Ditch Intel 16" MBP for new M1 MBA or MBP?

[dukee101]

I've owned a 2019 16" MBP for the better part of this year (i9 2.3GHz, 5500M, 16GB, 1TB) and frankly am seriously disappointed with this machine. I don't use this MBP for creative pro work, and it still gets super hot and noisy ♨️. My usage is mainly having 50-70 Chrome tabs open (with Chrome RAM usage alone ~14-18GB), tabs loaded up with Google Docs, JIRA, InVision, Mixpanel, etc. Most of my other apps are Apple first-party, plus other lightweight Mac "friendlies" like Things, Bear, Alfred, etc

Zoom video calls all day plus the connection to my single 4K 60Hz external display gets my fans blasting 4000-5000 RPM nonstop. It's ridiculous. 😠 This is to say nothing of the speaker popping/crackling issue that randomly occurs too. I don't understand how true creative pros could happily use these machines.

Enter M1 Macs. This could be a game-changer, especially considering the early CPU benchmarks showing the M1 to rival 16" MBP chips. The only question I'm debating is whether to go fanless with the MBA, or get the MBP instead. Anyone here thinking similarly about this 16" "down-upgrade" strategy for people that have my type of workflow/usage?

To preempt the following concerns:
- No, I don't care about being limited to 2 ports. Hubs and docks exist for a reason, plus most of my peripherals are now Bluetooth.
- No, I don't care about a lack of ports on the right side of the machine. I can buy longer cables if that's what's forcing me to connect to the other side.
- No, I don't care about M1 Macs only supporting a single external display. One external is a good balance between expanding screen real estate without spending more time managing windows, creaking my neck, getting distracted, and so on.
- No, I don't care about a lack of a dedicated GPU. My workflow doesn't require it.
- No, I don't care about the Touch Bar.
- Yes, I care about the screen being smaller, but I'll make that trade-off.
- Yes, I care about the speakers and mic being worse, but I'll make that trade-off.

 

[JosepPont]

Drop your 16" (or sale it) and get the M1. I'm happy that I sold mine at a good price a while ago and I was waiting to a refresh now but it do not happened. I'll wait because I need a powerfull machine and the current M1 ones still does not enough powerful for my needs

 

[dukee101]

Drop your 16" (or sale it) and get the M1. I'm happy that I sold mine at a good price a while ago

You're right -- the sooner I can sell this 16" the better it'll be. As people get wise to the M1's performance, the market for these 16" Intels is going to crater.

 

[Rigtee]

It seems like you'll encounter many trade-offs by going with the new M1 chip... You mentioned some of those but let's make it clear, regarding your workflow, that:

• You might be disappointed by the lack of dGPU when connected to a 4K external display
• You might lack this feeling of mobile workstation when you unplug your laptop. Yes, you'll end up with a much more lightweight and slim product but don't underestimate the screen real estate and the capabilities of the CPU/GPU
• You might simply lose some power as the i9 in your MBP 16" will still likely score much better than the M1. And it's Intel-based so compatible with all your current applications.
  

Anyway, there are compromises you'll have to accept. An alternative (which also comes with trade-offs) is a desktop PC (Mac or Windows) for 4k intensive use and a M1 laptop for "normal" work. In my opinion, people who question their MBP 16" when seing the new M1 laptops simply did not need that machine in the first place!

 

[Invisible Elf]

I'm in a similar situation, and having many of the same thoughts. My MBP is due for a battery service, so I am considering to buy the new MBA to test out meanwhile. The only thing holding me back is I need the new machine to run World of Warcraft with acceptable framerates (lol) so waiting to hear some experiences about this first.

If I enjoy the MBA enough I might even keep it and still buy a 16" M1 MBP when those are eventually released.

 

[clangers23]

I've been tempted to order a base MBA just to see what all the fuss is about. I'm certainly not going to replace my 16" as beyond the headline CPU boost/power efficiency as other posters have pointed out they are very different devices.

My concern is and it's an unsubstantiated one is that moving over to Apple silicon results in a far narrower range of products, dare I say less 'Pro' orientated than they already are? Rumors of a 16" only 2-3 weeks away have surfaced, I'd be guessing if true that would be with exactly the same M1 SoC, 16gb RAM etc. The differentation going forward would primarily be form factor.

 

[dinobear]

I agree with Rigtee. I can't imagine downgrading my GPU and ram just to get the Rev A Apple M1. If I didn't need a pro machine I would have gotten the MacBook Air in the first place I guess.

Also, if you're quick to just jump on the latest updates, you might want to wait until next year anyway seeing as there will be all new form factors for the MacBook Pros. You'll probably want to sell your M1 then before people "wise up" to the new form factors and don't want the old looking one. I don't think the general consumer cares about intel or M1. But they will care about having the new looking one vs the old looking one.

Other things to note for pro users - apple plans to update the whole lineup to ARM. So they've got some pretty exciting things in store in terms of CPU and GPU performance seeing as this will go in the Mac Pro eventually. I think waiting a few iterations of updates will go a long way. The M1 in the "old style" (current) laptops is going to look vintage sooner than later.

 

[dukee101]

I agree with Rigtee. I can't imagine downgrading my GPU and ram just to get the Rev A Apple M1. If I didn't need a pro machine I would have gotten the MacBook Air in the first place I guess.

I don't use the GPU much and could get by with an integrated solution, but you're right, it is nice to have on hand if needed.

Also, if you're quick to just jump on the latest updates, you might want to wait until next year anyway seeing as there will be all new form factors for the MacBook Pros. You'll probably want to sell your M1 then before people "wise up" to the new form factors and don't want the old looking one. I don't think the general consumer cares about intel or M1. But they will care about having the new looking one vs the old looking one.

I agree 100% with this.

Other things to note for pro users - apple plans to update the whole lineup to ARM. So they've got some pretty exciting things in store in terms of CPU and GPU performance seeing as this will go in the Mac Pro eventually. I think waiting a few iterations of updates will go a long way. The M1 in the "old style" (current) laptops is going to look vintage sooner than later.

I also agree 100% with this.

Overall, I've done some thinking since last week and cooled off a little from the hype. The M1 is an unfathomable technological leap, but most 16" owners are probably better off waiting it out. In the meantime, I can just wear AirPods more often to cancel out the loud fans!

 

[cknlol]

Other than being an early adopter I do not see a benefit in side/up-whatevergrading from an already endgame like specced MBP16 right now. I am gonna play the waiting game, see more and more developers release their native silicon software and hopefully a 16 inch MBP from Apple sometime next year. That is when I am gonna make my move.

 

[Camarillo Brillo]

I've owned a 2019 16" MBP for the better part of this year (i9 2.3GHz, 5500M, 16GB, 1TB) and frankly am seriously disappointed with this machine. I don't use this MBP for creative pro work, and it still gets super hot and noisy ♨️. My usage is mainly having 50-70 Chrome tabs open (with Chrome RAM usage alone ~14-18GB), tabs loaded up with Google Docs, JIRA, InVision, Mixpanel, etc. Most of my other apps are Apple first-party, plus other lightweight Mac "friendlies" like Things, Bear, Alfred, etc

Zoom video calls all day plus the connection to my single 4K 60Hz external display gets my fans blasting 4000-5000 RPM nonstop. It's ridiculous. 😠 This is to say nothing of the speaker popping/crackling issue that randomly occurs too. I don't understand how true creative pros could happily use these machines.

Enter M1 Macs. This could be a game-changer, especially considering the early CPU benchmarks showing the M1 to rival 16" MBP chips. The only question I'm debating is whether to go fanless with the MBA, or get the MBP instead. Anyone here thinking similarly about this 16" "down-upgrade" strategy for people that have my type of workflow/usage?

To preempt the following concerns:
- No, I don't care about being limited to 2 ports. Hubs and docks exist for a reason, plus most of my peripherals are now Bluetooth.
- No, I don't care about a lack of ports on the right side of the machine. I can buy longer cables if that's what's forcing me to connect to the other side.
- No, I don't care about M1 Macs only supporting a single external display. One external is a good balance between expanding screen real estate without spending more time managing windows, creaking my neck, getting distracted, and so on.
- No, I don't care about a lack of a dedicated GPU. My workflow doesn't require it.
- No, I don't care about the Touch Bar.
- Yes, I care about the screen being smaller, but I'll make that trade-off.
- Yes, I care about the speakers and mic being worse, but I'll make that trade-off.

50-70 chrome tabs??? Jeeesus. No wonder your fans are going crazy.

My 16" stays at 40-60 degrees and the fans never spin up. And I am doing creative work using logic pro.

Try a different browser and/or close some tabs.

How do you even sort through 70 chrome tabs and why on earth would you need them all open at the same time?

 

[Nbd1790]

I would agree with most of the posts here. I wouldn't ditch your 16 inch for a M1 processor just yet. You're sacrificing a decent amount. If you had a 13 inch MBP currently, I would encourage you to switch.

Your best bet is to wait and see what they do with the 16 inch model and take it from there.

Also, 70 tabs on an internet browser that is already resource hungry from the moment you open it, will cause just about any laptop to start freaking out. I'm almost certain you don't even need half of that open for whatever you're doing. Cut that down and it seems you'll solve your issue without switching anything.

 

[Ron21]

i'm going to wait for the M1 16" MBP. It's probably 2-3 months out.

 

[dukee101]

50-70 chrome tabs??? Jeeesus. No wonder your fans are going crazy.

Ah, let me explain. Chrome does this thing where tabs you haven't visited for a few days get "disabled". While they still maintain a RAM footprint, they no longer consume CPU. In fact, if you go back to one of those disabled tabs, the tab loads from scratch. So it's not like all my tabs are consuming all these CPU cycles in the background constantly.

Further, I run an ad blocker that gets rid of a lot of the CPU-consuming ads and other drivel we find everywhere on the web these days. And lastly, I monitor Chrome's own activity monitor ("Task Manager") if I notice aberrant CPU behavior, and close any tab that's hogging CPU. So I'm definitely not your average Chrome user from a CPU management perspective.

My 16" stays at 40-60 degrees and the fans never spin up. And I am doing creative work using logic pro.

Well I'm happy for you, but my experience, along with countless others, just isn't the same. You need to look no further than this thread (175 pages and counting) to understand what we aggrieved 16" owners are collectively experiencing: 16" is HOT & NOISY. When my 16" is undocked, and still has 50-70 tabs open, it's cool and quiet as can be!

Try a different browser and/or close some tabs.

No. I tried Safari for a while knowing that it's much better at resource management than Chrome, but it wasn't the right solution for me. G-Suite products don't perform as nicely on it, and I use G-Suite constantly. Second, Chrome allows users to set up multiple "profiles", so I can switch between Chrome environments / accounts easily. This is very important to my workflow. AFAIK there is no equivalent with Safari.

How do you even sort through 70 chrome tabs and why on earth would you need them all open at the same time?

Ah, a good question! And one I didn't have a good answer to for years (other than grouping them by window). But recently, as of a couple months ago, Chrome debuted a new feature that lets you group tabs!! Finally! You can group tabs, give the group a name, collapse the group, expand it, move them as one block, it's amazing!

 

[dukee101]

Also, 70 tabs on an internet browser that is already resource hungry from the moment you open it, will cause just about any laptop to start freaking out. I'm almost certain you don't even need half of that open for whatever you're doing. Cut that down and it seems you'll solve your issue without switching anything.

As I responded to a different user with the same point above, I am not your average Chrome user from a resource management perspective. I take advantage of Chrome's disabled tabs feature, ad blocking, and the app's own Task Manager to make sure that Chrome's impact is primarily limited to RAM.

Second, I know for a fact that what I'm experiencing is tide mainly to GPU issues that make the machine hot and noisy when plugged into an external monitor (which it almost always is). There is a 175+ page thread that documents this here: 16" is HOT & NOISY

When my 16" is undocked, and still has 50-70 tabs open, it's cool and quiet as can be!

 

[Camarillo Brillo]

Thanks for the explanation.

Don't you think the fact that chrome is using up the majority of your RAM may be a factor as well?

Regarding the hot and noisy thread... if you read through there you'll see that I'm in there complaining quite a bit too, lol. It's just that since the last couple catalina updates I haven't had any issues anymore. The main issue is when using an external monitor and not in clamshell mode. That will make any of these computers get hot unfortunately.

 

[dukee101]

Regarding the hot and noisy thread... if you read through there you'll see that I'm in there complaining quite a bit too, lol. It's just that since the last couple catalina updates I haven't had any issues anymore. The main issue is when using an external monitor and not in clamshell mode. That will make any of these computers get hot unfortunately.

Hah lol I didn't notice your involvement there. I was really involved about 100 pages ago (heh), but just tuned out after that. Yes, it's established that having the internal display open + external connected is definitely what triggers the problem, but it's so disappointing to know about that regression.

I ran Macs with internal+external connected with no fan noise at all -- even 13" MBPs. Now that's not the case anymore with this new Mac. I feel 'burned' by Apple for that, and view their M1 and future versions as their redemption 🙏

 

[ght56]

I would wait to see how the new MacBook Pro behaves with a 4K display when used in combination with the clamshell open (which I assume you currently are doing with your current MBP.) It seems likely they will perform well, but as you are all too aware, there is always the chance that the use of external displays could have significant impacts on the behavior of a system.

 

[dukee101]

I would wait to see how the new MacBook Pro behaves with a 4K display when used in combination with the clamshell open (which I assume you currently are doing with your current MBP.) It seems likely they will perform well, but as you are all too aware, there is always the chance that the use of external displays could have significant impacts on the behavior of a system.

Totally agree. External monitor support can often be a toss-up, despite the open standards of HDMI and DisplayPort. This is exacerbated by the fact that over the last several years, Apple has shown a disregard for writing good graphics drivers, so that doesn't help with compatibility either.

Yes, I currently connect my 16" to a 4K LG monitor, but run it in 2560x1440 scaled. This means the GPU has to do non-integer scaling, so that definitely taxes the hardware more, but I do like this resolution's crispness, plus UI is larger and easier on the eyes.

Honestly, it's just video conferencing that mainly kicks the fans to high-gear, and I'm almost positive that's because the CPU has to work overdrive to compress the video/audio on the fly. Curious if the M1 has optimized instruction sets for that? Who knows! I hope it does!

 

[Rigtee]

As expected, new MacBooks with M1 significantly outperform Intel Macs they replaced! Nonetheless, I still think you should be patient and wait for the next M1(X ?) MBP 16" which will probably be even more powerful, have more ports (important factor to consider) and simply be more suitable for "pro" users (support for more than 1 external display, GPU power for video/photo/engineering software...).

Future looks promising!

 

[jamesjingyi]

I was looking at a 16" before the new M1s dropped and am seriously considering waiting. The main reason for not springing for one straight away was the lack of support for more than one external monitor - I need more than one (and I can't afford to splurge on one 6k XDR 😁)