MacBook Pro 14 inch M4 - The best time to upgrade

[Astuces iOS]

I upgraded form the air m1 to the pro m4 and I think it's a very good time to upgrade to the MacBook Pro !!

- If you are on intel, of course you need to upgrade (performances are 10x+)

- If you are on m1/m2 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro it might be ok for you but I think the MacBook Pro m4 14 inch is the perfect Mac not the m3 but m4 because of 16 gb de ram, good performances and more

What do you think, is your Mac ok, are you happy with your MacBook Pro m4 or are you thinking to upgrade?

 

[ubinko]

I have an M2 macbook air and an M4 Pro Mini, so I have no current need for the M4 Macbook Pro.

BUT.. if I was in the market for a macbook right now, I would get the M4 Macbook Pro 14 inch - it's blazing fast and the screen is incredible.

 

[Astuces iOS]

Having the m4 pro mac mini is very good too !

 

[JCCL]

I bought an Macbook Pro with an M3 Pro CPU 18GB at a discount, which made it pretty much the same price at the base model for me, back in May last year. Plenty fast for me don't see me upgrading in 2-3 years unless there is a massive improvement.

 

[Astuces iOS]

I bought an Macbook Pro with an M3 Pro CPU 18GB at a discount, which made it pretty much the same price at the base model for me, back in May last year. Plenty fast for me don't see me upgrading in 2-3 years unless there is a massive improvement.

Good choice, I don't think there would be a massive improvement even in 2026 with the m6 chip... It could have a new design, 5g, Oled... but theses things aren't going to make me change... I like the actual design !

 

[vanc]

I have a M2 MBA 15 for personal use and a M1 Pro MBP 16 for business. Due to the need of running large LLM models, I'm upgrading the M1 Pro MBP to M4 Max with 128G ram. But will keep the M2 MBA for at least a couple of more years (perhaps until M6 MBA is available. )

 

[navaira]

I upgraded form the air m1 to the pro m4 and I think it's a very good time to upgrade to the MacBook Pro !!

- If you are on intel, of course you need to upgrade (performances are 10x+)

- If you are on m1/m2 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro it might be ok for you but I think the MacBook Pro m4 14 inch is the perfect Mac not the m3 but m4 because of 16 gb de ram, good performances and more

What do you think, is your Mac ok, are you happy with your MacBook Pro m4 or are you thinking to upgrade?

I did exactly the same thing. I love the screen – 13” didn’t feel like enough, 15” feels like too much, the bezels are nearly non-existent. I don’t see the notch, same as with iPhones pre-Dynamic Island. I don’t notice ProMotion, but I guess it’s nice to have it?

The speakers – amazing.

Thanks to Magsafe and the bump-up the base MBP got, I now have three USB-C ports instead of one. I added a 1TB microSD card, doubling the storage at half of Apple’s price (and 1/40 of Apple’s speed, but the iTunes library doesn’t know that).

The battery life… I thought M1 was as far as it was possible to go, now unless I'm doing something that makes the fan liven up I only need to charge the laptop in the evening with the other iDevices. The promised 18 hours of browsing/video is actually delivered. I got so spoilt I was complaining that after 3.5 years my Air could ‘only’ manage 7 hours with 81% battery capacity. Watch me three years from now mumbling about how I have to live with mere 14 hours while M7 offers 48…

The SPEED. I don’t know whether Safari is snappier because I use Brave, but I’m rendering images using Flux.1 as I’m typing this. Yes, the fan is on (quietly) and I am charging, because this is not the sort of use that allows 18 hours of battery life, but I can’t believe it’s possible to do this stuff on a laptop reasonably fast. Benchmarks, if anything, undersold it. I was like, twice as fast, whatever, I can wait five minutes instead of ten. But instead I’m doing things I couldn’t do before, so it’s five minutes instead of paying monthly for Google Colab.

RAMxiety is real, though. I keep thinking – maybe I should have spent extra €230 and gone up to 24 GB, since 16 is now base? This is the only reason why I feel I should have gone with 24 GB. Now I worry I’ll want to upgrade three years from now rather than 4-5. Champagne problems.

 

[Astuces iOS]

I did exactly the same thing. I love the screen – 13” didn’t feel like enough, 15” feels like too much, the bezels are nearly non-existent. I don’t see the notch, same as with iPhones pre-Dynamic Island. I don’t notice ProMotion, but I guess it’s nice to have it?

The speakers – amazing.

Thanks to Magsafe and the bump-up the base MBP got, I now have three USB-C ports instead of one. I added a 1TB microSD card, doubling the storage at half of Apple’s price (and 1/40 of Apple’s speed, but the iTunes library doesn’t know that).

The battery life… I thought M1 was as far as it was possible to go, now unless I'm doing something that makes the fan liven up I only need to charge the laptop in the evening with the other iDevices. The promised 18 hours of browsing/video is actually delivered. I got so spoilt I was complaining that after 3.5 years my Air could ‘only’ manage 7 hours with 81% battery capacity. Watch me three years from now mumbling about how I have to live with mere 14 hours while M7 offers 48…

The SPEED. I don’t know whether Safari is snappier because I use Brave, but I’m rendering images using Flux.1 as I’m typing this. Yes, the fan is on (quietly) and I am charging, because this is not the sort of use that allows 18 hours of battery life, but I can’t believe it’s possible to do this stuff on a laptop reasonably fast. Benchmarks, if anything, undersold it. I was like, twice as fast, whatever, I can wait five minutes instead of ten. But instead I’m doing things I couldn’t do before, so it’s five minutes instead of paying monthly for Google Colab.

RAMxiety is real, though. I keep thinking – maybe I should have spent extra €230 and gone up to 24 GB, since 16 is now base? This is the only reason why I feel I should have gone with 24 GB. Now I worry I’ll want to upgrade three years from now rather than 4-5. Champagne problems.

Yes, about the battery, someone who doesn’t know might think the upgrade is not worth but I am a user that uses some heavy apps like Xcode or Final Cut Pro and it’s sure that the MacBook Air m1 wouldn’t last 18h… some hours and that’s it… With the MacBook Pro m4 we get better battery so that’s cool !

 

[elmoss]

I upgraded form the air m1 to the pro m4 and I think it's a very good time to upgrade to the MacBook Pro !!

- If you are on intel, of course you need to upgrade (performances are 10x+)

- If you are on m1/m2 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro it might be ok for you but I think the MacBook Pro m4 14 inch is the perfect Mac not the m3 but m4 because of 16 gb de ram, good performances and more

What do you think, is your Mac ok, are you happy with your MacBook Pro m4 or are you thinking to upgrade?

you getting electric shocks when plugged in charging?

 

[vincedu69]

I added a 1TB microSD card, doubling the storage at half of Apple’s price (and 1/40 of Apple’s speed, but the iTunes library doesn’t know that).

If you ever want to improve that situation, look at UHS-II SD cards. I picked up one for my camera recently, and copying data from the SD card to the MBP feels much faster than a "regular" (UHS-I) SD card. They're pricier, but their cost probably decreases every 6 months.
I don't know about using it always-on as an extra hard drive, but that's still relatively cheap and fast.

 

[Astuces iOS]

you getting electric shocks when plugged in charging?

oh yes I make also make some free energy by plugging a cable on 2 usb ports ! It auto charges my MacBook !

 

[throAU]

If you're on anything intel, now is the time, even low end M parts are just so far ahead in responsiveness it's not funny. Even M1.

If you're on M1-* and a power user, upgrade now.

If you're on M1 and not a power user, you're good for a few more years or until your device dies (battery, screen, etc. - if its a mini, it will probably survive another decade and you'll upgrade when needed for performance).

 

[Harmonious Zen]

If you're on anything intel, now is the time, even low end M parts are just so far ahead in responsiveness it's not funny. Even M1.

If you're on M1-* and a power user, upgrade now.

If you're on M1 and not a power user, you're good for a few more years or until your device dies (battery, screen, etc. - if its a mini, it will probably survive another decade and you'll upgrade when needed for performance).

I agree. Makes sense. Are people really still on Intels?

 

[ubinko]

I agree. Makes sense. Are people really still on Intels?

I only recently upgraded my 2017 intel iMac to the M4 Pro Mini. I probably could have stuck with it for a couple more years, but it felt like the right time to upgrade. I don't regret it - the M4 Macs are such nice machines.

 

[navaira]

If you ever want to improve that situation, look at UHS-II SD cards. I picked up one for my camera recently, and copying data from the SD card to the MBP feels much faster than a "regular" (UHS-I) SD card. They're pricier, but their cost probably decreases every 6 months.
I don't know about using it always-on as an extra hard drive, but that's still relatively cheap and fast.

I did, but they seem to only exist full-sized, and I have a flush enclosure to hide the microSD. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...es.2443703/page-2?post=33652853#post-33652853

 

[GusBougadis]

I upgraded form the air m1 to the pro m4 and I think it's a very good time to upgrade to the MacBook Pro !!

- If you are on intel, of course you need to upgrade (performances are 10x+)

- If you are on m1/m2 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro it might be ok for you but I think the MacBook Pro m4 14 inch is the perfect Mac not the m3 but m4 because of 16 gb de ram, good performances and more

What do you think, is your Mac ok, are you happy with your MacBook Pro m4 or are you thinking to upgrade?

I own a MacBook Air 💻 M1, not upgrading anytime soon. I owned a MacBook Pro 💻 intel with Touch Bar years ago, the screen and speakers 🔊 really stood out. Enjoy your new MacBook Pro 💻 I am sure it’s great.

 

[Astuces iOS]

I own a MacBook Air 💻 M1, not upgrading anytime soon. I owned a MacBook Pro 💻 intel with Touch Bar years ago, the screen and speakers 🔊 really stood out. Enjoy your new MacBook Pro 💻 I am sure it’s great.

If you don't need extra performances, you are ok with your air !

 

[GusBougadis]

If you don't need extra performances, you are ok with your air !

Yes, the air is great.

 

[luzsa2004]

I upgraded form the air m1 to the pro m4 and I think it's a very good time to upgrade to the MacBook Pro !!

- If you are on intel, of course you need to upgrade (performances are 10x+)

- If you are on m1/m2 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro it might be ok for you but I think the MacBook Pro m4 14 inch is the perfect Mac not the m3 but m4 because of 16 gb de ram, good performances and more

What do you think, is your Mac ok, are you happy with your MacBook Pro m4 or are you thinking to upgrade?

Agree, very pleased with the MBP 14. Multiple external monitor capability, excellent screen resolution/color, impressive M4 performance, and so on.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

I upgraded form the air m1 to the pro m4 and I think it's a very good time to upgrade to the MacBook Pro !!

- If you are on intel, of course you need to upgrade (performances are 10x+)

- If you are on m1/m2 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro it might be ok for you but I think the MacBook Pro m4 14 inch is the perfect Mac not the m3 but m4 because of 16 gb de ram, good performances and more

What do you think, is your Mac ok, are you happy with your MacBook Pro m4 or are you thinking to upgrade?

M2 MBP with 96 GB RAM and I love it, especially the RAM. At first I was using 35-50 GB RAM but after two years now apps/OS have my usage into the 55-70 GB range. IMO having RAM enough to never be paging is worth the cost; everything runs smoothly and I do not have any issues multitasking among multiple open apps.

I expect this MBP to last for 7 years or longer like the last two did. Unless I get into building 3D or similar, which I doubt.

 

[smirking]

RAMxiety is real, though. I keep thinking – maybe I should have spent extra €230 and gone up to 24 GB, since 16 is now base? This is the only reason why I feel I should have gone with 24 GB. Now I worry I’ll want to upgrade three years from now rather than 4-5. Champagne problems.

Just live your best life with your computer and don't worry if it's got enough RAM. MacOS handles memory swap amazingly well.

I intentionally went on a RAM diet and only gave myself 16GB for the past 3 years that I had an M1 Pro. I did this as an experiment despite that I'm always running multiple VMs and memory hungry programming tools. It worked totally fine for me. If there were any problems, they had almost zero real world impact.

But even if you realize it was a total mistake going with 16GB, you can always trade-in your machine when you upgrade. If Apple continues to be as generous with their trade-in program as they've been as of late, your net loss from trading-in early is likely to be within that €230 you would have spent anyway.

You made a very sensible move. This way you're only paying out that €230 if you lose the bet.

 

[ISKOTB]

I upgraded form the air m1 to the pro m4 and I think it's a very good time to upgrade to the MacBook Pro !!

- If you are on intel, of course you need to upgrade (performances are 10x+)

- If you are on m1/m2 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro it might be ok for you but I think the MacBook Pro m4 14 inch is the perfect Mac not the m3 but m4 because of 16 gb de ram, good performances and more

What do you think, is your Mac ok, are you happy with your MacBook Pro m4 or are you thinking to upgrade?

The performances is almost the same. I got a 14"/black/M4-Pro/Nano screen to switch from my 16"/M1 because it was really heavy and chunk.I missed the 16" battery life "BIG TIME".

 

[smirking]

The performances is almost the same. I got a 14"/black/M4-Pro/Nano screen to switch from my 16"/M1 because it was really heavy and chunk.I missed the 16" battery life "BIG TIME".

I made the same transition. I think there are some software bugs affecting the battery life on my 14" M4 Pro. Several times, I found it chewing through 25% of the battery per hour while nothing much was happening. A reboot would fix it and I'd be back to averaging about 12% battery usage per hour of doing all the things I normally do. This pace would be running only a little bit behind my old 16" M1 Pro.

 

[ISKOTB]

I made the same transition. I think there are some software bugs affecting the battery life on my 14" M4 Pro. Several times, I found it chewing through 25% of the battery per hour while nothing much was happening. A reboot would fix it and I'd be back to averaging about 12% battery usage per hour of doing all the things I normally do. This pace would be running only a little bit behind my old 16" M1 Pro.

I expected a better battery since the 14/M4 is newer than my old 16/M1.

 

[smirking]

I expected a better battery since the 14/M4 is newer than my old 16/M1.

What kind of run times are you seeing on your M4 Pro vs your M1 Pro?

Keep in mind that the M4 Pro has more cores and will use them, but I get you. The way my 16" M1 Pro sipped power was truly mind blowing to experience.