New 16inch Macbook Pro vs 24 inch iMac

[ThursdayNext]

Hello

I have a new 24 inch iMac on order (16 gb ram and 1 tb of memory) on order (due 22 October - 1st November). I already have a Macbook pro (2018) with touchbar. My plan was to use the 24 inch with my external monitor and then use my Macbook pro (with icloud) whenever I needed to move away from my desk.

Looking at the new Macbook Pros (they look awesome) should I consider changing my order to Macbook Pro 16 inch. I really like the idea of the desktop (been a long time since I have used this set-up) but will the new M1 Pro (or Max) be significantly faster than the iMac M1 chip? I do very little image processing these days - mainly word, excel etc.

I am still minded for the iMac but any thoughts on set up before my order is due to be dispatched would be awesome.

Thursday

 

[darngooddesign]

The iMac will fall off your lap and has terrible battery life.

 

[ThursdayNext]

haha - I'll try not to keep it sat on my lap then

 

[Natrium]

It depends on your specific usage. For general usage it won’t make a big difference.

Taken from the graphs shown during the Apple event:

M1 CPU performance: 100
M1 Pro/Max 10c CPU performance: 170

Thus the M1 Pro/Max is up to 70% faster compared to the M1. So let’s say opening a Word document takes 3 seconds on the M1, it would at best take 2.1 seconds on the M1 Pro/Max. It will only make a noticeable difference for medium to long lasting tasks as well as GPU intensive tasks, like video rendering.

 

[ThursdayNext]

Thanks Natrium - that is very helpful.

I've been looking into since the event this evening and think I will stick with the iMac. I like the idea of a different set up - been a long time since I've had a desktop, but at least I have a Macbook pro too. I can give the iMac to my son in a couple of years if I feel I need to upgrade

 

[Natrium]

Thanks Natrium - that is very helpful.

I've been looking into since the event this evening and think I will stick with the iMac. I like the idea of a different set up - been a long time since I've had a desktop, but at least I have a Macbook pro too. I can give the iMac to my son in a couple of years if I feel I need to upgrade

I would like to add this detail, which may be helpful:

Note: the example assumes all performance cores are used, if Word uses a single performance core or an efficiency core when opening a document, then the performance of the M1 and M1 Pro/Max will be exactly the same.

 

[ThursdayNext]

Thank you Natrium? - that is very helpful and makes me confident that I have made the right choice

 

[darngooddesign]

I would like to add this detail, which may be helpful:

Note: the example assumes all performance cores are used, if Word uses a single performance core or an efficiency core when opening a document, then the performance of the M1 and M1 Pro/Max will be exactly the same.

I don't think that's necessarily true. Apple has shown a consistent increase in single-core performance with each iteration of their A# iPad/iPhone chips so its logical to assume that the M#, which are based on the A# chips, will also show an increase in single-core performance with each iteration if for no other reason than everything else about the new chips is faster with higher-bandwidth. But for day-to-day tasks there won't be a huge improvement compared to more processor intensive tasks.

That being said, geek-bench scores will be out soon enough so we'll know for sure how much of a difference the new chips make.

 

[ian87w]

Hello

I have a new 24 inch iMac on order (16 gb ram and 1 tb of memory) on order (due 22 October - 1st November). I already have a Macbook pro (2018) with touchbar. My plan was to use the 24 inch with my external monitor and then use my Macbook pro (with icloud) whenever I needed to move away from my desk.

Looking at the new Macbook Pros (they look awesome) should I consider changing my order to Macbook Pro 16 inch. I really like the idea of the desktop (been a long time since I have used this set-up) but will the new M1 Pro (or Max) be significantly faster than the iMac M1 chip? I do very little image processing these days - mainly word, excel etc.

I am still minded for the iMac but any thoughts on set up before my order is due to be dispatched would be awesome.

Thursday

In the end, it depends if you want one device, or two devices.

Minimalism one device: This solution is best if you will be mostly on-the-go. Sell your 2018 Macbook Pro and cancel/return your iMac and just get the 16" Macbook Pro and an separate monitor. You can use the external monitor at home, and just unplug and use the Macbook Pro by itself on the go.

Two devices: If you are mostly at home, keep the iMac and your current Macbook Pro. The 24" iMac screen is a nice screen and hard to match. In the end, nothing beats working with a good large monitor at home. You will enjoy the large screen of the iMac, and you already have a laptop handy when you need it.

 

[ThursdayNext]

In the end, it depends if you want one device, or two devices.

Minimalism one device: This solution is best if you will be mostly on-the-go. Sell your 2018 Macbook Pro and cancel/return your iMac and just get the 16" Macbook Pro and an separate monitor. You can use the external monitor at home, and just unplug and use the Macbook Pro by itself on the go.

Two devices: If you are mostly at home, keep the iMac and your current Macbook Pro. The 24" iMac screen is a nice screen and hard to match. In the end, nothing beats working with a good large monitor at home. You will enjoy the large screen of the iMac, and you already have a laptop handy when you need it.

Thanks ? I am mainly at home (and have an external monitor) so think I will continue with iMac and use my MacBook Pro whenever I need to move around house or outside. I think (I hope) with everything in iCloud that the integration will be seamless ? wowed by the new 16 inch but will probably not benefit from the increased power but will (hopefully) enjoy a large second fixed monitor.