Any M3 owners have buyer's remorse with M4 around the corner?

[Kendo]

I remember when Apple had their "Scary Fast" event introducing M3, everyone talked about how the M2 was simply a stop-gap chip and everyone was so excited about the M3. Fast forward a year later and now everyone is saying M3 is a stop-gap chip and that M4 is going to be worth the wait due to Apple Intelligence.

Crazy how deja vu works in just a year when a new Apple model comes out. With that being said, anyone have buyer's remorse if they purchased an M3? Particularly if they got an 8GB model? It seems like Apple is doubling RAM on everything related to Apple Intelligence (look at the iPad mini 7 doubling to 8GB RAM) so base M4 Pro will likely have 16GB minimum.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Not an M3 but beginning of last year bought an M2 2023 MBP Max and in October (?) already was the M3 announced. I'm ok with yearly hardware M-updates as they're becoming quite predictable but wish they'd release MacOS, say, every 2 years but bug-free and polished. But additionally also for the sake of third party Apps that are forever playing catch up for compatibility. i.e. Capture One.

 

[BigBlur]

I've had mine for nearly a year, no regrets. It's plenty fast for what I use it for. I think people always say the previous gen is a stop-gap because they anticipate the new chips having huge performance gains...but then realize it's just an incremental update. I don't think we'll be seeing a huge jump like we did when Apple switched from Intel to Apple Silicon any time soon.

Fast forward a year later and now everyone is saying M3 is a stop-gap chip and that M4 is going to be worth the wait due to Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence will be available for all Apple Silicon Macs (M1, M2, M3)...even those with 8GB of RAM, so I don't think we'll be missing out on anything there.

... so base M4 Pro will likely have 16GB minimum

The base 'M3 Pro' MBP is already 18GB minimum. Or did you mean the base M4 MBP?

 

[colodane]

I've had my M3 14 inch for several months now and am not at all regretting it vs. waiting for the M4. I did load it up with some extra RAM and storage, so confident that I'll be happy with it for a few years. But always interesting to see what the new changes will actually be.

 

[Fishrrman]

<--- Waiting for the m6pro (if I'm still alive by then!)...

 

[russell_314]

I remember when Apple had their "Scary Fast" event introducing M3, everyone talked about how the M2 was simply a stop-gap chip and everyone was so excited about the M3. Fast forward a year later and now everyone is saying M3 is a stop-gap chip and that M4 is going to be worth the wait due to Apple Intelligence.

Crazy how deja vu works in just a year when a new Apple model comes out. With that being said, anyone have buyer's remorse if they purchased an M3? Particularly if they got an 8GB model? It seems like Apple is doubling RAM on everything related to Apple Intelligence (look at the iPad mini 7 doubling to 8GB RAM) so base M4 Pro will likely have 16GB minimum.

I think much of this is just commentary by bored people who have nothing else to do. What exactly is an M4 going to do for me that the M2 does not already do?

From some of the comments, you would think everyone either works for MKBHD editing his YouTube videos or is making the latest Disney movie.

My M2 Air should last until M7 or M8 comes out.

 

[Dadcelo]

Getting a different machine couldn't be further from my mind.

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

I've had my M3 Pro (14" MacBook Pro: 11 core, 18GB) for nearly 6 months, and it's a beast. If the M4 Pro is as good as people expect, those who get it should be happy with it, and I'm glad for them, but if my old 2012 11" i7 MacBook Air made it 12 years, I reckon this one should give me a good number of years too.

Unless I win the lottery, I expect I'll start beginning to consider new machines around the M11-12 mark, if everything stays on the current trajectory.

 

[Raebo]

I might regret it if I could get basically the same specs for cheaper. I have really enjoyed the past 10 months with my M3 and that has been worth a lot to me.

 

[mblm85]

There will always be something better coming around the corner.

You just have to pick what you need, when you need it, from what's available at the time.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

About a year from now: "Any M4 owners have buyer's remorse with M5 around the corner?"

About 2 years from now: "Any M5 owners have buyer's remorse with M6 around the corner?"

Shall I go on?

Post #10 gets it in 2 sentences. Post #6 ideally addresses the practicality aspect. Both will apply a year from now and 2+ years from now too. Welcome to always-evolving technology.

 

[Basic75]

There will always be something better coming around the corner.

You just have to pick what you need, when you need it, from what's available at the time.

Amen. Anybody actually using their computer for important stuff doesn't give a damn whether a new one is available as long as the one they have does the job well. It's like the old photography saying, the amateur fusses about his gear, the professional cares about the money. If it's your hobby to chase the latest and greatest for the sake of it, go burn your money, but please don't pretend that it actually matters whether you have an M3 or an M4.

 

[tomekwsrod]

If you bought it for the actual work, and not because of marketing bells and whistles, then you don't have much to regret. If it gets the job done, you have a reason to be content. I'm still happy with my Intel iMac, and I do not need anything with the M-X chip so far. Intel still has plenty of power and for my needs I have self-upgraded it to 128GB RAM. For me, such stop gap chips are M4 and even M5, as Apple now plays AI catch-up game.

 

[chrono1081]

I had to buy mid-cycle which I was a little annoyed about but I've used the absolute crap out of my machine, and in real world tests it's really rare that new machines offer any kind of leap-frog in performance so no, I don't really have buyers remorse.

 

[DSTOFEL]

I remember when Apple had their "Scary Fast" event introducing M3, everyone talked about how the M2 was simply a stop-gap chip and everyone was so excited about the M3. Fast forward a year later and now everyone is saying M3 is a stop-gap chip and that M4 is going to be worth the wait due to Apple Intelligence.

Crazy how deja vu works in just a year when a new Apple model comes out. With that being said, anyone have buyer's remorse if they purchased an M3? Particularly if they got an 8GB model? It seems like Apple is doubling RAM on everything related to Apple Intelligence (look at the iPad mini 7 doubling to 8GB RAM) so base M4 Pro will likely have 16GB minimum.

Interesting…I was just thinking about this today.

I bought one of the 14 inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro (11/14…18GB Ram, 512GB SSD) a couple of months ago when they were going for $1,499. I bought it to replace a 2018 15 inch Macbook Pro. I couldn‘t be happier. It does everything I need a laptop to do and is well spec‘d enough for the things I do to take me a few years down the road.

Would I prefer the new M4 Pro version? Sure…if price were no issue! Even if the base 14 inch MBP M4 Pro…in whatever configuration they come with…is priced at $1,999, I‘m happy with the M3 for $500 less.

I am curious though to see the base configuration of the 14 inch MBP M4 pro. Based on rumors of the base M4 MBs (non pros) having 16GB RAM….I’m guessing the MBP M4 pros will have 24GB ram as the base. I’m also guessing the M4 MB’s will follow the M4 iPads with a price jump.

My guess: The base 14 inch MBP M4 Pro: 24GB RAM at $2,199.

 

[sdz]

Would you return the mbp14 m3 pro? I am still able to return until end of next week I think.

 

[DSTOFEL]

Would you return the mbp14 m3 pro? I am still able to return until end of next week I think.

If you’re asking me? No, I wouldn’t return it if it were me as the 14 M3 pro does everything I need it to do…all at $1,499.

 

[raythompsontn]

For the overwhelming majority of users the change from the M3, or M2, to the M4 will not even be noticeable. Yes, benchmarks will show an improvement. But most users do not stress a system anywhere close to what a benchmark does. The people that will benefit are few and far between and they know who they are.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Personally, if a new Model is announced and I'm in the return window still, I would return it and wait this short time. I wouldn't however offload it privately and take a loss, if outside the return period.

 

[joeblow7777]

There's always going to be something better within a year. Who doesn't know that when they buy technology? If that bothers you, you're always going to be just waiting for the next thing.

 

[kenya71]

I bought the M3 Pro recently because it was no sale with a good discount. It was more laptop than what I would usually get. I'm not expecting a change that I'll notice with the M4, but if there is I'm still with the exchange window.

 

[Kendo]

I bought the M3 Pro recently because it was no sale with a good discount. It was more laptop than what I would usually get. I'm not expecting a change that I'll notice with the M4, but if there is I'm still with the exchange window.

I'd do it simply because when the M4 comes out, existing M3 new stock will have a lower MSRP resulting in bigger discounts if they go on sale.

 

[hovscorpion12]

For the overwhelming majority of users the change from the M3, or M2, to the M4 will not even be noticeable. Yes, benchmarks will show an improvement. But most users do not stress a system anywhere close to what a benchmark does. The people that will benefit are few and far between and they know who they are.

Agreed. When it comes to "Certain tech", The every 4-years is when you see real improvement compared to what you have. For Ex. M1 Max users will see significant improvements when upgrading to M4 Max.

The only product that attracts yearly upgrade buy is GPUs and RAM. I guarantee you, 100% of 4090 buyers will buy the 5090.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

I'd do it simply because when the M4 comes out, existing M3 new stock will have a lower MSRP resulting in bigger discounts if they go on sale.

I sort off went of your title and not your actual post, thinking you had already bought a M3 and considering returning it for a future M4 purchase. So this is just a hypothetical?

 

[buran-energia]

M1-M4 - same thing. I'm waiting for a new screen, redesign, etc.