M1 MacBook Pro for Chrome, Safari, Photos, Web, Documents

[Sossity]

I am looking at one for sale, its specs; Apple MacBook Pro 14" M1 Max 10 Core (32 Core GPU, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD. It is a good deal, however, I have some concerns about its ability to handle heavy Google Chrome use. I have read mixed things about this. I am in the Chrome scape, so just witching all my stuff to safari is not totally practical for me. I have multiple Google accounts I use for working and school. So I would need to have them open. I also have many, many, tabs open as well, although I can go through and close some of them.

I aslo do text, spreadsheets, some photo editing, some minor video editing, nothing extreme, and downloading of photos off my phone and cameras, and a little website editing using Wix.

Anybody have experience with this? will an M1 mac work? or should I go for something else?

 

[Gnattu]

If it is really a good deal you can go for it. It is what I'm using now for regular development and I think it should be heavier than Chome(I hope so)

 

[tomstone74]

A MAX with its 32 GPU cores sound a total overkill for your use case, IMHO. Also a PRO might be more battery efficient in a 14" chassis and its battery size. And on the other hand, your mentioned minor/some photo and video editing likely can be easily handled by a base Non-PPRO/MAX SoC.

RAM-wise, also depends on various things. Not sure what you mean by heavy Google Chrome usage, but I have seen Firefox can be a memory hog (perhaps even due to a bug / memory leak), thus switched to Safari in the course when moving over from Windows to the Mac. But at the end, memory per Chrome tab might also depend on the website you are visiting, e.g. a lot of Java script stuff etc ... In 2024, personally I wouldn't go below 32GB for a new purchase, but in my case it's more from a software development standpoint (IDE, containers, ...). But there is also AI around etc. and perhaps more memory demanding things coming around the corner somewhere.

Storage-wise, only you will know. 1TB sounds plenty for "some/minor" photo/video editing and you always can expand with external storage, be it locally plugged in, via NAS, Cloud Storage etc ...

I think I made a smart decision in November 2022, when pulling the trigger for a refurbished 14" MBP M1 Pro 10c/16c/32GB/2TB, with headroom in the storage department + supreme read/write throughput of the 2TB in case it needs to occasionally swap if 32GB RAM being some limiting factor, very, very rarely. Will likely serves we very well for coming years. 64GB RAM would have meant going with a MAX, which I wanted to avoid in a 14" chassis, but that was more a personal taste.

A decent Mac Mini M4 Pro config is tempting though, upgrading from the M1 Pro, especially in the CPU department and my software development use case. My 14" MBP is my only Mac, thus regularly also acts as desktop machine, which does it very well.

 

[MacCheetah3]

If it’s a good deal price wise… Maybe. Processing and memory, that system should be plenty for years.

I searched and thought about the most demanding websites (e.g., ads, live content) and finally created a yellow memory pressure situation.

The MacRumors Forums are via Safari. Also open is Mail and Messages.

When I added Firefox, just Apple’s main page, and Discord (desktop app), I finally pushed macOS to do some page-outs (i.e., “swap”).

That said, if you want most longevity with Web-based use, going previous generation Mac isn’t the best idea. I’m not talking about the fear mongering of no security patches. Instead, I’m referring to OS and related Web browser compatibility. Sure, you’ll probably get nearly a decade of official, straight forward software compatibility, five to seven years of OS plus maybe two extra years from browser developers for vintage OS versions. However, as a reminder, the M1 is already a few years into its (officially) supported lifespan. That may not be a problem for you, but it’s worth adding to the value equation.

So, if it’s in the budget, I recommend considering a discounted 24GB (or even a 16GB) M3 (or eventual M4) MBA. Or, if portability isn’t necessary/beneficial, one of the new M4 Mac mini configs.

One more thing...

I have multiple Google accounts I use for working and school. So I would need to have them open. I also have many, many, tabs open as well, although I can go through and close some of them.

There is logic to having multiple (browser) tabs (i.e., very quick access). However, (indeed) don’t get caught leaving dozens or hundreds open between sessions because you may be too lazy to utilize bookmarking. As someone who formerly had that behavior, you’ll regret at some point, I guarantee. For me, the final jolt incident was a Firefox update that closed all of my browser windows/tabs and didn’t offer a recovery option. And it’s best practice to use the right tool for the task (e.g., bookmarks, save to PDF).

 

[Sossity]

If it’s a good deal price wise… Maybe. Processing and memory, that system should be plenty for years.

I searched and thought about the most demanding websites (e.g., ads, live content) and finally created a yellow memory pressure situation.

View attachment 2445947
View attachment 2445948
The MacRumors Forums are via Safari. Also open is Mail and Messages.

When I added Firefox, just Apple’s main page, and Discord (desktop app), I finally pushed macOS to do some page-outs (i.e., “swap”).
View attachment 2445951

That said, if you want most longevity with Web-based use, going previous generation Mac isn’t the best idea. I’m not talking about the fear mongering of no security patches. Instead, I’m referring to OS and related Web browser compatibility. Sure, you’ll probably get nearly a decade of official, straight forward software compatibility, five to seven years of OS plus maybe two extra years from browser developers for vintage OS versions. However, as a reminder, the M1 is already a few years into its (officially) supported lifespan. That may not be a problem for you, but it’s worth adding to the value equation.

So, if it’s in the budget, I recommend considering a discounted 24GB (or even a 16GB) M3 (or eventual M4) MBA. Or, if portability isn’t necessary/beneficial, one of the new M4 Mac mini configs.

One more thing...

There is logic to having multiple (browser) tabs (i.e., very quick access). However, (indeed) don’t get caught leaving dozens or hundreds open between sessions because you may be too lazy to utilize bookmarking. As someone who formerly had that behavior, you’ll regret at some point, I guarantee. For me, the final jolt incident was a Firefox update that closed all of my browser windows/tabs and didn’t offer a recovery option. And it’s best practice to use the right tool for the task (e.g., bookmarks, save to PDF).

Thank you for taking the time for this explanation. Do the macbook airs overheat? I don't think they have fans. I recall on my intel Macbook Pro, my activities would get the fans spinning.