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88Keys

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2007
175
113
Now comes the hard part.. waiting for benchmarks on M2, or pull the trigger on a Silicon Mac now... Seeing that there may be some possible benchmarks on it, and that we are now 4 months into the cycle, would it be better off to wait another 8 months for the next iteration?

BL.
The M2 will certainly not beat the M1 Pro/Max chips until its respective version is released, and that's not happening anytime soon. They can barely fulfill outstanding M1 Max orders currently.
 
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bradl

macrumors 603
Jun 16, 2008
5,952
17,447
The M2 will certainly not beat the M1 Pro/Max chips until its respective version is released, and that's not happening anytime soon. They can barely fulfill outstanding M1 Max orders currently.

What brought this up was the extrapolation article 9to5Mac posted earlier today.


If they are basing everything so far off of A14 vs. A15, then that is a significant jump.. Now, if I base my purchase off of a 10-year use span (like my MBA is at right now), then that spec bump is negligible, but I'm wondering if I should plant that proverbial stake in the ground now and pull the trigger, or wait.

BL.
 

petvas

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,808
Munich, Germany
Single Core performance will probably be better on the M2 compared to the M1 Pro/Max and that's ok. Normal consumers that don't need the power of the Pro and Max chips, will be better off with the M2. When the M2 Pro/Max come out, the performance will be much better of course..Anyway, there is no point in waiting. If you need a computer now, then go and buy one.
 
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88Keys

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2007
175
113
What brought this up was the extrapolation article 9to5Mac posted earlier today.


If they are basing everything so far off of A14 vs. A15, then that is a significant jump.. Now, if I base my purchase off of a 10-year use span (like my MBA is at right now), then that spec bump is negligible, but I'm wondering if I should plant that proverbial stake in the ground now and pull the trigger, or wait.

BL.
That's an interesting read, and I can understand your concern now. With wait times in the 6-8 week range for specific M1 Pro/MaX builds, waiting might not be a bad idea actually. Either way you're in for a wait ?‍♂️
 

bradl

macrumors 603
Jun 16, 2008
5,952
17,447
Single Core performance will probably be better on the M2 compared to the M1 Pro/Max and that's ok. Normal consumers that don't need the power of the Pro and Max chips, will be better off with the M2. When the M2 Pro/Max come out, the performance will be much better of course..Anyway, there is no point in waiting. If you need a computer now, then go and buy one.

That's a good point.. I'm comparing the equivalent of the regular iPhone series to the S or GS series, which that isn't a viable comparison. Thanks for clarifying that.

BL.
 

SqB

macrumors 6502a
Jan 14, 2008
543
500
Northern Colorado
A couple of weeks in and I love the 16”. Got the base model, which is more than I need by a huge amount.

So far I have used it for web surfing, watching tv and playing sneaky Sasquatch. It excelled at all of those, lol.

It has also fulfilled my main purpose of providing a mobile platform I can work from without a bunch of fuss and bringing a portable monitor. I so system analyst work and typically have multiple Citrix applications, terminal windows and web pages open along with the usual excel/word etc. I am very comfortable using the single screen on this machine and have not suffered for multitasking. It’s actually almost double the pixels in my two monitor, work provided setup.

I’m happy. I’m keeping it. My wife feigned an arm cramp when handing it to me yesterday so I guess she’ll stick with her M1 Air.
 

fpenta

macrumors regular
Oct 30, 2016
231
126
I use an iMac 2019 as a workstation.
I bought the 14" because I wanted a smaller laptop for traveling (coming from a 2018 15").
After two days I realized that it's very difficult to "downgrade" if you are used to big screens, especially if you are a video/photo editor.
So I ordered a 16" for home/couch/traveling close to home and bought a MacBook Air M1 for traveling lighter and farther with my already heavy camera gear.
 
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GeneticBloom

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2009
378
777
California
I got the 14". The 16" screen size would be nice, but the extra $500 isn't worth it to me. The base model 14" is already more power than I would ever need, I'm not a pro user. But I wanted the 14" over the other M1 laptops due to the nicer screen and additional ports (mostly MagSafe, and HDMI if I ever need it in a pinch). I upgraded from the M1 Air and gave the Air to my wife.
 
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ctjack

macrumors 68000
Mar 8, 2020
1,556
1,574
I got the 14". The 16" screen size would be nice, but the extra $500 isn't worth it to me. The base model 14" is already more power than I would ever need, I'm not a pro user. But I wanted the 14" over the other M1 laptops due to the nicer screen and additional ports (mostly MagSafe, and HDMI if I ever need it in a pinch). I upgraded from the M1 Air and gave the Air to my wife.
That is when it makes the most sense. Congrats on stretching the difference - there is nothing worth extra $500 when speaking about performance. If you start upping the configs, then it makes sense to pay $200 more to get 16".
 
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UBS28

macrumors 68030
Oct 2, 2012
2,893
2,340
It depends on what you do. If you need a high performance machine, go for the 16". Else go for the 14".
 

UltimateSyn

macrumors 601
Mar 3, 2008
4,969
9,205
Massachusetts
Now comes the hard part.. waiting for benchmarks on M2, or pull the trigger on a Silicon Mac now... Seeing that there may be some possible benchmarks on it, and that we are now 4 months into the cycle, would it be better off to wait another 8 months for the next iteration?

BL.
Which model are you looking to purchase? If it's the MBP I can't imagine that will receive any more updates this year (though I obviously could be wrong). These are already incredible products, I don't see much point in waiting when we're only 3 months into a 12-18+ month release cycle.
 

velle

macrumors member
Mar 11, 2012
45
14
Just bought the 14' base model. Thought that the 16' would be nice, but coming from a 13' air, and the pro is overkill for my use, I went for the 14' base model. The screen is amazing, and with my usage the 16gb of ram, is futureprofing my use.
 

fpenta

macrumors regular
Oct 30, 2016
231
126
I have been thinking about the 14" vs 16" for the last month.

I tested both the 14" vs 16" and realized that the 16" is overall a better value product for almost the same price.

I think the 14" makes sense only if you need the m1 pro power and portability at the same time but that is not really a super portable computer.
 
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diablo2112

macrumors 6502
Apr 16, 2010
353
17
I faced the same decision, same one I debate everytime I upgrade my Macbook. Really, there's no wrong answer. One element of the 16" that I really like is the huge trackpad. I find it less fatiguing, especially when I use both hands (for selection boxes, double clicks, etc.). In addition, the better speakers, larger fans, beefier power supply, and incredible battery life, and this time, the 16 was a pretty easy call for me, especially given the $200 price differential.

The only downside is portability, and I've got a 13" iPad Pro that I normally take out-and-about when I need a portable (and that has 5G, another bonus). This machine is for around the house and couch surfing. It really handles side-by-side displays well, and makes editting 4k footage a breeze. Very happy.

SaHbuAi.jpg
 

bradl

macrumors 603
Jun 16, 2008
5,952
17,447
Well, lads, I've made my decision.

I had gone back and forth for 5 months on which one I want, and took a lot into consideration:
  • Portability.
  • Internals.
  • Weight.
  • Peripherals.
  • Screen Size/Real estate.
Initially, because I'm coming from a 13" MBA (mid-2011, 1.7GHz Core-i5 (Sandy Bridge), 4GB memory, 256GB SATA SSD), which has served me well for 11 years without a single bit of maintenance needed on it. Because of its size, I was going to be completely happy with the 14" MBP so it would have been a no-brainer to pull the trigger on that. However, it was the thermals and fan reviews I read and saw on youtube (some of them you can even hear) that now has me pulling the trigger on the 16".

Coming from the PC world back to Macs after a 13 year break, I easily got back into the habit of needing to upgrade roughly every two years. To have a laptop last me 11 years is saying a hell of a lot for Apple's hardware as well as stability in its software (this Mac started on Lion; it's been stable for 6 years on Sierra). If that is the trend, I could easily see using this for the next 5-6 years at the absolute minimum. So I'm planting that stake in the ground now.

I'm quadrupling up on everything, so a 16" MBP 10/16/16, 16GB, 2TB SSD is on its way!

BL.
 

Technerd108

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2021
3,062
4,313
Well, lads, I've made my decision.

I had gone back and forth for 5 months on which one I want, and took a lot into consideration:
  • Portability.
  • Internals.
  • Weight.
  • Peripherals.
  • Screen Size/Real estate.
Initially, because I'm coming from a 13" MBA (mid-2011, 1.7GHz Core-i5 (Sandy Bridge), 4GB memory, 256GB SATA SSD), which has served me well for 11 years without a single bit of maintenance needed on it. Because of its size, I was going to be completely happy with the 14" MBP so it would have been a no-brainer to pull the trigger on that. However, it was the thermals and fan reviews I read and saw on youtube (some of them you can even hear) that now has me pulling the trigger on the 16".

Coming from the PC world back to Macs after a 13 year break, I easily got back into the habit of needing to upgrade roughly every two years. To have a laptop last me 11 years is saying a hell of a lot for Apple's hardware as well as stability in its software (this Mac started on Lion; it's been stable for 6 years on Sierra). If that is the trend, I could easily see using this for the next 5-6 years at the absolute minimum. So I'm planting that stake in the ground now.

I'm quadrupling up on everything, so a 16" MBP 10/16/16, 16GB, 2TB SSD is on its way!

BL.
I don't think you will regret it! I initially pre-ordered the 14" after I sold my 13" M1 MBP. Once I got it, I felt the screen size was too small. It was odd since the 13" never bothered me. I returned the 14" and then got a BTO M1 Max 16" and can't be happier!

I hope your Mac will provide you with many years of happy ownership. I too have come back to the Mac after several years.
 
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