so, for anyone who's in my boat, here are some first impressions from someone who's had the early 2015 MBP (15"/i7/16GB/512GB) since the Dark Ages came, went, and Apple Silicon came into play. held out for the second-gen b/c it took a long time to save up for this. 14"/M2 Pro 12-core/32GB/1TB.
design: beautiful. ride-or-die for silver since the first unibodies. love the black keyboard inset & subtlety of the rounded corners.
utility: connection is fantastic. yes I do need an *ahem* dongle, but I'm gonna research the more compact ones that have come out. trackpad feels HUGE, & having a keyboard with a full Fn row/Touch ID is wonderful. miss the keys for adjusting keyboard brightness but I'm sure there's a way to change that.
display/speakers: I cannot believe how good this display is. that's really it. anyone upgrading from a 15", I really do not think you will notice a difference in screen real-estate on a 14". looking at my photos (especially HDR) on this is just lovely.
the speakers…holy s—t. haven't even tested the max volume because about 3/4 is already ear-splitting for me. I ended up downloading an EQ (eqMac) for turning down the bass for when I'm falling asleep to yt vids, lmao. haven't tested out the webcam yetbut we'll see how I look on Zoom (and I plan on using Continuity Camera once I can afford a mount) edit: looks great to me, especially for a display this thin! still looking forward to Continuity Camera.
performance: zero lag, sound, or heat so far. still gotta push this thing with Ableton/Photoshop/Lightroom, but being able to have a silent computer when I have more than one app open is great. battery life is great, but it's definitely giving me…perspective 😅 on how much video playback I do.
[edit: just plugged in MagSafe for the first time since yesterday and 1) the braided cable is a long-overdue and fantastic addition 2) the cable is long enough that I no longer need to use an extension cord—more free space on my desk is always welcome!]
all around, I feel like a shill giving this thing a 10/10, so let's call it a 9.5/10 for some tiny little things (lack of keyboard brightness keys, not having a glowing Apple logo 🤪, not having built-in EQ) that overall don't affect my workflow or my general use.
don't wanna say “this is the one” for people holding onto their early 2015s when I haven't pushed it to its limits yet, but it's already feeling that way for me. definitely will not be returning it.
hope everyone else is having fun with theirs! 💜
design: beautiful. ride-or-die for silver since the first unibodies. love the black keyboard inset & subtlety of the rounded corners.
utility: connection is fantastic. yes I do need an *ahem* dongle, but I'm gonna research the more compact ones that have come out. trackpad feels HUGE, & having a keyboard with a full Fn row/Touch ID is wonderful. miss the keys for adjusting keyboard brightness but I'm sure there's a way to change that.
display/speakers: I cannot believe how good this display is. that's really it. anyone upgrading from a 15", I really do not think you will notice a difference in screen real-estate on a 14". looking at my photos (especially HDR) on this is just lovely.
the speakers…holy s—t. haven't even tested the max volume because about 3/4 is already ear-splitting for me. I ended up downloading an EQ (eqMac) for turning down the bass for when I'm falling asleep to yt vids, lmao. haven't tested out the webcam yet
performance: zero lag, sound, or heat so far. still gotta push this thing with Ableton/Photoshop/Lightroom, but being able to have a silent computer when I have more than one app open is great. battery life is great, but it's definitely giving me…perspective 😅 on how much video playback I do.
[edit: just plugged in MagSafe for the first time since yesterday and 1) the braided cable is a long-overdue and fantastic addition 2) the cable is long enough that I no longer need to use an extension cord—more free space on my desk is always welcome!]
all around, I feel like a shill giving this thing a 10/10, so let's call it a 9.5/10 for some tiny little things (lack of keyboard brightness keys, not having a glowing Apple logo 🤪, not having built-in EQ) that overall don't affect my workflow or my general use.
don't wanna say “this is the one” for people holding onto their early 2015s when I haven't pushed it to its limits yet, but it's already feeling that way for me. definitely will not be returning it.
hope everyone else is having fun with theirs! 💜
Last edited:
