So, I'm not a creative professional, though I'm not a super casual user either. I consider myself a "prosumer". I dabble in video editing a little bit here and there when inspiration strikes for my YouTube channel(s), and I use Photoshop for my titles and whatnot for the aforementioned videos. When it comes to Macs I currently have an M1 Mac mini with 16 GB of RAM/Unified Memory, and I love it, but I'm looking tor replace my aging 2015 15" max spec for its time MacBook Pro. It runs great to this day, but I don't know how much longer it'll be supported by Apple, and I'm ready to upgrade. (My dad needs a new laptop, so I'd be giving him the 15" as I upgrade.)
Back pre-Intel switch we had Macs using the Motorola 68k processors and then they went to PowerPC processors, as we all know. Those were fun times to be a Mac user. It gave me a sense of uniqueness having such a computer at that time. Now that Apple is moving on from Intel to their own chip design (the M1 family) that feeling of uniqueness for me is coming back. I really would like to have an M1 Pro or M1 Max 14" MacBook Pro (I have the money for either) but I don't know if the base M1 Pro ($2499 14" model) with 16 GB of unified memory is enough for what I'd wanna do. As I mentioned, I'm not a strict pro user, but I like having pro features available to me when I need or want them. My main draw to these newly refreshed ARM Macs is their proposed battery life. I'm starting to travel more again as the world is slowly emerging from this terrible pandemic, and being able to use my laptop on a train/plane/bus without having to charge it until the next day or later would be amazing to have. 17 hours on the 14" would be more than enough for me.
Here's what I basically use my current 15" and hopefully future 14" laptop for:
-- Web browsing/email
-- Light video editing when traveling for my YouTube channel(s)
-- Some light photo editing
-- Content consumption (from my personal Plex library, Netflix, Crunchyroll for anime, etc)
-- Some light document writing in MS Word/OpenOffice/LibreOffice and other productivity stuff
-- Some light gaming/emulation when on the go
-- Usage of some open source software that I'd compile myself (I'm not a developer) i.e. the open source video NLE Olive
-- Some virtual machine tomfoolery and tinkering
With all that said, >>PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE<< DO NOT recommend that I get last year's 13.3" M1 MBP/MBA. They're amazing machines even a year later but I refuse to use a Mac with the touchbar. It doesn't make sense to me, though I do know it's useful for many people depending on their workflows. I'm well aware that the M1 Pro/Max offerings are overkill for my light-moderate usage patterns, but I want my computer to last 3-5+ years as all my Macs have so far. I'd rather have a super powerful system for several years, than have one that as it ages can't do what I want several years into its life/in my ownership. I'll be going to my local Apple store(s) and perhaps Best Buy as a back up on Tuesday to see what I can get, but I just thought I'd get some insight here first.
Thanks in advance.
EDIT: Bolded some key points in my post for emphasis.
Back pre-Intel switch we had Macs using the Motorola 68k processors and then they went to PowerPC processors, as we all know. Those were fun times to be a Mac user. It gave me a sense of uniqueness having such a computer at that time. Now that Apple is moving on from Intel to their own chip design (the M1 family) that feeling of uniqueness for me is coming back. I really would like to have an M1 Pro or M1 Max 14" MacBook Pro (I have the money for either) but I don't know if the base M1 Pro ($2499 14" model) with 16 GB of unified memory is enough for what I'd wanna do. As I mentioned, I'm not a strict pro user, but I like having pro features available to me when I need or want them. My main draw to these newly refreshed ARM Macs is their proposed battery life. I'm starting to travel more again as the world is slowly emerging from this terrible pandemic, and being able to use my laptop on a train/plane/bus without having to charge it until the next day or later would be amazing to have. 17 hours on the 14" would be more than enough for me.
Here's what I basically use my current 15" and hopefully future 14" laptop for:
-- Web browsing/email
-- Light video editing when traveling for my YouTube channel(s)
-- Some light photo editing
-- Content consumption (from my personal Plex library, Netflix, Crunchyroll for anime, etc)
-- Some light document writing in MS Word/OpenOffice/LibreOffice and other productivity stuff
-- Some light gaming/emulation when on the go
-- Usage of some open source software that I'd compile myself (I'm not a developer) i.e. the open source video NLE Olive
-- Some virtual machine tomfoolery and tinkering
With all that said, >>PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE<< DO NOT recommend that I get last year's 13.3" M1 MBP/MBA. They're amazing machines even a year later but I refuse to use a Mac with the touchbar. It doesn't make sense to me, though I do know it's useful for many people depending on their workflows. I'm well aware that the M1 Pro/Max offerings are overkill for my light-moderate usage patterns, but I want my computer to last 3-5+ years as all my Macs have so far. I'd rather have a super powerful system for several years, than have one that as it ages can't do what I want several years into its life/in my ownership. I'll be going to my local Apple store(s) and perhaps Best Buy as a back up on Tuesday to see what I can get, but I just thought I'd get some insight here first.
Thanks in advance.
EDIT: Bolded some key points in my post for emphasis.
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