Yup. MBP 2012 13”/16/512. OCLP Sequoia and not a power user. Just a normal household user, and it’s doing fine. 12 years old. Love it. Can’t compare it to most of you, with demanding photo/video tasks off course. But all my normal tasks are done fine, email, web, basic photo stuff etc. So yeah, it all depends on your personal needs.
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MacBook Pro 14 inch M4 - The best time to upgrade
- Thread starter Astuces iOS
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Sorry just figure I should preface this with: if you can justify it and afford it. There's more to life than computers and you should not be compromising your lifestyle to just buy a shiny new box.
If your intel machine still does the job you need it to do - great!
BUT... if you're looking for a great bang for buck upgrade and have been waiting for something to be "worth it" - I think if you've been holding off on M series, its now mature enough for most to jump in and probably the best time to exit the Intel Mac platform while it is still getting macOS updates and some people will therefore still want it.
I agree, if someone is still on Intel, upgrading to Apple Silicon is a no-brainer, especially with the massive performance and efficiency gains. For M1/M2 users, the decision might depend on specific needs—M4’s 16GB RAM as standard and improved performance definitely make it more future-proof.
As for me, I’m happy with my current Mac for now, but seeing how much Apple keeps refining their lineup, the M4 Pro is very tempting. The 14-inch form factor really does seem to hit that perfect balance! Have you noticed any standout improvements that make the upgrade feel totally worth it?
As for me, I’m happy with my current Mac for now, but seeing how much Apple keeps refining their lineup, the M4 Pro is very tempting. The 14-inch form factor really does seem to hit that perfect balance! Have you noticed any standout improvements that make the upgrade feel totally worth it?
Yes I think the MacBook Pro m2 can last a long time, even in 2026 with the redesign, I don’t think the upgrade is worth it…
Your 16 inch m1 has at least M1 Pro, I was mostly comparing with the 13 inch MacBook Air released in 2020
Yeah well you should consider a new Mac (maybe not MacBook Pro because you don’t seams to need it) but maybe the new MacBook Air m4 coming soon ! It will change your life since it has a better battery, better screen, better performances and much more… but you are not forced to upgrade, if your 2012 mbp works well it’s fine.
M series chip also gives Apple Intelligence and the supports for more apps… interesting things to consider…
Absolutely. Some people have very low end needs. If there are people who are fine just with their phones, there'll be people who are fine with Intel Macs. My wife is one of them (though the Intel Mac she has is pretty high-spec).
She has no interest in upgrading, but the battery in that 2018 is getting suspect so it'll force us to make some decisions soon. We're just hoping we can stretch it to it's Apple obsolete date.
Also, I've helped Sr. Citizens with their computers and if there's one thing I learned, it's to not touch anything that a low computer literacy user is used to.
I have a MacBook Pro M1 in the 16/512 configuration. While an M4 is very tempting, I think it is not a big enough upgrade to justify the cost.
I may still do it, because when I updated to the latest version of DxO PhotoLab, it does run slower in a few functions, but that’s about all the benefit I’d get, so I will probably wait for the M5 or M6 MBP. The Thunderbolt 5 is also very appealing but I think TB 5 prices will be lower in a year, so I’ll wait.
But I absolutely agree with you — if you have an Intel Mac, you will notice an extreme difference.
Your configuration is very good and I wouldn’t upgrade if I was you… In my message I was talking to upgrade from a 13 INCHES MACBOOK PRO !! And not the 14 inch m1 PRO MacBook Pro lol
I’m still using my 16” Intel MBP for general work stuff. It’s fine speed-wise, but crashes at least once each day.
I recently bought an M4 Pro 14” MBP for heavier duty music making stuff, and that thing’s a total beast! Just simple things like expanding a folder to view the contents seem to happen almost before I click it, it’s just so ridiculously fast.
The 16” is useful for the additional screen space, but it’s days are limited, and I can see the new one taking over work, as well as music making tasks.
Glad I bought the Pro version, I reckon that’ll add a couple of years extra usage out if it.
Only negative note, hooking up the M4 Pro to an external monitor via USBC doesn’t give the same clarity as the Intel, which is razor sharp. Need to work that one out.
I recently bought an M4 Pro 14” MBP for heavier duty music making stuff, and that thing’s a total beast! Just simple things like expanding a folder to view the contents seem to happen almost before I click it, it’s just so ridiculously fast.
The 16” is useful for the additional screen space, but it’s days are limited, and I can see the new one taking over work, as well as music making tasks.
Glad I bought the Pro version, I reckon that’ll add a couple of years extra usage out if it.
Only negative note, hooking up the M4 Pro to an external monitor via USBC doesn’t give the same clarity as the Intel, which is razor sharp. Need to work that one out.
For normal people doing office stuff and not video cutting or 3D even the Air M1 16GB is fine for another 5years
Another 5 more years might be a lot, I don’t think this Mac will support the lasted os in 5 years and some people might want it… But I agree that if you aren’t doing heavy stuff, well m1 is ok
Apple’s trade-in for my M1 8GB/1TB was something like €150, but I sold it elsewhere (in the Netherlands – rebuy.nl/verkopen is the website, no, this is not an ad) for €665. With battery on the brink of needing replacement (that would be extra €189), after using it for 3.5 years. I’m getting three-year Applecare for this MBP and after three years I’ll see.
I do literally one thing that requires more RAM, rendering SDXL images in Stable Diffusion via Automatic1111, and I probably wouldn’t be doing it if I weren’t so shocked by the fact that I can do it on a laptop. 8 GB wasn’t enough to load the model. The memory pressure goes into yellow and stays there, but while 24 GB probably would have made it faster, €230 is 1.5 years of Colab Pro if somehow I find myself in massive need.
Coincidentally, on Colab A1111 has a memory leak that can occupy any amount of RAM. On the Mac it doesn’t have the memory leak… so that 16 GB limits the speed, but Colab always eventually crashes, ideally mid-project, always chooses the best moment.
Whoa. I wonder what the problem could be? I haven’t rebooted the M4 (non-Pro) since I started using it.
Code:
uptime
17:17 up 30 days, 23:46, 2 users, load averages: 1.31 1.54 1.75That's the 2020 13" MBP isn't it? €665 for that is astonishingly good. Congratulations! It could be that trade-in values are vastly different in different regions, but based on what I got for my 2021 16" M1 Pro, I'd expect better trade-in values for a more recent release and one that's from their main product lines. That's what I meant by your cost for trading-in early would probably end up being equivalent to the cost of buying the extra specs anyway.
I expected to sell my 16" M1 Pro myself, but was surprisingly shocked by Apple's $940US offer for it.
Don't worry about the memory pressure color as long as everything is working fine. There are tons of threads here about how people are misinterpreting the meaning of their memory pressure. None of that matters unless your computer isn't able to perform.
No, Macbook Air M1 8 GB/1TB. I also sold a rMB 2016 8/512 for €385, so those two covered half of the MBP. And I saved by not having to replace the battery. Oh, the things we tell ourselves to justify buying a new shiny
I know about the memory pressure thing. On the MBA I never looked at it.
But now that I have only 16 GB instead of whole 8 GB, I sometimes do (mostly when an iteration starts taking 240 seconds rather than 20).For my real use, this 16 GB is likely to remain perfectly fine for the next… however long it takes me to get battery envy starting with 18 hours, unless Apple come up with another miracle like the M1 itself. Or get Apple Intelligence to the point where I can be bothered to consider looking at it again.
I concur that M4 is a great Apple SoC generation. I should've waited until M4 to upgrade from my M1 MBA. Instead, I was seduced by Space Black last year and upgraded early to an M3 Max and regretted it. I didn't utilize all the M3 Max goodness and grew tired of Space Black after a year. Fortunately, I was able to find a buyer and the funds fully paid for my new silver M4 Pro MBP 14 with nano-texture display.
I briefly tried out a base M4 Mac Mini but returned it due to the limited 256GB storage (and desire for 10gbe). I recall the M4 in the base Mini didn't feel appreciably faster than my M3 Max in day-to-day activities. However, the M4 Pro in my new MBP is noticeably snappier and everything feels a notch more responsive with my 48" LG C4 OLED desk monitor.
I really should've skipped the M3 series last year and upgraded this year. Oh well, live and learn. Ultimately, took a more expensive trip to arrive at the same destination.
(*On a side-note, the nano-texture must be contributing to the phenomenal battery life of M4 Pro over my previous M3 Max MBP. With the nano-texture display, I don't have to turn the brightness to full blast to fight glare and reflections when in the office.)
I briefly tried out a base M4 Mac Mini but returned it due to the limited 256GB storage (and desire for 10gbe). I recall the M4 in the base Mini didn't feel appreciably faster than my M3 Max in day-to-day activities. However, the M4 Pro in my new MBP is noticeably snappier and everything feels a notch more responsive with my 48" LG C4 OLED desk monitor.
I really should've skipped the M3 series last year and upgraded this year. Oh well, live and learn. Ultimately, took a more expensive trip to arrive at the same destination.
(*On a side-note, the nano-texture must be contributing to the phenomenal battery life of M4 Pro over my previous M3 Max MBP. With the nano-texture display, I don't have to turn the brightness to full blast to fight glare and reflections when in the office.)