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

[theorist9]

I don't know what you should get, but I'll offer these three pieces of advice:

1) For 5 years in the future, I'd want 32 GB RAM rather than 16 GB.

2) Project how much HD space you will need in 3-5 years, and then get an SSD that is at least a third bigger (e.g., 1.5 TB storage --> 2 TB SSD). SSD's do not like to be run at near their capacity. [You could factor into this how much of your stuff you could offload to an external drive or the cloud, which would reduce your internal SSD needs.]

3) Wait for the real-world benchmarks to see how much the M1 Max's two-fold-bigger bandwidth affects performance for the kind of work you do. I'm guessing it won't but, if it does, it might be worth spending an extra $200 to get the 24-GPU-core Max over the 16-GPU-core Pro.

 

[Thomas Davie]

If you did that, I wouldn’t be able to make a living. ?

The mind doesn't always buy what the mind wants. Real world limitations come into play too.

HDMI might be outdated, but it's useful to many. I don't need anything higher than 4k output from it. Also Magsafe is also useful. If you disagree I'll wait for a pet or child to trip on your USB-C cable and see how you react when your laptop goes flying with the cord. Finally when it comes to the SD Card slot, I do use it when flashing microSD cards for my Raspberry Pi 4. But sure. To each their own.

And with that I think this thread has gone on for long enough. I'll get what I can get from Apple retail or from Best Buy.

HDMI isn’t outdated. I use it, if possible on all of my computational devices.

Magsafe? Well it’s certainly saved me from having to use Applecare or pay for repairs out of pocket (3 dogs, 2 cats)

Tom

edit: I’ve always purchased what I can afford. I downsized my house and have $, so why not buy an MBP16/64gb? And this isn’t a cavalier statement; if they come out with M3 16 MBP’s in 2023/4 I’ll buy one. My sister on the other hand, has the same computer for 12? years.

 

[kp98077]

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.

you dont have to be a "creative" or even close if you want one of these, plenty of Drs. lawyers, scientist etc. use MBPs, do what you want! Seems to me, you want one, so go get one and enjoy one!!