Just purchased a 14" MBP - and I am excited

[transphasic]

I spent several weeks analyzing my options, such as a Studio for home with a MBA for outside adventures, vs a MBP, taking into account the Studio is a better home computer (more ports, bigger heat sink, etc) and the MBA is a lighter, smaller laptop better suited to travel with, but chose the MBP 14".

Why, you might ask?

I saved almost $1,000 compared to the Apple store buying from one of their authorised dealers. When even the Apple store employees saw the sale, and had explained to me that the upcoming MBP revision will be incremental and not monumental, along with having no timetable on when they will be released, even they said this is a "no-brainer."

I was VERY tempted by the MBA, which I might still get if traveling with the MBP bothers my aging shoulders when I transport it, but the cost savings was too great to pass up for such a machine. Plus the lack of upgradability of the Studio rendered it much less appealing, as I had always visualized a home computer as something that offered some type of path to upgrading; swapping the processor, more RAM, etc.

Only thing that I wasn't thrilled about is the color - space dull gray - when i wanted silver, but for $1,000 saved I'll live with the color.

Will buy the Apple Display tomorrow/later this week to round things out. Exciting times...

 

[ilikewhey]

slap on a case and you won't even notice the difference.

 

[barkomatic]

$1K off is an amazing deal and you are correct, the M2 will be an incremental difference--only worth it to a fraction of users. I bought the space gray and while I wish it were a little darker its one of the best computers I've ever owned.

Inflation is rising rapidly and I think finding good deals on technology or anything is going to get more challenging. You had a win today.

The Apple studio display does hit the refurb store from time to time.

 

[Robdmb]

What spec model did you get?

 

[TightLines]

You will be happy… i just did similar deal with a 16” and saved $600… and am looking forward to getting it Thursday… IMHO - steer clear of the Apple monitors…. you just saved $1000, don‘t lose it all to a massively over priced display with little port offerings… find an alternative… LG or Samsung is worth looking into.

 

[transphasic]

What spec model did you get?

64GB RAM, 32 core GPU, 1TB SSD. I wanted to get something with extra headroom because I hope to keep it for 5-7 years, if possible.

 

[transphasic]

You will be happy… i just did similar deal with a 16” and saved $600… and am looking forward to getting it Thursday… IMHO - steer clear of the Apple monitors…. you just saved $1000, don‘t lose it all to a massively over priced display with little port offerings… find an alternative… LG or Samsung is worth looking into.

Interesting suggestion. I am planning to test it with my humble 32 inch Samsung UJ59 I use for my Dell work laptop to see how it interacts.

The LG Ultrafine 5K is close in price to the ASD - about $1,296 on Amazon, so that might be less of a reasonable alternative being so close in price to the ASD.

Do you have any Samsung models you'd suggest? I reviewed the Samsung site and all of the monitors were 4K.

 

[transphasic]

One question I have for you laptop veterans, as I've never owned one before: do you keep the charging cable plugged in all the time, or charge it fully and then take it off to use the battery?

If you constantly use the cable plugged in, will that damage the battery over the long run?

 

[wilberforce]

One question I have for you laptop veterans, as I've never owned one before: do you keep the charging cable plugged in all the time, or charge it fully and then take it off to use the battery?

If you constantly use the cable plugged in, will that damage the battery over the long run?

With these Li-ion batteries it is best not to fully charge or fully discharge too many times or for too long.
Thus it used to be that leaving the laptop on the charger, and thus at 100% charge continuously, was very bad for the battery.
However, now battery management is much improved, and the system will recognize if the laptop is on the charger all the time, and only charge the battery to 80%, thus protecting its longevity.
So, nowadays you do not really need to worry about it much, other than avoid completely discharging the battery (less than 10%).

If battery charging is paused or on hold on your Mac - Apple Support

Use the battery status menu to resume charging if you need to have your Mac fully charged sooner.

support.apple.com

Of course, people have come up with all kinds of theories and techniques for further prolonging the battery life as much as possible, most of which are a nuisance and limit the usability of the machine.

 

[Bcn]

I have a MacBook Pro 2014, still going strong and for 8 years I mainly use it at home with the power on around 20 hours a day (because I need to be online/commercials stuff). I’m still on my original battery, which I can use a few hours).

 

[Bcn]

I’m also looking into an upgrade in the next year, even though my MacBook Pro 2014 still works fine, I’m excited about the MacBook Pro 16 in silver. I’m holding on a bit longer to see what 2023 brings.

 

[maflynn]

Congrats on your new purchase. If you're unhappy with the color and I get that, it can be important. Consider using a skin Dbrand makes all sorts of designs and colors.

I do believe the 14" MBP is a better buy then the MBA for a number of reasons (at least for my usage). Better and larger screen, more ports, better performance.

 

[Robdmb]

64GB RAM, 32 core GPU, 1TB SSD. I wanted to get something with extra headroom because I hope to keep it for 5-7 years, if possible.

I just got the same setup on a deal at Microcenter - been debating if I'm gonna keep it or not (haven't even opened it) but it was such a good deal to pass up.

 

[zackkmac]

Congrats!! I second the Dbrand skin recommendation. I had first went with a space gray open-box M1 MBA and put a matte white Dbrand sticker on the top case, never thought about the color again. Then I managed to snag a 14" MBP (base) in silver for a similar deal (it was $1600 after taxes, with AC+ included) so I'm being totally biased here but you made a great choice.

 

[transphasic]

I just got the same setup on a deal at Microcenter - been debating if I'm gonna keep it or not (haven't even opened it) but it was such a good deal to pass up.

Why not keep it? The MBP is smooth as silk and massively powered.

If I traveled more frequently, or was on a budget, the MBA would likely have been the choice but those were not major factors. I moved on it because the Apple store staff was pretty certain the next iteration will not be a major change in capability or processor speed, and it might not even be issued for months, possibly sometime in 2023.

I am quite happy with my purchase, as I put an immense amount of time analyzing the decision until my family members got sick of hearing about it LOL.

Since you mentioned the retailer, I'l give them a plug here (I assume this is allowed...?)

 

[joehohoho]

Congrats on such a good deal. I'm a recently new 14 MBP owner and is easily the best laptop I've ever owned or indeed even used!

 

[bibasik7]

I spent several weeks analyzing my options, such as a Studio for home with a MBA for outside adventures, vs a MBP, taking into account the Studio is a better home computer (more ports, bigger heat sink, etc) and the MBA is a lighter, smaller laptop better suited to travel with, but chose the MBP 14".

Why, you might ask?

I saved almost $1,000 compared to the Apple store buying from one of their authorised dealers. When even the Apple store employees saw the sale, and had explained to me that the upcoming MBP revision will be incremental and not monumental, along with having no timetable on when they will be released, even they said this is a "no-brainer."

I was VERY tempted by the MBA, which I might still get if traveling with the MBP bothers my aging shoulders when I transport it, but the cost savings was too great to pass up for such a machine. Plus the lack of upgradability of the Studio rendered it much less appealing, as I had always visualized a home computer as something that offered some type of path to upgrading; swapping the processor, more RAM, etc.

Only thing that I wasn't thrilled about is the color - space dull gray - when i wanted silver, but for $1,000 saved I'll live with the color.

Will buy the Apple Display tomorrow/later this week to round things out. Exciting times...

Where did you buy it? I've seen similarly large discounts on microcenter's website

 

[dmr727]

Congrats on your purchase - that's a smoking deal. You're gonna love the machine I'm sure!

 

[transphasic]

Where did you buy it? I've seen similarly large discounts on microcenter's website

See post #15 above.

 

[guitarguy19]

I SO want to be on the fence about pulling the trigger on the M1 MBP 14. Sales going on put it at the exact same price ($1599 base) as a similarly spec’d M2 MBA w/ 16GB and 512.

But, deep down the benefits of the Pro over the Air don’t really…benefit me.

I run 75% of the time at home through a Studio Display (which is overpriced I know, but I LOVE it….really value the built in webcam and speakers since my laptop sits in clamshell mode on a side table, along with the amazingly beautiful 5k screen, it really fit perfect for what I needed) so the larger screen with the fancy mini led panel on the MBP would not really do a lot for me.

The extra ports? I’ve got nothing to plug into them if I’m being honest…I have 3 TB ports on the ASD to use, which I have a few things plugged into. But when I leave the house I just unplug 1 cable and I’m gone with this setup.

The extra computing HP…well I currently have a 2020 i5 MBA…and it mostly does the job. I can bog it down a little if I really try, and yeah, I’m sure it could be a bit snappier, but it’s mostly fine. So I know the MBP is way more machine than I really need.

Then there’s the flat out drawbacks for my use case, albeit minor, that the MBP bigger and heavier than the Air I have now and has worse battery life. When I do head out of the house with my laptop, I really appreciate the portability of the MBA.

So despite REALLY wanting to snap up one of these M1 Pros on sale…I’m going to wait until the M2 MBA goes on sale maybe sometime in 2023, or until my 2010 MBP finally dies and can no longer do even the most basic email and web browsing for my wife around the house. Yes it’s slow, but she doesn’t care and doesn’t use it much. When I do upgrade though, I know she will love this i5 MBA! Ha.

 

[ndouglas]

$2800 is a deal? And you saying you saved $1000 means it would have been $3800 on apple.com! Yowza! I don’t mean to imply it’s not a good value, just … I guess the sticker shock of the price for me personally. Perhaps as I’ve rarely been one to select more than a slightly upgraded level of hard drive space and RAM.

That being said, congrats to OP and I agree they are enjoyable and reliable machines that you can expect to keep using smoothly for many many years.

Also I second the comment about a quality non-Apple display vs. an Apple one, unless you just really have another extra $1000+ that you want to get rid of…

 

[transphasic]

I SO want to be on the fence about pulling the trigger on the M1 MBP 14. Sales going on put it at the exact same price ($1599 base) as a similarly spec’d M2 MBA w/ 16GB and 512.

But, deep down the benefits of the Pro over the Air don’t really…benefit me.

I run 75% of the time at home through a Studio Display (which is overpriced I know, but I LOVE it….really value the built in webcam and speakers since my laptop sits in clamshell mode on a side table, along with the amazingly beautiful 5k screen, it really fit perfect for what I needed) so the larger screen with the fancy mini led panel on the MBP would not really do a lot for me.

The extra ports? I’ve got nothing to plug into them if I’m being honest…I have 3 TB ports on the ASD to use, which I have a few things plugged into. But when I leave the house I just unplug 1 cable and I’m gone with this setup.

The extra computing HP…well I currently have a 2020 i5 MBA…and it mostly does the job. I can bog it down a little if I really try, and yeah, I’m sure it could be a bit snappier, but it’s mostly fine. So I know the MBP is way more machine than I really need.

Then there’s the flat out drawbacks for my use case, albeit minor, that the MBP bigger and heavier than the Air I have now and has worse battery life. When I do head out of the house with my laptop, I really appreciate the portability of the MBA.

So despite REALLY wanting to snap up one of these M1 Pros on sale…I’m going to wait until the M2 MBA goes on sale maybe sometime in 2023, or until my 2010 MBP finally dies and can no longer do even the most basic email and web browsing for my wife around the house. Yes it’s slow, but she doesn’t care and doesn’t use it much. When I do upgrade though, I know she will love this i5 MBA! Ha.

One of the reasons I chose to get a massively overpowered laptop for my current needs is I am buying the back-end of later years now, to try and ensure usability of the device beyond year 4/5, maybe getting a year 6 and possibly 7 out of it.

If I decide not to hold it that long, I've also increased its late-in-life value where I can re-sell it for more money than the pittance trade-in apple provides. For example, my 27" iMac has 40GB of RAM and a maxxed out CPU at 4.2Ghz, which is selling for about $1,300 on Ebay right now. So yes, I just dropped almost $3K on this laptop when I could have purchased a perfectly suitable $1,800 one, but because of my foresight in 2018 when I bought the iMac I am now slicing a full $1,000 or more off the price of my current laptop once I sell the iMac.

The MBA will be hard-pressed for quite some time to be able to compete with the current MBPs because of the throttling as there are no fans. I also live for long stretches in a hot, humid environment which made the MBA suspect in terms of durability/longevity. I love the MBA's form and the concept of portable ultrabooks, so it might be a purchase down the road...

 

[transphasic]

$2800 is a deal? And you saying you saved $1000 means it would have been $3800 on apple.com! Yowza! I don’t mean to imply it’s not a good value, just … I guess the sticker shock of the price for me personally. Perhaps as I’ve rarely been one to select more than a slightly upgraded level of hard drive space and RAM.

That being said, congrats to OP and I agree they are enjoyable and reliable machines that you can expect to keep using smoothly for many many years.

Also I second the comment about a quality non-Apple display vs. an Apple one, unless you just really have another extra $1000+ that you want to get rid of…

Budget was not a factor for this scenario, and I will pick up an apple display shortly to a/b against my humble Samsung UJ59 32 inch, which I am using now and while usable, might be a bit too bright/lacking in sharpness for the extended hours I sit in front of my mac. FYI: they are in stock in the apple refurbished store for $1,359, not cheap but a bit more reasonable than $1,600. Too bad there is no way it can be used as a monitor with the MBP, I'd keep it for that purpose but of course, our friends at apple eliminated that ability to force people like me to buy a new monitor.

And it is actually $2,800 minus the grand I will soon be getting for my 27" iMac, using the very fungible accounting methods used in my household

 

[ndouglas]

Nice! Way to keep things fungible. I am a fan of the Apple Refurb store too.

 

[guitarguy19]

One of the reasons I chose to get a massively overpowered laptop for my current needs is I am buying the back-end of later years now, to try and ensure usability of the device beyond year 4/5, maybe getting a year 6 and possibly 7 out of it.

If I decide not to hold it that long, I've also increased its late-in-life value where I can re-sell it for more money than the pittance trade-in apple provides. For example, my 27" iMac has 40GB of RAM and a maxxed out CPU at 4.2Ghz, which is selling for about $1,300 on Ebay right now. So yes, I just dropped almost $3K on this laptop when I could have purchased a perfectly suitable $1,800 one, but because of my foresight in 2018 when I bought the iMac I am now slicing a full $1,000 or more off the price of my current laptop once I sell the iMac.

The MBA will be hard-pressed for quite some time to be able to compete with the current MBPs because of the throttling as there are no fans. I also live for long stretches in a hot, humid environment which made the MBA suspect in terms of durability/longevity. I love the MBA's form and the concept of portable ultrabooks, so it might be a purchase down the road...

Good line of thinking…your route makes sense to me

But more generally - assuming an MBA is right for one’s use case and the extra power of a MBP is not needed and won’t ever really be utilized - does that really shorten the expected life of the machine?

An upgraded MBA should have the same assumed longevity for the lighter use case…no?