New MacBook Pro 2021: satisfaction rate

[gigatoaster]

Hello there

It’s very difficult to make an opinion on the new MacBook Pro: there are a lot of YouTube reviews but they seem to cover the same thing, mostly benchmarks. What’s the point of having a MacBook Pro to do benchmarks?

Overall, it seems that “a majority” of people are satisfied but can we quantified it?

Would you say 95% of people are happy with their machine?

What are the 3 main issues of these machines and can it be better next year?

 

[0_1]

>It’s very difficult to make an opinion on the new MacBook Pro:

Is it really?

>What’s the point of having a MacBook Pro to do benchmarks?

Because that's generally how people determine how the machine operates.

>Would you say 95% of people are happy with their machine?

You should call them and ask.

 

[madat42]

Price, battery life, and weight. Sure it can be better. Supply chain, M2 Pro/Max and/or OS efficiency improvements could help it next year. Are 95% of owners happy? Has anyone ever been that happy with any product?

 

[va1984]

The YouTubers are a vocal minority of people who are making videos for a living so they truly need and notice a lot the performance of laptops. If you are a "Pro" who works on a laptop but does not do computationally intense stuff, size and weight are probably more important to you, so no, these new laptops aren't that great in that respect. They're heavy -- especially the 16". I tried the 16" for a month and had to come to the conclusion that it was just too heavy and chunky for me. Now I'm trying the 14", which is a lot better. None of them compete with the iMac, of course, but it can be a decent substitute for an iPad Pro 12.9" on the go. That said, it appears obvious that Apple will release thinner and lighter consumer laptops this year that will make the Pros look, well, thick and heavy.

So I would say: I bet you that those people who truly need the power of these machines because they're on FCP 8 hrs a day are satisfied (though they should try a desktop, lol!)

And I bet you that most common laptop-using professionals who're not power-hungry didn't look at these machines for a second, given that they're a step backwards on weigh and portability.

And then there is probably a third category of people (hopefully small) who just bought them because they cannot miss out of buying the fanciest Apple gadgets even though their power needs are minimal. Who knows what those people think -- maybe whatever they YouTubers are telling them to think?

For you: ask yourself what you want the machine for. That'll tell you whether you'll be happy with it or not.

 

[Sanpete]

There are lots of Youtube reviews that cover real-world use, and many reviews at other places that do too, along with many, many threads about that here.

Amazon says 86% of its ratings for the new 16" MBPs are 5/5 stars, 89% for the 14". They adjust those percentages somehow, but it gives some idea.

It can always be better.

 

[ITsamsamsam]

I have been an Apple user since 2011 and I believe that these new MBPs are the best ever (not only in absolute terms, also in relative terms).
I am a lawyer therefore, for work, I do not need great power.
However, these computers are not only the most powerful version of the previous MBPs. It is finally a new project and, without considering the CPU and GPU we have:
- larger screen
- mini led
- 120 refresh
- noticeably better keyboard: finally a good key travel !!! For those who write for work, good typing feedback is essential
- The doors! Even a simple hdmi can make a difference when you're at a convention and don't have any adapters with you
- the web camera: the previous ones were horrible. For real. Now doing telematic hearings, lectures or meetings is a completely different story.
I'm not a fan of aesthetics for its own sake.
These computers are more "stocky" but they are professional and convey a lot of solidity.
I work on it during the day; I take them home and play them at night (yes, finally since the dedicated video was removed even in the 15 'you can go back to playing decently even on mac: at the moment I'm running Divinity original Sin 2 1080 P / ultra / 60 fps ).
In summary: extremely satisfied

 

[gigatoaster]

Thanks. I’m getting one from work apparently, I just wanted some random Internet opinions, not that I don’t value yours, on the contrary.

I had to choose between the 16” or 14” but I plan to work on the go so I took the 14”.

I’ll just do basic office stuff, maybe try some coding or just playing with containers. We’ll see.

EDIT: webcam is important as it is a 100% remote job and I’ve seen some filters added, apparently. Is there a way to disable it?