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M1 Pro/M1 Max config for a non-creative-pro?

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ShiggyMiyamoto

ShiggyMiyamoto

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 29, 2004
620
31
Just outside Boston, MA.
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.
 
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MBA will easily do all that and has no Touch Bar. Otherwise base m1 pro for the nicer screen/ added performance. It does look like it won’t have as good a battery life as the mba though. 16gb is plenty, but 32gb I think is nice to have if you’ll keep it for a while
 
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alels said:
MBA will easily do all that and has no Touch Bar. Otherwise base m1 pro for the nicer screen/ added performance. It does look like it won’t have as good a battery life as the mba though. 16gb is plenty, but 32gb I think is nice to have if you’ll keep it for a while
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As mentioned in the end of my OP I specifically requested against M1 MBA/MBP recommendations... The 17h of proposed battery life of the M1 Pro 14" would be awesome, as my current 15" barely lasts 4h with light use.. and that's with its battery having had been replaced by Apple. Thanks for your response all the same.
 
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WildSky said:
If you're planning on keeping it for 5-6 years, I'd go with the Pro 8-core 32GB/1TB.
Click to expand...
8 core? As in the the base $2k base config? I know even the binned M1 Pros are powerful, but I'm looking to get the higher spec base config for $2499. Also I'm wondering if in-stores on Tuesday they'll have anything but the base configs of each specced out model...
 
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Base model 14” will be more than enough or a base model 16” if you want a larger screen. Realistically both of those would probably be overkill and you’d be paying for performance you don’t necessarily need.

If you’re willing to wait, the 2022 MacBook Air might be exactly what you need. Plus it will have the mini led screen like the new pros along with MagSafe. More importantly, you’ll save a good $500-$800 and still have a laptop that is faster than most desktops.
 
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terminator-jq said:
Base model 14” will be more than enough or a base model 16” if you want a larger screen. Realistically both of those would probably be overkill and you’d be paying for performance you don’t necessarily need.

If you’re willing to wait, the 2022 MacBook Air might be exactly what you need. Plus it will have the mini led screen like the new pros along with MagSafe. More importantly, you’ll save a good $500-$800 and still have a laptop that is faster than most desktops.
Click to expand...
Yeah I know it'd be overkill if I was to get basically any of the new M1 Pro configs, but longevity is a thing for me too. I want to be able to have enough power for stuff as the need arises.
 
altaic said:
Olive looks like an interesting project. Cool.
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It is. It's very alpha and its development is currently very slow since only its creator, YouTuber MattKC is its sole dev from what I know, but for what it is it's come a long way and I can't wait until it's a viable and free replacement for Adobe Premiere Pro CC and BlackMagic Design's DaVinci Resolve (of which is excellent and has a free version, don't get me wrong).
 
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ShiggyMiyamoto said:
As mentioned in the end of my OP I specifically requested against M1 MBA/MBP recommendations... The 17h of proposed battery life of the M1 Pro 14" would be awesome, as my current 15" barely lasts 4h with light use.. and that's with its battery having had been replaced by Apple. Thanks for your response all the same.
Click to expand...

Not to derail but the M1 MacBook Air has a longer battery life than the 14” MacBook Pro

I don’t think spending for the M1 Max is worth it at all for you and it won’t extend your useful lifespan, since the tasks you do probably won’t benefit from more gpu cores.

Single threaded M1 max performance is the same as single threaded M1 performance.

C36B9189-FC11-4B53-9B8A-F342CC775E72.png
 
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Apple a Day said:
What a ridiculous post…”Tell me…what should I get guys?” Then proceeds to disregard everyone and touts exactly what OP wants. Well, then don’t post here and get what you want. End of story.
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Not really. Everyone is giving him advice as if the computing world is static. It is not. When you have these levels of improvement in cpu power you will see apps that will take advantage, and you may want that app. But you can't, because you bought for what you need for today instead of what you might need for tomorrows apps with higher requirements.
 
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arn said:
Not to derail but the M1 MacBook Air has a longer battery life than the 14” MacBook Pro

I don’t think spending for the M1 Max is worth it at all for you and it won’t extend your useful lifespan, since the tasks you do probably won’t benefit from more gpu cores.

Single threaded M1 max performance is the same as single threaded M1 performance.

View attachment 1874232
Click to expand...
I know all that, but I think I'm settled on the higher spec base 14". 17 hours estimated battery life is more than enough, as I said in bold in my post there.
 
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Apple a Day said:
What a ridiculous post…”Tell me…what should I get guys?” Then proceeds to disregard everyone and touts exactly what OP wants. Well, then don’t post here and get what you want. End of story.
Click to expand...
Was you posting this really necessary? Yes I listed what I do and I well know that these new SoCs offer more power than I'll use, but that's fine because it'll last me longer than if I get a system that barely can do what I want.
 
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ksj1 said:
Not really. Everyone is giving him advice as if the computing world is static. It is not. When you have these levels of improvement in cpu power you will see apps that will take advantage, and you may want that app. But you can't, because you bought for what you need for today instead of what you might need for tomorrows apps with higher requirements.
Click to expand...
Exactly. I don't mind if what I get is slightly overkill. Let's say a AAA game is ported to M1 but it needs the M1 Pro... Boom! I have the hardware to play it (bad example but yeah). I want to have the power available to me even if I don't use it right away.
 
ShiggyMiyamoto said:
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.
Click to expand...
The base 14” MBP for $1999 will be more than enough for you. Just put the extra grand you would have spent on upgrading into a 3 year treasury bond and in 2024 you can sell the base Pro and use the proceeds plus the bond on a 2024 M4-based MacBook Pro.
 
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KPOM said:
The base 14” MBP for $1999 will be more than enough for you. Just put the extra grand you would have spent into a 3 year treasury bond and in 2024 you can sell the base Pro and use the proceeds plus the bond on a 2024 M4-based MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...
I beg to differ. I feel that it'll become obsolete faster than a more advanced configuration. The name of the game is longevity, if you actually read my post.
 
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KPOM said:
The base 14” MBP for $1999 will be more than enough for you. Just put the extra grand you would have spent on upgrading into a 3 year treasury bond and in 2024 you can sell the base Pro and use the proceeds plus the bond on a 2024 M4-based MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...
Seriously? With inflation at today's rates you are getting less than a 1% return.
 
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Honestly, if I were you I would look at the base config and up it to 32gig + whatever storage you think you need. About the same price, but probably more capable in the long run since you can't upgrade later.

Edit - A M1 pro with 32GB is going to have a longer life than an M1 Pro Max with 16GB.
 
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