 aren’t running VMs.