Here's why the new MacBook Pros are great but still not worth upgrading

[Hieveryone]

As everyone knows, Apple released 2 new MacBook Pros. A 14" and 16" version. To put it simply, they are both HUGE winners. From the better screen, the re-introduction of much desired ports, bigger screens, and performance.

These are the Smart Fridges of laptops, period.​

But you see, that's exactly the "problem" I have. I am currently using a 2019 15" MacBook Pro. Great screen, great keyboard, great performance, and very reliable *knock on wood*

Just like I don't need a fridge with a touch screen, I don't need a laptop that is so extra. When you go to the fridge you're looking for food. Nobody cares about a touch screen. Same way, I see no compelling reason to upgrade the new laptop unless you just need a new laptop.

It's really a testament to Apple of how good they are. They can do such a brilliant job, yet it's just so above and beyond it's unnecessary.

EDIT: I agree with those who need this laptop. As I've said, it is spectacular. So if someone is a video creator and needs to edit, then yes this may be great for them. But what I'm trying to say is that who needs 10 cores outside of that? Seriously, most Mac users are probably NEVER going need 10 cores because it is just not what we do.


EDIT #2: I would like reiterate, these new Macbooks are *stellar*. I am not debating that. They are absolute beasts in terms of performance. The screen, added ports, just everything is pretty spectacular. But I think they are becoming more niche rather than appealing to the masses, especially with the price increase. That is why I gave the fridge example. Smart fridges are great for those who need it. But for the masses, most people don't care to have a screen in their fridge.

 

[HelloMikee]

What in the world are you smoking lol. I don’t disagree that you don’t need to upgrade because frankly… that’s your choice… but plenty others are in the market to upgrade their laptop. Also, these are for professionals who need the power, so the power is 100% welcome and not unnecessary by any means. Time is money for many creative professionals and any way you can reduce time to complete a project is a win.

Smart fridges of laptops, what in the ?

 

[SomeMacGuy]

I was toughing it out with a maxed-out 2015 MBP, hell bent on skipping the entire crazy touchbar generation because I hated it. I made it! New 1TB / 16GB ordered, delivering Oct 28.

 

[Hieveryone]

What in the world are you smoking lol. I don’t disagree that you don’t need to upgrade because frankly… that’s your choice… but plenty others are in the market to upgrade their laptop. Also, these are for professionals who need the power, so the power is 100% welcome and not unnecessary by any means. Time is money for many creative professionals and any way you can reduce time to complete a project is a win.

Smart fridges of laptops, what in the ?

That is not the point. Yes if someone needs 64GB RAM and 8 TB storage, then this laptop may be great. But it's so over the top what's your average person gonna do? That's the angle you have to see it from. The creative people are niche

 

[SHNXX]

pls delete this **** thread

 

[Hieveryone]

I was toughing it out with a maxed-out 2015 MBP, hell bent on skipping the entire crazy touchbar generation because I hated it. I made it! New 1TB / 16GB ordered, delivering Oct 28.

This would fall in the category I mentioned. Someone who NEEDS a new laptop. If I had an older version and it wasn't fulfilling my needs, then yes I would upgrade to this new version too.

 

[ninethirty]

Man, this post is about the worst take you could have had. I hate the design, but what's inside them... this is what people wanted.

 

[Slix]

That is not the point. Yes if someone needs 64GB RAM and 8 TB storage, then this laptop may be great. But it's so over the top what's your average person gonna do? That's the angle you have to see it from. The creative people are niche

The average person will buy a MacBook Air, just like they always have.

Just because you don't need a pro machine (or an upgrade right now) doesn't mean it's overkill for everyone.

 

[Hieveryone]

The average person will buy a MacBook Air, just like they always have.

Just because you don't need a pro machine (or an upgrade right now) doesn't mean it's overkill for everyone.

Yes I think the average person will go with the Air too, but they have further run away regular customers with the upgrades they made + price increase. Again, this is great for pro users, but traditionally a lot of non-pro users also used MacBook Pros like students

 

[raqball]

Yes I think the average person will go with the Air too, but they have further run away regular customers with the upgrades they made + price increase. Again, this is great for pro users, but traditionally a lot of non-pro users also used MacBook Pros like students

Why does Chevy make a Volt and a Corvette? Not everyone needs a Corvette so why do they bother to make it?

Sorry, but I am not tracking your line of thought here....

 

[Hieveryone]

Why does Chevy make a Volt and a Corvette? Not everyone needs a Corvette so why do they bother to make it?

Sorry, but I am not tracking your line of thought here....

They should've focused on slightly LESS features and a $100 price DECREASE in my opinion if they wanted to appeal to the masses. Again, who needs 10 cores? Or even 8 cores?

Your corvette example is great but here's how I see it:

If they replaced the engine with V12 to increase the price, removed everything from the interior including AC, GPS, stereo, speakers etc to reduce curb weight, and went full race car, yes some people will celebrate. But a lot of current owners might get turned off.

 

[Slix]

They should've focused on slightly LESS features and a $100 price DECREASE in my opinion if they wanted to appeal to the masses. Again, who needs 10 cores? Or even 8 cores?

Your corvette example is great but here's how I see it:

If they replaced the engine with V12 to increase the price, removed everything from the interior including AC, GPS, stereo, speakers etc to reduce curb weight, and went full race car, yes some people will celebrate. But a lot of current owners might get turned off.

This is not a "for the masses" device. This is the MacBook Pro. If you don't see a use for it, then buy a cheaper MacBook. There are options that aren't $1999. The average consumer won't buy a high end Pro laptop even if it was $1899 instead. They'd probably just get the $1299 or $999 models. I don't understand what you're trying to say here. They added features to this MacBook Pro compared to the previous one.

 

[Hieveryone]

This is not a "for the masses" device. This is the MacBook Pro. If you don't see a use for it, then buy a cheaper MacBook. There are options that aren't $1999. The average consumer won't buy a high end Pro laptop even if it was $1899 instead. They'd probably just get the $1299 or $999 models. I don't understand what you're trying to say here. They added features to this MacBook Pro compared to the previous one.

That's exactly what I'm saying except I don't see it as a positive at all. It's not being catered to the masses which to me is a negative. It has just become more niche especially with this update. Average people who do web browsing, calendar, maybe some photo editing, etc WILL NOT need 10 cores in my opinion. Historically, you'd see students on every campus with a MacBook Pro. Now it seems like they're straying away from that

 

[baummer]

That is not the point. Yes if someone needs 64GB RAM and 8 TB storage, then this laptop may be great. But it's so over the top what's your average person gonna do? That's the angle you have to see it from. The creative people are niche

That's exactly what I'm saying except I don't see it as a positive at all. It's not being catered to the masses which to me is a negative. It has just become more niche especially with this update. Average people who do web browsing, calendar, maybe some photo editing, etc WILL NOT need 10 cores in my opinion. Historically, you'd see students on every campus with a MacBook Pro. Now it seems like they're straying away from that

It’s not targeted to everyone. It’s targeted to professionals, to that very creative people niche mentioned. I don’t know why that’s so hard to understand ?‍♂️ It’s simply not a product that is targeted to everyone; they have other computers that serve that purpose.

 

[PhoneI]

Ah, the old this computer is too fast argument. I love it.

I drive a Honda accord. Who the heck needs a BMW

 

[Strider64]

I bought a MacBook Pro 13 M1 a few months back and was hearing rumors of these back then. However, I use the computer as a tool not on how fast or powerful it is. Does it stop me from wanting the latest? No, but my bank account does. I hope this MBP will last me a long time and do what I want it to do. When I was a PC user (over 40 years) and I was building them myself for the last ten years I was always "upgrading" the computer to see how fast or power I could make it. I really never accomplish much with the computer, but now I am actually using the computer as a tool. Though I still like looking at the new computers coming out by Apple.

 

[Hieveryone]

I bought a MacBook Pro 13 M1 a few months back and was hearing rumors of these back then. However, I use the computer as a tool not on how fast or powerful it is. Does it stop me from wanting the latest? No, but my bank account does. I hope this MBP will last me a long time and do what I want it to do. When I was a PC user (over 40 years) and I was building them myself for the last ten years I was always "upgrading" the computer to see how fast or power I could make it. I really never accomplish much with the computer, but now I am actually using the computer as a tool. Though I still like looking at the new computers coming out by Apple.

For sure. At the end of the day it is a tool, so as long as it's doing what you need, you're good. I have a 2019 15" and it works great. No issues. "Only" 6-core but hey I'm not a sophisticated video editing guy. I suppose MacBook Pros have gotten to good for my needs

 

[gren81]

Now that I am retired,I am seriously considering the 14” M1 Pro - maybe do photography and video editing for myself and family as a hobby.

Nothing serious, but I am ready to upgrade my 13” mid-2012 i5 which has been awesome. I am planning on another 10 year stint with my replacement.

I am considering the MacBook Air, but leaning away from it.

 

[Hieveryone]

Now that I am retired,I am seriously considering the 14” M1 Pro - maybe do photography and video editing for myself and family as a hobby.

Nothing serious, but I am ready to upgrade my 13” mid-2012 i5 which has been awesome. I am planning on another 10 year stint with my replacement.

I am considering the MacBook Air, but leaning away from it.

Congratulations! I wish I had held on to my late 2013 rMBP 2.6/16/256 for that long. I upgraded bc I had started some new projects and thought I may need a better laptop.

If I was still using my 2013, I would probably get this generation MacBook Pro

 

[ginofresh]

so I understand what your saying, because I myself am in the same boat. I have the 2019 MacBook Pro 16 inc and I been thinking if I should get the new one's. apple is willing to give me 1500 for my MacBook and then the new one will only cost me $1300, but I cant justify spending $1300 when I dont do much with my Mac, all I kinda do with it is normal stuff. the most I ever put my Mac threw was playing wow and as of right now I am in the middle of trying to save money and not be so careless with it. so I am trying to fight the urge not to Upgrade.

so from a normal person perspective I do understand what you are saying.
the only thing that I like from this MacBook is the M1 pro chip the mage safe charge and the new keyboard with out Touch Bar and better battery life but I dont travel with my laptop. I dont really need an m1 Chip as like I said I dont do much with my laptop and mage safe is just a charger and the keyboard again is just a Keyboard.

but I do understand if you need a laptop you need a laptop but I get what the original poster is saying.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I have the M1 MacBook Pro and in some ways, even for me this system is overkill. That said, saying Apple doesn't need to push the boundaries is a little disingenuous. This is what you call progress and innovation. When Steve Jobs introduced the 22 inch Cinema Display back in 1999, most people at the time called that a high end luxury product. Yet, here I am watching this event on a 22 inch Dell display I took home from Ewaste.

I remember back in 2006 when my laptop, an Acer Ferrari came with a Dual Core AMD processor and 4 GBs of RAM and was just overwhelmed by the power. Yet, it got slow and groggy by the time Windows 8 came around. But, the performance was unbelievable for the time.

The point is, you have to take these leaps to drive creativity and the industry forward. I am sure this is gonna light a fire under Intel and PC manufacturers to do better too. Just think what 2030's MacBook Pro is gonna be like compared to this? I am sure in 2012, the Retina MacBook Pro was seen as overkill too in terms of features and pricing. But, now that's a relic that can't even handle some of todays web pages.

One day, these 2021 MacBook Pro's are gonna look ridiculously outdated and go for $200 on Ebay. Not anytime soon, but this is how technology has always been.

What scares me, if Apple is pushing it this far so soon and I won't be upgrading my notebook until 2025 I can only imagine what that machines gonna be like.

 

[dallegre]

I'm in the same boat with a 16" 2019, but I kinda disagree. I think this gen is all about performance/power and going back to the old macbook pro ethos (okay, not quite 2012 where you could replace components), but it's more of a true portable workstation.
If I were pushing my laptop every day with FCP and Adobe products, I would probably be all over this, but my "Pro" use is more occasional these days. If I were a Davinci Resolve user, I'd be all over this. I also really like the idea of a powerful 14" model to replace the 13". At home, I'm using and external monitor anyway, on the road, I'd take the portability over screen real estate.

ETA: And what a lot of pros have complained about is the last few gens of MBPs have seemed to target "the masses", made for everybody and sacrificing features that niche pro users desire or need. This launch seems to directly address complaints from niche/pro users, and those pros that aren't necessarily the typical "creative" that so much of Apple marketing is directed at.

 

[BluAffiliate]

The new MacBooks are the Juicero of the juice world.

 

[Hieveryone]

so I understand what your saying, because I myself am in the same boat. I have the 2019 MacBook Pro 16 inc and I been thinking if I should get the new one's. apple is willing to give me 1500 for my MacBook and then the new one will only cost me $1300, but I cant justify spending $1300 when I dont do much with my Mac, all I kinda do with it is normal stuff. the most I ever put my Mac threw was playing wow and as of right now I am in the middle of trying to save money and not be so careless with it. so I am trying to fight the urge not to Upgrade.

so from a normal person perspective I do understand what you are saying.
the only thing that I like from this MacBook is the M1 pro chip the mage safe charge and the new keyboard with out Touch Bar and better battery life but I dont travel with my laptop. I dont really need an m1 Chip as like I said I dont do much with my laptop and mage safe is just a charger and the keyboard again is just a Keyboard.

but I do understand if you need a laptop you need a laptop but I get what the original poster is saying.

Thank you. Yes this is what I'm trying to say. Would I like to have a 1,006 core computer with 400,000 GB RAM, 200 million GB SSD, and a liquid crystal hypertonic astro physics lunar optic display? Sure lol.

But in all seriousness, I'm your average user. My statement above was not to be facetious to those on here who have opposing views, but rather make a point. I'm an average user that has always LOVED the MacBook Pro lineup. In colleges everywhere I remember seeing them amongst regular folks.

Now, it feels like the MacBook Pro is no longer built for people like me. And that to me is a shame

 

[Hieveryone]

I have the M1 MacBook Pro and in some ways, even for me this system is overkill. That said, saying Apple doesn't need to push the boundaries is a little disingenuous. This is what you call progress and innovation. When Steve Jobs introduced the 22 inch Cinema Display back in 1999, most people at the time called that a high end luxury product. Yet, here I am watching this event on a 22 inch Dell display I took home from Ewaste.

I remember back in 2006 when my laptop, an Acer Ferrari came with a Dual Core AMD processor and 4 GBs of RAM and was just overwhelmed by the power. Yet, it got slow and groggy by the time Windows 8 came around. But, the performance was unbelievable for the time.

The point is, you have to take these leaps to drive creativity and the industry forward. I am sure this is gonna light a fire under Intel and PC manufacturers to do better too. Just think what 2030's MacBook Pro is gonna be like compared to this? I am sure in 2012, the Retina MacBook Pro was seen as overkill too in terms of features and pricing. But, now that's a relic that can't even handle some of todays web pages.

One day, these 2021 MacBook Pro's are gonna look ridiculously outdated and go for $200 on Ebay. Not anytime soon, but this is how technology has always been.

What scares me, if Apple is pushing it this far so soon and I won't be upgrading my notebook until 2025 I can only imagine what that machines gonna be like.

Ok, so this is a viewpoint I can completely agree with.

You are right. Apple should push the boundaries of innovation, maybe even if it leaves your average user behind (like me).

This is a very fair point.

For the sake of technology, I suppose it is much more important to do great things than worry about those who don't need it, even if it is a lot of people (I'm assuming).