My 2020 Intel MBP 16" is still blazing away!

[dinobear]

Haven't come to these forums much because I've been so out of the market for a new MacBook. Just wanted to post here that my 16" MacBook is still going strong. I use the computer daily 8hrs/day. Mostly photoshop (big files for print), and design work. Realtime animation stuff as well for video installations (projection mapping, this laptop can run 4 projectors at once). The laptop has traveled tons on flights and over 20k miles of roadtrips in the back of my backpack.

This computer is so fast I haven't noticed any type of lag that makes me want to upgrade. Maybe when I finally upgrade I'll notice more snappiness, but right now I really don't feel like I'm missing anything. Which is strange because usually after 2 years I really start to get the itch to get a new system. Also the new 16" laptops are bigger and heavier than what I have now.

64gb ram, Radeon 5600M upgrade.

It's crazy we live in a time when a 4 year old computer isn't all that much slower from the latest and greatest laptops. Not too long ago a 4 yr old computer would be unusable in my line of work.

 

[MrGimper]

Haven't come to these forums much because I've been so out of the market for a new MacBook. Just wanted to post here that my 16" MacBook is still going strong. I use the computer daily 8hrs/day. Mostly photoshop (big files for print), and design work. Realtime animation stuff as well for video installations (projection mapping, this laptop can run 4 projectors at once). The laptop has traveled tons on flights and over 20k miles of roadtrips in the back of my backpack.

This computer is so fast I haven't noticed any type of lag that makes me want to upgrade. Maybe when I finally upgrade I'll notice more snappiness, but right now I really don't feel like I'm missing anything. Which is strange because usually after 2 years I really start to get the itch to get a new system. Also the new 16" laptops are bigger and heavier than what I have now.

64gb ram, Radeon 5600M upgrade.

It's crazy we live in a time when a 4 year old computer isn't all that much slower from the latest and greatest laptops. Not too long ago a 4 yr old computer would be unusable in my line of work.

I have the i9 2.3 64GB 2TB 5500m 8GB.

Believe me, "isn't all that much slower" isn't really true.

I've replaced mine with an M3 Max 16" which cost 20% more than my i9 did in 2020. Huge difference, it "feels" much faster, and technically is by miles.

Also there's a massive difference in fan noise which shouldn't be understated.

By all means enjoy your intel, it's a cracking machine. But be realistic.

 

[AHDuke99]

As someone who upgraded from the i7 16" to the M3 Pro, trust me, your computer is much slower.

 

[penlost]

It might be slower than the silicon Macs, but that is still one beast of a Macbook!

 

[adrianlondon]

It really depends what one uses their laptop for.

I have an i5, 8GB Intel MBA (early 2020) and it's working absolutely fine for me.

If I have to use Word or Excel it can take an age to start up, but apart from that it's all good. I use Firefox (with uBlock Origin) which is nice and speedy, but I'm sure Safari would be ok too.

 

[arw]

If I have to use Word or Excel it can take an age to start up, but apart from that it's all good.

Slightly off-topic, but I use the following AppleScript as LaunchAgent.
It opens the desired Microsoft apps in the background and immediately closes them afterwards.
Then, when you actually need Word, Excel, etc., it opens in less than 2 seconds on my 2013 Mac Pro.
On my 2019 MBP 16" it's even almost instantly.

Spoiler: Autostart Microsoft apps

set rdpWasOpened to 0
set excelWasOpened to 0
set wordWasOpened to 0
if application "Microsoft Remote Desktop" is not running then
    do shell script "/usr/bin/open -j '/Applications/Microsoft Remote Desktop.app'"
    set rdpWasOpened to 1
end if
if application "Microsoft Excel" is not running then
    do shell script "/usr/bin/open -j '/Applications/Microsoft Excel.app'"
    set excelWasOpened to 1
end if
if application "Microsoft Word" is not running then
    do shell script "/usr/bin/open -j '/Applications/Microsoft Word.app'"
    set wordWasOpened to 1
end if
if rdpWasOpened is 1 then tell application "Microsoft Remote Desktop" to quit
if excelWasOpened is 1 then tell application "Microsoft Excel" to quit
if wordWasOpened is 1 then tell application "Microsoft Word" to quit

 

[bzgnyc2]

It really depends what one uses their laptop for.

I have an i5, 8GB Intel MBA (early 2020) and it's working absolutely fine for me.

If I have to use Word or Excel it can take an age to start up, but apart from that it's all good. I use Firefox (with uBlock Origin) which is nice and speedy, but I'm sure Safari would be ok too.

Interesting I only have the i3 but 16GB version of the samel laptop and my Office apps startup fairly quickly. I am surprised there would be that much difference but maybe this gets at the issue of OS and app bloat. I have held back a few updates...

But back to the issue the OP raised -- outside of a few specific tasks, modern processors are fast enough for most things people do. I am sure his super i9 etc laptop is fast as he claims and I am sure the new M-series would be even faster (for all but a few specific things where the Radeon might be faster an Apple GPU). But outside of OS and app bloat, most things these days are bound by the human at the keyboard. Bloat and AI and AI bloat promises to reverse that though...

 

[MikeDr206]

As someone who upgraded from the i7 16" to the M3 Pro, trust me, your computer is much slower.

We upgraded my wife from an i9 16 to an M2 Pro (refurb) recently. She immediately commented how much faster it is. And quieter.

Downside is in the winter our furnace is going to run more frequently without the i9 serving as a space heater.

One thing I was surprised about is how much “chonkier“ the M2 Pro is compared to the i9. Noticeably thicker. Presumably because of the HDMI port?

 

[AHDuke99]

We upgraded my wife from an i9 16 to an M2 Pro (refurb) recently. She immediately commented how much faster it is. And quieter.

Downside is in the winter our furnace is going to run more frequently without the i9 serving as a space heater.

One thing I was surprised about is how much “chonkier“ the M2 Pro is compared to the i9. Noticeably thicker. Presumably because of the HDMI port?

Mine feels thicker too. I am not sure if it's because it isn't tapered or if it really is that much thicker. But yes, it's pretty much silent and the battery lasts forever

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Haven't come to these forums much because I've been so out of the market for a new MacBook. Just wanted to post here that my 16" MacBook is still going strong. I use the computer daily 8hrs/day. Mostly photoshop (big files for print), and design work. Realtime animation stuff as well for video installations (projection mapping, this laptop can run 4 projectors at once). The laptop has traveled tons on flights and over 20k miles of roadtrips in the back of my backpack.

This computer is so fast I haven't noticed any type of lag that makes me want to upgrade. Maybe when I finally upgrade I'll notice more snappiness, but right now I really don't feel like I'm missing anything. Which is strange because usually after 2 years I really start to get the itch to get a new system. Also the new 16" laptops are bigger and heavier than what I have now.

64gb ram, Radeon 5600M upgrade.

It's crazy we live in a time when a 4 year old computer isn't all that much slower from the latest and greatest laptops. Not too long ago a 4 yr old computer would be unusable in my line of work.

You bought top of the line and put 64 GB RAM in it in 2020. That is why it remains strong in 2024. A zillion folks here preach "16 GB RAM is plenty, all one needs to choose." They will be wrong when they too have used the Macs for 4 more years.

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

My friend has the same model, and it is still an impressive machine that will serve him well for years yet.

Though it can't keep up with my M3 Pro, nothing we do even remotely takes advantage of all the extra power I have. Realistically, the advantages that my 14" M3 Pro has is no fan noise, and absurdly good battery life (I can get a day and a half of work off a charge). Unless I'm gaming on it, then the fans spool up and the battery life plummets down to a few hours. I have to say though, I do like the Touch Bar on his, and kinda wish I had one on mine, and his MBP is noticeably thinner too.

Enjoy your MacBook Pro. It is an excellent device with a nice screen, and enough power to do what you want. Perfect.

 

[Yebubbleman]

A 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro isn't going to feel slower than any Apple Silicon Mac when it comes to the basics. Nor should it. Just because 9th Generation Intel is slower than any Mx Pro or Mx Max, doesn't mean that the processing power required to do a given task at a certain speed isn't still below the capabilities of the weaker machine. Similarly, it stands to reason that software that ran acceptably on a 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro will probably still run just as well (as Intel binaries haven't gotten more sluggish; they just haven't matched the power of Apple Silicon binaries). Apple hasn't bloated macOS all that much in the last four years. They've just moved things around for no reason and made things that worked fine in one release buggy in the next and so on and so forth.

So, yeah, of course your 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro runs just as well as it did four years ago. It's not a bad computer. And if you have Intel-specific workloads that Rosetta 2 won't cut it for (e.g. x86-64 virtualization and Boot Camp), it's probably the best portable Mac you can get at this point.

 

[boak]

You bought top of the line and put 64 GB RAM in it in 2020. That is why it remains strong in 2024. A zillion folks here preach "16 GB RAM is plenty, all one needs to choose." They will be wrong when they too have used the Macs for 4 more years.

Nah. Instead of over-speccing and paying exorbitant upgrade prices, one should just save the money for a future purchase and trading in the old device.

What’s the point of buying 64 GB if 16 GB worked for me in 2020? In 2024, I could use the money saved from not upgrading to part-purchase a M3 Pro MBP - a much faster machine. Total money spent would be very similar.

 

[ericgedi77]

I have the same model but with 32 GB of ram and a TB SSD. That 5600m gpu made a huge difference in fan noise. My only minor gripe with this laptop is battery life and standby. I would like it to be better.

 

[cogzero]

We upgraded my wife [...]

I didn't realize this was an option. Now that's a game changer.

 

[wjdavis]

I have to tell you, I love the 2019/2020 MacBook Pros. I have a 2019 with a 2.4Ghz i9, 32GB RAM, 8TB SSD, and it has been a phenomenal machine for me. Before purchasing this MBP--I had a 2019 i7 for work--I heard complaints about fan noise on the i9s, but I hardly ever notice this on my i9. Most of the time, I use it running off an eGPU with a 6800 XT, which is also great. Like OP, I find this era of MBP does well years in, and I anticipate using this machine as long as I can practically do so.

I can't compare with the Apple silicon models in terms of speed and all--I haven't really used them and will just accept that they are faster since that's how things go. But the 2019/2020s are great Macs. This is my favorite computer I've owned or used.

 

[Timpetus]

I have a 2016 midrange 15" MBP 16/512 and a 2021 14" M1 Max 64/2. They both work fine, but the newer machine is definitely an upgrade for most uses. I miss being able to use wine to play certain windows games, though! Haven't found a configuration that works right with Whisky or GPTK so far...

 

[FreakinEurekan]

My 2020 Intel MBP 16" is still blazing away!

They do get pretty hot 😏

 

[MikeDr206]

Mine feels thicker too. I am not sure if it's because it isn't tapered or if it really is that much thicker. But yes, it's pretty much silent and the battery lasts forever

I need to take a picture… it is indeed thicker

 

[MikeDr206]

I have the same model but with 32 GB of ram and a TB SSD. That 5600m gpu made a huge difference in fan noise. My only minor gripe with this laptop is battery life and standby. I would like it to be better.

Is the 5600m the upgrade gpu?

 

[dpny]

My 2018 6-core MBP is still running strong, but it will get replaced by an M4 MBP this fall. I've had the batteries replaced once, and it doesn't make sense to put more money into a machine that Apple will likely obsolete sooner than later.

 

[dukebound85]

You bought top of the line and put 64 GB RAM in it in 2020. That is why it remains strong in 2024. A zillion folks here preach "16 GB RAM is plenty, all one needs to choose." They will be wrong when they too have used the Macs for 4 more years.

I have a 2019 16" MBP with 16GB ram. No issues on my end. There goes that "theory"

 

[Elusi]

Well if you're going to be on an Intel Macbook then that is the very one you want to be on! Performance is adequate but it will of course lose its appeal as soon as Apple and software vendors decide that maintaining for Intel isn't worth it anymore.

For some work I bring both my M2 Air and Intel 16" because I need two laptops. It's of great value still that the old Mac can bootcamp into a native x86 Windows 11 installation for some tricky legacy software that otherwise don't work entirely alright through translation layers.

 

[ericgedi77]

Is the 5600m the upgrade gpu?

Yes

 

[chrono1081]

You'll see a difference whenever you upgrade. I had the first 16 inch i9 maxed out and it would throttle a lot under any kind of load. When I upgraded to an M2 Air it blew the i9 completely out of the water. Everything was faster, battery was better, and the machine stayed cool even using things like Houdini.