M3Pro Chip selection on a 2TB, 36GB machine?

[wayland1985]

About to pull the trigger on a 14” M3Pro, with a 2TB SSD and 36GB Ram.

I’m a casual user who could very likely get by with an Air, but the Pro is where I landed. (The brighter screen is a must for any outdoor work I may be doing…. And the fans will be nice when using on my lap…. I’m not into making feature-length films, but I am in the middle of editing and enhancing family videos).

The 11core M3Pro is likely more than I’ll need… yet here I am wondering: Since I already bumped up the Ram and SSD, am I going to regret not going to 12core?

Will I miss those GPU cores when/if gaming takes off on Macs? What if I get more serious about video editing?

Will the 12 core afford me better resale than an 11 core (if I ever get to that point?). Will that 12core with its 4extra GPU cores be something I wish I had in 3 years?

 

[coffeemilktea]

Realistically, those specs will be more than enough for whatever you need.

...but at the same time, life is short and you should treat yourself. Get those extra cores.

 

[wayland1985]

lol: I’m just getting into the dangerous “future proofing” mentality…. I know this is what Apple wants!

2TB is a must. 18gb would likely suffice….

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

You won't be needing those cores, and they won't increase sales price in the future.

 

[wayland1985]

Actually starting to look into the refurb M2pro offerings.

Seems I’d only be leaving ray tracing and a couple of other things on the table, while saving a few hundred bucks.

Was leaning towards new to try out the Apple Card financing, but to save a few hundred bucks might be worth it too.

 

[Chancha]

For an armetuer-ish use case, whichever Apple Silicon MBP is going to be fine, even the base. The only place where I see could be a significant difference is the video enhancement software. If what you use actually can utilize the Neural Engine, then you may see much shorter times on M3. The memory amount may help though, and you looking into the M2 Pro refurbs with higher RAM for less money may even be better. It is hard to say, depends on what app you actually use.