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

[UnifiedMelody]

I've tested the base M3 Max 14/30 36/1TB and still returned it, reason: memory pressure... was going yellow/red
M4 Max looks more compelling now as the price has dropped by 500$ for the unbinned model where I'm at so I can put in more ram and get similar pricing to last year's upgraded M3 Max.

 

[Melbourne Park]

My only remorse buying my base model Macbook Air over the summer is them doubling the RAM this week on the model I just bought, but keeping the old price

Old problem that ... before Apple stores came into existence, new Macs would be introduced which were faster with more RAM and drive space, and were cheaper. So Apple outlets would have a bunch of just superseded Macs in their stock that would be major loss makers for them. So Apple had "Price Protection", and they would refund something like 12 -> 25% discount on their unsold stock, and they'd issue a new Price Protected price list. I am unsure if the customer who bought a machine the day before benefited that. And if it was possible, it's likely the store would have pocketed the discount.

But Apple only offers a 14 day return nowadays ... unless it's Christmas or one asks. Over one month I doubt it would be worth calling Apple and complaining ... but inside one month, if one has the time, it might be worth the effort.

 

[awsom82]

I've tested the base M3 Max 14/30 36/1TB and still returned it, reason: memory pressure... was going yellow/red
M4 Max looks more compelling now as the price has dropped by 500$ for the unbinned model where I'm at so I can put in more ram and get similar pricing to last year's upgraded M3 Max.

M3 32GPU is seweet spot.

But what you doing to hit 36 memory, curious? I recommend anybody 16gigs.

 

[960design]

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.

I have a Suprim 4090 X that is insanely powerful at almost 17,000 CUDA cores. I will upgrade, but probably not to a 5090. I am waiting for the Mac Studio M4 Ultra (80-core GPU!!!) that may appear in late May, early April. Conservative pundits are putting it at 10-20% faster than the "premium" 4090s.

I normally upgrade on a 3 year cycle, but have ordered an M4 Max (40-core GPU) Macbook Pro 16 to replace my current MBP16 M2 Pro.

 

[hovscorpion12]

Obviously, in certain scenarios the 4090 remains king [due to fact it used cuda cores]. I expect 5090 will be huge. I do have 4090 as well, but only for gaming and 3D work. [I am actually in the process of selling the PC ] Full Apple ecosystem going forward.

 

[redpandadev]

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

1000% I would return in. You have the opportunity to get a newer and better machine for the same price. Take the opportunity.

 

[4sallypat]

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.

Well said!

I love my base M1 Studio Max and base 15" M2 Macbook Air - they are more than what I need.

Won't need to update the Studio Max for a few more years and the Air for another 4 or 5 years.

 

[Purrific]

No regrets here! I literally picked up a M3 MBP 16GB 1TB from Best Buy a couple of days ago for just $1399. It runs so fast and the battery is lasting ages as well. Planning to keep it until at least the next election. 🤗 It runs cooler than my previous M1 Pro when I play one of my ancient games (Pillars of Eternity) which used to be the only thing that would make my fans sound loud, and made my M1 Pro battery only last an hour and a half - now I can do my work, do my studying, then play my ancient game, with no strain on the system at all - I’m amazed by how great it is. I could go on, but I’ll stop there. Suffice to say, I’m very enthusiastic about this MBP and feel the base M3 specced to 16GB with the terabyte hard drive is perfect for all my needs.

 

[anticipate]

Obviously, in certain scenarios the 4090 remains king [due to fact it used cuda cores]. I expect 5090 will be huge. I do have 4090 as well, but only for gaming and 3D work. [I am actually in the process of selling the PC ] Full Apple ecosystem going forward.

I'm completely in the Apple ecosystem and have all their products however…. For heavy 3-D work/gaming and VR my 4090 PC is vastly faster than anything Apple has on the GPU side (And yes, I use PCVR on the AVP; it'll get easier with the Surreal Touch controllers).

Apple has definitely caught up with CPUs; the M4 Max beat even Intel's latest Ultra chips.

80-100 Tflop of compute in Nvidia vs what? 24 in an M2 Ultra and maybeee 60 in a M4 Ultra? Never mind the 5090. I believe the M4 ultra will probably be about as fast as a 4090 but then the 5090 will be out lol.

The power efficiency is way way in favor of Apple though. Nvidia just throws electricity at it.

... I have regrettably ordered an upgrade to the M4 Max 16/40 configuration from my M3 max. Which I just got in February. Why? I edit video for a living and some of the projects are very intensive 4K and 6K layered with Noise reduction. I could use all the extra processing power I can get and the M4 max seems to add a solid 25% speed increase. For me, that can mean waiting 10-15 minutes less for a huge render. But my use case is an outlier… If you don't use a lot of effects and noise reduction and stuff like that, even the end, an M1 Max or M4 Pro will be fast enough.

 

[hovscorpion12]

I have regrettably ordered an upgrade to the M4 Max 16/40 configuration from my M3 max. Which I just got in February. Why? I edit video for a living and some of the projects are very intensive 4K and 6K layered with Noise reduction. I could use all the extra processing power I can get and the M4 max seems to add a solid 25% speed increase. For me, that can mean waiting 10-15 minutes less for a huge render. But my use case is an outlier… If you don't use a lot of effects and noise reduction and stuff like that, even the end, an M1 Max or M4 Pro will be fast enough.

The power efficiency is way way in favor of Apple though. Nvidia just throws electricity at it

Oh 100%. the power to efficency on AS definitely blows out 100% of PCs

Definitely let me know how different the M3 Max to M4 Max is. I have the same specs, but most of my videos are not “tied to a customer“ so I‘m not really strained for getting the exports done faster. The majority of my files are ProRes 4K from iPhone or video games MP4 files. Not too complex. 15 mins to export 1hr video + audio.

 

[anticipate]

Oh 100%. the power to efficency on AS definitely blows out 100% of PCs

Definitely let me know how different the M3 Max to M4 Max is. I have the same specs, but most of my videos are not “tied to a customer“ so I‘m not really strained for getting the exports done faster. The majority of my files are ProRes 4K from iPhone or video games MP4 files. Not too complex. 15 mins to export 1hr video + audio.

I don't think you'll see much difference with those kinds of videos. The M3 max is incredibly fast if you don't have to do a lot of effects and noise reduction and stuff like that. As an example, a recent edit I did which was a 20 minute 4K film took 45 minutes to render on the M3 Max.

 

[Melbourne Park]

...

... I have regrettably ordered an upgrade to the M4 Max 16/40 configuration from my M3 max. Which I just got in February. Why? I edit video for a living and some of the projects are very intensive 4K and 6K layered with Noise reduction. I could use all the extra processing power I can get and the M4 max seems to add a solid 25% speed increase. For me, that can mean waiting 10-15 minutes less for a huge render. But my use case is an outlier… If you don't use a lot of effects and noise reduction and stuff like that, even the end, an M1 Max or M4 Pro will be fast enough.

I wonder if your production might be better served with a Mac Mini PM4 Pro 64GB working in the background? Also with available to order OWC Ultra 4 TB drives at $US600 available that run at a claimed 6,000 Gbs of a T-5 Mini, , you could plug one of those into a mini and later sell/trade the mini for another upgrade? If you're working on one unit perhaps having a background crunching (even its its comparatively slower) might be a more effective production outcome?