Apple seems to love to induce this recurring pattern in recent years - had my 2015 15" MBP until 2020 because while I needed an upgrade (needed > 16GB RAM and > 1TB storage), they didn't offer anything worth considering (janky keyboard, lost ports, RAM limit), then picked up a very-lightly-used upper end 2019 16" MBP 32GB 2TB, which has served me pretty well overall. I use it primarily alongside a 38" UW QHD+ display for additional real estate, and for when I need to share multiple windows in a meeting or presentation (share the 16" normal-enough aspect ratio screen vs trying to share an ultra wide screen to people not on one..) Occasionally I'll have an additional display connected as well.
There wasn't much reason to move to an M1 base model in reality, as they were limited on max RAM and weren't that much of a jump although obviously the power consumption was a huge win. Every now and then I've gone to check out Apple's latest, taken a look at benchmarks, then about choked on the +$1K to get to a 4TB SSD (vs e.g. < $300 for Samsung pro or WD black) and the memory surcharge - used to defend MBP pricing as 'reasonable enough' when really comparing to similarly equipped systems, but yeah, their storage and RAM upgrade prices are completely insane, so buying new would run me over $4K for either the 14" or 16" MBP (before AppleCare, taxes, etc.).
I actually do have an M1 MBP 13" from work, but it's just an overall failure for my work other than for occasional travel. Runs well enough, but couldn't use for primary system due to lack of storage and lack of RAM, as well as screen size and inability to connect more than a single display etc.
Long story short(er, anyways
), my 2019 MBP is still doing well enough overall (no regrets on it in general) but am needing to run more VMs, including some large compiles and other jobs that start to make 64GB appealing, while of course we know Intel's end of line with Apple.
After far too many comparisons, configurations, checking ebay and elsewhere for lightly used, Apple refurb, etc. I was down to finding an M2 Pro or M1 Max initially but of course, the M2 Pro 'needed' to become an M2 Max in order to get to 64GB of RAM, so prices just kept bumping up further. No doubt M2 variants are faster, but overall the M1 Max and M2 Pro are roughly 'close enough' I don't feel too badly and found an ok deal for ~$2300 M1 Max 64GB 2TB 14" MBP with AppleCare through 2025, so to avoid 'let's just wait for M3 Pro then look at M2 Max prices' insanity, I went ahead and pulled the trigger and should have it this weekend.
TLDR:
So I'm both moving from 16" to 14" and obviously from Intel to Apple Silicon/ARM, and running a bunch of Intel-based VMs. I've got no doubt my various general productivity and other apps will be fine on the Max/ARM, and I also have some AI/ML work which will be interesting to see how well coreml performs (I know, M2 gets a decent bump here, but I've got the usual GPU servers elsewhere if/as needed).
I guess I'm more looking for - anyone have significant regrets on the move from 16" to 14", and any gotchas on the move to Apple Silicon, including the inevitable joys of needing to run Windows ARM VMs, using the ports system, etc. ?
There wasn't much reason to move to an M1 base model in reality, as they were limited on max RAM and weren't that much of a jump although obviously the power consumption was a huge win. Every now and then I've gone to check out Apple's latest, taken a look at benchmarks, then about choked on the +$1K to get to a 4TB SSD (vs e.g. < $300 for Samsung pro or WD black) and the memory surcharge - used to defend MBP pricing as 'reasonable enough' when really comparing to similarly equipped systems, but yeah, their storage and RAM upgrade prices are completely insane, so buying new would run me over $4K for either the 14" or 16" MBP (before AppleCare, taxes, etc.).
I actually do have an M1 MBP 13" from work, but it's just an overall failure for my work other than for occasional travel. Runs well enough, but couldn't use for primary system due to lack of storage and lack of RAM, as well as screen size and inability to connect more than a single display etc.
Long story short(er, anyways
), my 2019 MBP is still doing well enough overall (no regrets on it in general) but am needing to run more VMs, including some large compiles and other jobs that start to make 64GB appealing, while of course we know Intel's end of line with Apple. After far too many comparisons, configurations, checking ebay and elsewhere for lightly used, Apple refurb, etc. I was down to finding an M2 Pro or M1 Max initially but of course, the M2 Pro 'needed' to become an M2 Max in order to get to 64GB of RAM, so prices just kept bumping up further. No doubt M2 variants are faster, but overall the M1 Max and M2 Pro are roughly 'close enough' I don't feel too badly and found an ok deal for ~$2300 M1 Max 64GB 2TB 14" MBP with AppleCare through 2025, so to avoid 'let's just wait for M3 Pro then look at M2 Max prices' insanity, I went ahead and pulled the trigger and should have it this weekend.
TLDR:
So I'm both moving from 16" to 14" and obviously from Intel to Apple Silicon/ARM, and running a bunch of Intel-based VMs. I've got no doubt my various general productivity and other apps will be fine on the Max/ARM, and I also have some AI/ML work which will be interesting to see how well coreml performs (I know, M2 gets a decent bump here, but I've got the usual GPU servers elsewhere if/as needed).
I guess I'm more looking for - anyone have significant regrets on the move from 16" to 14", and any gotchas on the move to Apple Silicon, including the inevitable joys of needing to run Windows ARM VMs, using the ports system, etc. ?
